How small pieces do you save?
 

I have noticed since I started in RC flying last year that I can't seem to throw away anything. Now I know that there are a lot of things I should save. Like the left over balsa sheets after the parts removed. It makes a good place to cut out other pieces that I might need. However, I find myself saving even very small pieces of balsa, thinking that Oh I can find a use for that one some day. Has anyone establised any personal guiedlines or is it save until you can build something?...or simply don't ever let it go.

How small pieces do you save?
 

Hookedonrc,

Geez, that is a real delima. What to do if you can't dicard ever diminishing pieces of scrap. Tell you what has worked for me. Some years ago I was buliding giant scale. As time has past, and pieces of scrap have grown smaller, I've simply adjusted the scale of my planes downward. I'm now building dime scale. When, at last, there is nothing left but balsa dust, vacumn up the what's left and start all over again!

No, even save the Balsa dust
 

Even the Balsa dust is usable. Great for packing into the inside corners of a firewall (among other places) with your finger and then while holding your nose drip in a few drops of thin CA and walla, instant reinforcement.

John :)

How small pieces do you save?
 

I always seem to have 5 or 6 old kit boxes full of "very usable" scraps. Once in a great while I will sort it out but I always seem to have the same number of boxes left! Have found my best solution is to give a box full to a newcomer, even if he has an ARF he will need it sooner or later. John, try this with your balsa dust, when building a stick plane, dip the end of your cross braces & uprights in the dust & after putting in position glue with fast CA, seems to make a stronger joint.>>>>>>>big max 1935>>>>>>

How small pieces do you save?
 

John, sounds like a great idea for dust, but how do you get your finger out after you have glued it to the firewall?


....just kidding, I leave for vacation tomorrow and in a great mood and just couldn't help myself...lol

balsa
 

i had to cut my scrap down to one box of only pieces to make stringers or ribs out of..anytihing smaller had to go...wife started complaining about not having a diningroom table or something like that...geez...

How small pieces do you save?
 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by hookedonrc
[B]John, sounds like a great idea for dust, but how do you get your finger out after you have glued it to the firewall?


He, He that parts easy get it outta there before you drip the Ca. The hard part is remembering to hold your nose, dripping Ca on dust is instant smoke and heat and that stuff is nasty. Another use is inlaying torque rods in a trailing edge. Just grove a slot lay your torque rod in with no bering sleeve, just grease it up good with vaselene or KY jelly ( :D ) Crisco works good too, pat in your dust and drip then crack the rod free, instant super strong torque rods that won,t flex. Works great on my pylon ships.

Max I,ll have to give the stick method a try sometime. Actually I like ddubya's idea best of all, just reduce the size of your project as scrap gets smaller :cool:


John

How small pieces do you save?
 

Haha I was just thinking about that with covering the other day and I think I have the first piece of scrap I ever made, for some reason it all goes into the box. But some day I'm going to have a plane with a real wild cover scheme and I never run out of patch material.

How small pieces do you save?
 

Wow,
didn't realize there were so many fellow compulsive balsa hoarders out there! Here's another solution to an ever growing balsa scrap box. Buy a big gun, hold it on yourself and start throwing scrap away.

How small pieces do you save?
 

I am both anal retentive and a pack rat... anything larger than sawdust rarely gets thrown out... I constantly require more boxes for my stuff.

How small pieces do you save?
 

All of the small sticks are perfect for mixing epxoy so there is an endless supply. I have four boxs of scrap balsa and ply. I have used the scrap and rough sand paper to make balsa dust to use as a filler. I am un willing to just waste the balsa by throwing it away.

Dru.

How small pieces do you save?
 

I keep pieces that are fairly small. I put it in freezer bags to sort it out and always try to make a piece from scrap before cutting into a new piece of wood.

How small pieces do you save?
 

I know what you mean about throwing good pieces of balsa away.
I made on out of State move few months ago and had to get rid of all unnecessary baggage so about 3 boxes of scrap went to the curb along with various pieces of plane crash parts.

