Just bought my first kit and now I'm looking for a building board..any ideas?

RE: Building board


Hi mxaexm,

Try this link or use google and search for <model airplane building boards>

http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...oard&search=Go

Ernie
Sailplane

I just use a hollow core office door on legs. been working for over five years and has not warped yet..

I have a door on saw horse's. Works great. You can push in T Pins if needed. Good Luck, Dave

Two 12 X 3/4 inch pine boards glued together then run through an over head sander and 5 braces screwed onto the bottom so it doesn't warp. About 15 years so far. I did run it through an over head sander again this year to remove all my writing and math/numbers so I could start it all over again.

Re: another building board question
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Hi waterloged,

What type of hollow door do you use? Are the exterior panels made of thin veneer or of a heavier type veneer? Is the door foam-filled?

AND

Hi DavidAgar,

What type of door do you use..., hollow or solid?

TO BOTH

Waterloged & DavidAgar

I'm happy to hear that you guys are not having any problems with the doors that you are using as building boards. Regarding the doors that you guys are using, are they good quality stuff and expensive or are they somewhat on the cheaper side? I'm asking these questions because here in Florida, unless you buy a truly expensive, interior, hollow door, foam filled or not, your door will be warped to at least some degree at the time of purchase. And if they are not warped at purchase, they will be warped to some extent at sometime in the future.

Gees guys..., I guess that we down here get the "trashed out" doors that the rest of the nation doesn't want...! If you want a new, good quality interior door, you pay big bucks. If you want a good quality used door, you pay big bucks, and you may pay even bigger bucks than a new door, if you buy a used, good quality door that falls into the antique category. Now, if you're building a small model of about a 36" wingspan or less, one of our cheaper doors, new or used, may work out for you. However, if you are building a larger bird, such as a 3 meter Paragon glider, you will probably not be able to get by with a cheaper door. And that's the way it is.., down here in Florida.

Let me give you a few of my thoughts from my perspective down here in Florida regarding a building board constructed from a door. Now, don't take my words too seriously; some of this may be in jest, but part of it is to be taken in a serious manner.

And so, here we go:

Those office or house interior hollow doors may be too large for those modelers that have small working areas, but you can always cut them to a smaller size if your build is that of a smaller model. We have high humidity here in Florida, so more often than not, even if you buy a new hollow door at Lowes or at Home Deport, you will probably find some warping or some depressions or some bumps to some extent. Maybe they get warped before they get to Florida...! I really don't know.

At the present time, I don't have a hollow door in my house that fits perfectly flush with the door frame. They are mainly off by about 1/8" from top to bottom on the edge opposite the hinges. Aaa..., I have lived in the same house for 45 years, maybe that's part of the problem.

In this forum, and others like it, they have umteens of threads on the use of hollow doors being used as building boards. Most builders of these boards say that they solve the warping problem by gluing (or attaching by other means) a sheet of 1/2" or 3/4" of flat, or nearly so (no warps), plywood or other material to one surface of the hollow door. As yet, I haven't even seen a flat (no warps) sheet of even 5 ply plywood, but somehow these builders get those doors completely flat and free of warps. Most modelers that make these, "hollow door glued to plywood", building boards do a great job...! They have to, if not, you wouldn't find a kit build or original designed bird that is capable of flying straight and level. I've seen some beautiful models that were constructed atop these door building boards.

Perhaps there is a thread in one of these forums, and there probably is, but I haven't seen one, that explains the building techniques that are used in the building of one of these hollow door, building boards. I can see that if you cut the door and plywood to a smaller size, then glue and clamp them together in a certain manner, you would have an easier time of diminishing the amount of warping or eliminating it all together. Perhaps some one can refer to a thread that touches on this topic in detail. If not, then maybe someone can start one.

