elevator hinging
 

I'm putting together an old kit I've had stashed in the attic for years, a 1/2 version of a dirty birdy, this one called a baby birdy and wondering what to hinge the elevator/rudder with. The kit had no hardware and the wood is only 3/32" thick. I painted the horizontal and vertical stab fearing that monokote would distort the thin wood. Tape hinge?

RE: elevator hinging
 

You could use stitched hinges in a figure 8 pattern, be sure to round the stab and control surfaces where they meet to get full movement.

RE: elevator hinging
 

CA hinges will work well. Get the medium and cut them in to two. Or just get the small size.

Frank

RE: elevator hinging
 

+1 on CA hinges. They will cost you no wood strength and there's nothing more permanent.

RE: elevator hinging
 

I used monokote hinges on a Pitts I built. It was just a test to see how they would work. Actually they held up very well and as a benifit there was no gap between either surface. Should work great when the material is very thin and it was very easy to do. After hinging I just finished covering the plane with the monokote. It turned out great, and was really simple.

RE: elevator hinging
 

thanks for the info. I thought about the CA hinges but I don't know if my great planes hinge cutter would cut a pocket in the thin wood without making a mess.

RE: elevator hinging
 

I.m not so sure the GP hinge slotter is the tool for this job. Try useing an x acto blade & take your time. Or try the slotter first on a piece of scrap wood the same thickness.......Gene

RE: elevator hinging
 

I ground a hook blade for my xacto and it's perfect for CA hinges. It's actually not sharp anywhere since what you actually need is for it to dig out the wood, not cut it.

RE: elevator hinging
 

I convert a lot of the little 1/2A kits to electric and for hinges I just use covering for hinges then cover over them. Works great. Better then trying to cut hinge slots in that very thin sheeting. I have one of the Ultimates I will be building real soon. Using covering hinges on a plans built plane right now that has too thin wood for normal CA hinges.

RE: elevator hinging
 

:eek: Well I tried the ca hinge method which worked ok until I got in a hurry and the last slot poked out the bottom using the hinge slotter. Some sanding and filling and I cleaned it up. In this case I should of used the monokote method. Thanks all for the hints.

RE: elevator hinging
 

I have used pieces of Monokote Trim Sheet in the past with great results. I think the trim sheet is a bit thicker/stronger that regular Monokote ..... and it is self-adhesive.

Bob