Miss vintage
 

Hello. I'm begin the Miss Vintage's construction and I have a question. What is the better way to bend 1/8 x 3/16 spruce wood to make stab.? This wood is very hard, I used steam, water, alcohol but I can't bend it very well. Thanks in advance for your comments.

I built one of these a couple of years ago. I made laminated wing tips and a laminated stab LE from 1/16 balsa strips. Easier than messing with the spruce, and lighter. It balanced without adding nose weight with a Saito .40 engine.

If you want wire wheels, a good source is "Herbie Wheels" (do a search). He's a German guy, his English is very good, and his web site has a phone number. I think I paid about $100 for a pair, although the dollar is down quite a bit against the Euro since then.

You need to keep the wood in the steam or in lightly boiling water for about 20 minutes. Then it should bend more easily.

Perhaps with your altitude the water or steam is not hot enough? If that is the case I would switch to 4 pieces of 1/16 x 3/16 for the bent parts. Even with the lower temperature that should get soft enough after about 20 minutes in boiling water to make the bends more easily.

I built a VK DR.1 with tail surfaces made from laminated strips of spruce about 1/32" in thickness. If you examine the article attached it states the tail surfaces are laminated not solid spruce. f you can't find thin spruce use basswood it should work fine.