I have seen a hollow door that was glued to a 1 3/4" thick, completely solid, hardwood, former exterior house door. That sounds like a big overkill situation, but it certainly made a great building board...! I couldn't find a warp or depression on the surface of that hollow door! I can't remember the building techniques that were used in making that beautiful building board, except that the doors had been cut to a smaller size before the gluing process.

There are also those that use magnetic building boards; some builders swear by them. If you have never see one of these, there are a number of pics that are associated with the threads that discuss this kind of board. This is a very interesting method of building and it appears that it is a very accurate way of building a model.

I don't use building boards anymore unless I'm repairing a damaged model. In doing so, I use my balsa board. I'm mainly into ARF gliders; some of these are relatively cheap and some are very expensive, but as you guys already know, there is no need for a building board. I don't really miss kit building; I did enough of it in my youth and during my middle years.

Again, I thank all of you for all of the knowledge that I have gained from this and other forums. I really enjoy this kind of sharing!

Ernie
Sailplane

Best bet is a hollow coor door, any brand will do, as long as its it's not warped. that is corner to corner, or have deep swollows in it. your not going to build a super flat wing or fuselage. this is a hobby sport not a precesion machine part. it's really more the experience of the builder to develop. by the time that you glue down the ceiling tiles, or whatever, you will have some minor ripples. you can over come them by useing your head and fixing minor problems. this isn't a Sceintific building exercise. common sense pevails. get with it and produce a super good model. just remember, we all make mistakes by getting in a hurry, take your time. just have some 70 years of experience to complain about, mostly that the eye's and back don't want to cooperate any more dick

I built myself a sturdy, flat and level work bench from 2x4s and plywood. For the building surface I have two ceiling tiles ($3 each) on top of each other and it has been working great!

I guess I will just buy the ceiling tiles if I will be able to find them at the local home depot.

Been using a hollow core door with 8 ceiling tiles taped to it (4 tiles on top of 4 tiles) for over 20 years here in Jacksonville, Florida.
No problems. Board is level and the tiles are still in great condition.
I used packaging tape to strap the tiles to the door.
Just be sure that the door is on a level surface. If it is on a crooked one, it will warp.

I've got one of these, it is very good quality http://www.guillow.com/GuillowDetail...=31&FamilyId=6

Dan

Hollow core door as well for me, it accepts T and other type pins easily and builds true, straight planes. I have mine mounted on an artists table so I can adjust the height plus the angle super easy!!

I prefer a hollow core door too. Don't overlook used doors. Here in Austin we have a salvage center called Habitat For Humanity. It's kinda like the Salvation Army for houses. Most urban areas now have something similar. Anyway the main benefits are:

1) The doors are cheap! $5 tops.
2) Huge selection because doors are easy to remove before razing.
3) Used doors are seasoned and are acclimatized to the local environment, less likely to warp.
4) Nobody cares if you spend an hour in the door department checking them over with a 6' box level.
5) Your reusing something that would otherwise go into a landfill. Don't you feel warm and snuggly for that!

One other thing I discovered is that sliding "pocket doors" are narrower and usually straighter than hinged hanging doors. Perhaps because the door's weight is more evenly distributed? Anyway, probably more information than you want.. Good luck.

EDIT: I also prefer 1/2" Homasote brand sound barrier over the common acoustic ceiling tiles. The density is perfect for holding pins firmly without hurting your fingers or bending the pins. Acoustic tiles I've found to be a bit too lightweight to hold things firmly.

Hollow core door sounds like a good idea. Their design is usually that of a torsion box and should be very rigid. Sometimes you can find a slightly damaged bifold door at one of the home supply stores for a nominal price. The flush luan bifold door of 30" to 36" will give you two building boards of 15" or 18" width. The relatively narrow width should be less likely to warp too.

I built a nice work bench with oak plywood for the top then I placed a 1/2 sheet rock over the table when I need to pin things. Works great and when the sheet rock gets beat up I replace it and it doesn't cost much.

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Danh4,

That does look like a great board..., and at a good price for a 4ft board. And if you want to, you can add ceiling tiles to it.

