quick bulding question
 

what is the significance of a level building service?

RE: quick bulding question
 

Hmmmmm


Did you mean a level building surface ??. Helps you build straight and true without warps. Important for a straight and true flying plane.


Vince

RE: quick bulding question
 

so if i just used a a bar level and made sure everythign was level and straight i should be good?

RE: quick bulding question
 

It gets you off to a good start for sure.
I look at it like this...garbage in = garbage out.

RE: quick bulding question
 

if i were to buy a door core would the surface that it rests on have to level

RE: quick bulding question
 

Actually straight is more important than level. You could build a wing vertically given the right setup and build it straight. We say level because that is the easyist way to know ifsometing straight. If youhave a long straight edge, and itlays flat with no gaps on your board whenyou check it on both the front and rear edges and the right and left edges, and from corner to corner, then the board is flat and straight. It may be off level several degrees, but is is a flat surface and a good building board.

Don

RE: quick bulding question
 

wow that just answered all of my questions for now thanks for the help guys.

RE: quick bulding question
 

So now, show us what you are building.

Don

RE: quick bulding question
 

A door is a very good and inexpensive method for getting a flat building surface. Glue several ceiling tiles(weighted down while the glue dries) to the door to make it easier to use the pins that hold your work in place.

RE: quick bulding question
 

A hollow core door is pretty useless if you want straight and level. I finally broke down and got a solid core. Look around in the door dept for a gnarfed up solid core and ask to make a deal, otherwise the solid core doors get pretty expensive.
So far I'm happy with the solid core. The hollow onr would warp and twist with the seasons.

A level bench is very important when you start setting incidence.

RE: quick bulding question
 

You bring up a different aspect that I have always thought important.
Straight (not warped) is very important to build structures that are true (not crooked with them selves).
Level on the other hand is only important if for instance your using incidence meters to set up the relation of the wing to the stab. I use incidence meters on the wings and then measure to the front and rear of the stab to set it relative to the wing. In this case your surface needs to be both straight AND level. Hope I'm not getting more involved here than what your original question was.

RE: quick bulding question
 

I made my surface with construction grade 2*4 and 3, 1/2" decking screws. Simple table with cross sections so I could level the surface with thin card board and paper. I used 3/4" mdf for the surface (very flat but don't get it wet so put yer coffe somewhere else, ask me how I know...) Once you have it level and true in every direction lock it down with a few screws. Then I throw a sheet of drywall over the top and pin into the dry wall. Works very good!

If yer gona make your table the full 4 feet by 8 feet I suggest you use 2*6 with a foot in the center...

RE: quick bulding question
 

I made mine years ago from 3/4 X 12 X 8 soft pine, lamanated two of them together so it was 24 inches wide, ran it through an over head sander then a planer. I added three cross braces cross wise on the bottom so it doesn't warp. Before every build I check it to make sure it is flat without warps. If it starts getting too much glue or epoxy on it I take it to my wood working club and run it through the sander. The pine allows me to use pins and it holds them very well. I'm seeing a lot more builders using metal tops and magnets for building these days.

RE: quick bulding question
 

Don't waste your money on any door. Buy a GP building board, they come in three sizes, I buy the 16x48 for $30.00.And will last for a long time. I just bought a new one after twenty years.I only replaced it because my other one was pretty beat up, but still flat.

RE: quick bulding question
 

I have a solid core door I bought from the lumber yard for 5 bucks it had been mortised wrong . then I glued on a piece of 1" ridged foam. I have it set on one of those compiset folding tables. Just make sure no warps, twists, bows, bends, perfectly flat and true surface.

RE: quick bulding question
 

I got a plate glass coffee table top that had defects for free. It is 30x60x3/8. I put it on a angle iron frame with foam tape on the iron rails. On top of the glass I placed a ceiling tile. Works great and is flat!

RE: quick bulding question
 

I have a piece of 1/4" tempered glass on top of my building table (not building board) It is pretty flat but I decided once to use it as a surface while I sheeted a foam wing. I put the wings in the shucks and put my building board on top of them and weighted it down with a couple hundred or more pounds of weight. I didn't know it at the time but this put a nice even gentle bow into everything. The top was up so all it did was add a little dihedral and it flew just fine. The point here is glass all by itself is indeed flat but strange as it seems it can be bowed without breaking.

RE: quick bulding question
 

Techincally glass is a liquid. The process you described is the reason I went back to the solid core door for a flat straight surface to build off of. After burning several sets of cores and all of them having bow and twist things needed to change.

RE: quick bulding question
 

thanks for all the great tips i have a table i can put the door core or whatever i decidee to get but the only thing that might thwart me is that the table is very narrow but it is long. and i am building a 1940 so long "free flight" im gonna end up putting a AXi 2208-26 in it with micro servos. just to clarify as long as the table i straight i wont have any problems once i get the building surface. also i am really likeing the GP building board i think that might be a good place for me to start.

RE: quick bulding question
 

if you have a table thats close.. but off a little you can use paper or oak tag to shim underneath your ceiling tiles. I have one bench I built that was off a tiny bit..by shimming it with some paper I got the ceiling tiles on top dead perfect...

I don't know if I missed it above but I have a surface that actually isn't ceiling tiles now. Its a denser board..mdf maybe? someone here on RCU recommended it on a thread a few years back...I can just get t pins into it, and they hold like iron...