Kids in the neighborhood had a field day. :D

How small pieces do you save?
 

F.Ciccarello - That was me. :)

Small pieces
 

Hello,

Before I read the text I thought the title of this thread was referring to the size of pieces you saved from your crashes because I picked up every piece I could find. I would then go home and put the plane back together like a jigsaw puzzle and insert the missing parts out of my scrap box and then recover the plane and go out the next weekend and do it all over again.

I eventually stretched this time to a month, then several months but somehow I just cannot get it to years at a time.

I also have boxes and boxes of spare parts and pieces of wood.

Keep em fly'in, John

How small pieces do you save?
 

I try to save any scrap that may be big enough to cut a rib from it as far as sheet material goes. If is a block or something like 1/4" or bigger strips I save them all regardless of length because them make good reinforcing gussets. Then there is ply or basswood scraps, save just about all of that material.

How small pieces do you save?
 

Cafeenman: thats funny I made my move from Florida. So you got the Pica T-28 pieces.............lol

How small pieces do you save?
 

I find myself tossing anything under a square inch in size.
and even that depends on future building plans.

How small pieces do you save?
 

If all you have to worry about is balsa scraps from models, you're very lucky. Even after a dozen models, you're probably only talking about a medium sized box. Now, think about building and home improvement. Wouldn't want to throw away that 9" length of 2x4 would you? Might could come in handy someday. Wouldn't want to have to go all theway to Home Depot for a little bitty piece of wood. Same thing for that scrap of flooring, might need it someday. Dowels, same thing, any size, and they can be used for paint stirring. And don't get me started on Coroplast for Spads. I'd hate to have to get a big mail order in just because I'd thrown away a scrap I needed later, so that goes in a big box too.

In summary, it didn't take long to completely fill up my workshop (that's MY space, somehow the entire rest of the house is HER space). Now, anything new comes in, something's got to go out, there's no other way. Actually, the finished planes are a bigger storage problem than the balsa scraps!

How small pieces do you save?
 

I used to save it all too. Now I throw all the stuff away. I had so many boxes of garbage under the stairs and old boxes from kits with old plans. It got to be too much. I keep some of the plans now but none of the scrap wood. I figure any more if I break one, I end up scrapping it or giving it to someone anyway. Haven't broken any in years so it doesn't come into play very often.

How small pieces do you save?
 

Pinball/FlyBoy - I see your point, but I almost always go to my scrap boxes before cutting new sheets of wood. If you were to see my shop you'd see one small box of plywood scraps and one box of balsa sheet scraps. Everything else is either sticks or sheets.

The idea for saving scraps (to me at least) is to not cut up larger pieces of wood when you don't need to.

How small pieces do you save?
 

I actually do have one box that I throw scrap wood into just for that type of thing. Guess I don't throw it all away, just 99 % of it. I do have a pretty darn good selection of new wood in drawers that I pull from too. I probably have a better selection right now than most hobby shops. A friend of mine built 8 huge cabinets and filled them up. When he died, I bought his estate and man, he had almost as much of this stuff as I did. Sold most of the stuff and kept the cabinets. Wish I would have kept all 8 instead of just the 4 I kept. They are awsome.

How small pieces do you save?
 

I keep a 5 gallon plastic bucket next to my workbench to toss the remnants of die-cut sheets into. If I need a scrap for something I use that. I also keep them in case I missed a part. Once the project is over I dump the bucket in the trash. I usually don't keep small scraps of balsa. Just hardwood and plywood because I use them for control horn reinforcements, cowl mount blocks etc. Usually I'll only keep a 3-4" long cut off from balsa sheet. Anything smaller than that goes unless I have an immediate use for it.

As far as wood goes, I have a large stock of sheet that I store in racks built into my workbench. I usually place a $500 order once a year or so from Balsa USA. That stocks me up pretty good.

How small pieces do you save?
 

I always have some scrap around except for the size I really need. Oh well guess i'll have to go shopping!:D