Heck..., that board is large enough to build a 2M center joined, single-dihedral wing; and if you wanted to, you can build a 3M multi-dihedral wing. My balsa board is getting kind of ragged, so I may buy one of these myself

Ernie
Sailplane

Hi all,

I didn't mean to step on anybody's toes, but there are people that build to highly scientific (?) and extremely accurate standards (I am not one of these); and to these guys/gals, building is an art form that produces beautifull models. Take a look at some of the pics in the threads and in the galleries. Hell..., and especially the pics in the scale forums. I will never be able to build like that...!!! Let's remember that we all don't fit into a single catagory. It's "different strokes for different folks."

Ernie
Sailplane

Ernie,

I see they have a little note on their site saying it might take a couple of weeks to get their board to you due to supply problems, I hope they haven't had to cut corners in the wood they use because the one I bought 4 or 5 years ago is perfect, the wood is just right for pushing pins into but not so soft that it gets dented and dinged up. I also have a Great Planes board that isn't nearly as nice, it is thinner and in some spots you can't push a pin into very easily. If you order a board from Guillow's, please let us know what you think of it when you get it.

Dan

Sorry, duplicate post deleted.

Dan,

I followed your link right after I read your post; and yes, I saw the note regarding the supply problems. I'll be out of town for about 3 weeks, so I'll order it when I get back home. I don't want UPS or FedX leaving the package on my front porch while nobody is home. I'll also check with my club members to see if anyone has an old or a more recent one to see what they think. Other than that, the only way to check its quality is to purchase one.

Many thanks for your post and the link.

Since we are in the same time zone, have a great evening,

Ernie
Sailplane

Guys,

What do you think of using the fiber board (the one that furniture is made out of) and ceiling tile over it?

Hey mxaexm and everyone else,

Have a look at my first build thread, http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8578958/tm.htm where you can see some of my building table.

Even though it may not answer the question of getting a perfectly flat building board, it does show a possible solution. My building board is indeed very flat (perfectly flat is nearly impossible with throwing a load of cash at it) and it was not an easy thing to do but it works great. Living in Puerto Rico presents problems with humidity, just like Florida. What I did was to purchase the best (read almost warp free) door that I could find and then attach a sheet of galvinized metal to both sides. When attaching the metal I used a "jig" made of 1x2 steel tubing making sure that the assembly was flat and warp free. I then screwed the door to this assembly and attached the first sheet of metal useing the minimum amount of contact cement. Next I removed the door from the assembly, turned it over and did the same to the other side.

Doing this accomplishes two things. One is that it gets the door flat, second is that it make it just about humidity proof. The exposed wood was then sealed with marine varnish, marine varnish will stretch with temperature changes along with the door and will not crack as easily over time and help keep the door "humidity proof". The sheet metal to keep the door "humidity proof" also and keeps it from expanding too much.

Now I know most people do not build with magnets, but this door covering method can still be used for pins, just put a peice of sheet rock (or whatever)on it and there you go.


If you want more detail (there is much more to the process than what I wrote) just PM me and I will go through the whole thing with you, then you can decide if it is something you want to do.


Miguel

i have a pattern plank ,laminated pine i have used it for 30 years still straight

[quote]ORIGINAL: loochman

Hey mxaexm and everyone else,

Have a look at my first build thread, http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_8578958/tm.htm where you can see some of my building table.

Miguel,

I followed your link...the board and model look great. So, you are a maget board builder...! How do you like using a magnet board?

Thanks for the pics,

Ernie
Sailplane

Again I say what the H-ll, are you trying trying to build ??? this ain't a scientific operation- it's a HOBBY !! most of your Scientific methods have turned more beginning modelers away from the Hobby. by the time that they build a board they are turned off. teach them how build the models with a straight edge, NOT a micrometer. fractions of an inch NOT thousands. enough said !! dick