lennyk

My Feedback: (12)

Hello,

Is it safe to take 1/8" rods and thread 4-40 on one side then
drill a small hole so that a pull-pull cable can be passed through.

L

iflyrc24

My Feedback: (5)

I don't see why you couldn't make your own cable ends. The only thing I could suggest to watch out for is the sharp edge and burrs that the drill will leave. You will have to chamfer or smooth the holes so they won't cut your cables.

DEG

Ed Smith

The outside diameter of a 4-40 thread is 0.112". The 1/8 rod diameter will have to be reduced to this before threading. The inside diameter of a 4-40 thread is 0.089". By the time the cable hole is drilled through there will not be much wall thickness.

Ed S

majortom-RCU

My Feedback: (40)

I would be inclined to do a little blacksmithing on the cable end of the rod, pound it to a flat flare to give you a good surface for drilling through, and enough metal around the hole. Ditto iflyrc24, you need to smooth that hole.

I think a better solution would be to bend a short ell at the cable end, then attach the cable with the same knot used to snell a fishhook. You need an old-fashioned fisherman to show you this knot if you don't know it already, but it is a very secure knot. If you seal it with some CA, it will never come undone.

jmulder

My Feedback: (6)

Why not just take a threaded rod, cut it off at about 2 inches on threaded end, screw on a clevis on the threaded end and bend a loop in the other end? Go to Wal Mart and buy some steel fishing leader and a package of crimps for the same size leader you get then just crimp em on??????........John

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

What I don't understand is why anyone considers this kind of effort, which takes away from building time, when Pull-Pull kits have already been made available to us by the hobby manufacturers. Why mess with making your own?

Fighterpilot

My Feedback: (2)

You can buy small eyebolts with 4-40 threads at any hardware store. Simply screw the 4-40 eyebolt into a 4-40 clevis and you have an adjustable pull-pull end fitting. Put an locking nut on the eyebolt and jam it against the clevis to stop it from rotating and backing out of the clevis.

bugsiegel

My Feedback: (2)

when you go to buy the fishing line get the nylon coated line.
now once you have set you length and looped it . twist the loop 2 or three full turns and heat with a lighter. the nylon melts to each other making a clean and strong bond. the bond is stronger than the 30lb test. i use it on my 32 and 40 size planes. with a crimp isn't there a pressure point?

PaulSwany

My Feedback: (45)

I tried the twist and melt method on my SuDoKhoi.... Scared me alittle... but it's working like a champ, and I've hammered it!!

greg-RCU

Answer: It's part of building. Same reason your building instead of buying an ARF. Doesn't building take away from flying time

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

I say it is not "part of building"; for example:

I don't "build" my own servos, I don't "build" my own engine, I don't fabricate my own clevises, I don't "build" my own retracts, I don't fiddle with chemicals in order to mix my own glue, I don't ferment my own alcohol so that I can "build" my own fuel, I don't "build" my own propeller, (someone stop me as soon as you understand my point), I don't grow my own balsa trees in a greenhouse so I can make my own wood, I don't machine my own sheet metal screws, I don't "build" my own glow plugs, I don't "build" my own batteries from scratch, I don't "build" my own fuel pump, (anyone ready to stop me yet?), I don't vulcanize my own tires to put on the hubs I "built", I don't futz around with pigments to formulate my own paint, I don't forge the tools that I use, I don't try to mold my own fuel tubing, I don't mold my own nylon/carbon fiber motor mounts..............

So, why would anyone feel it necessary to reinvent the wheel on a pull-pull setup when they can be had quite cheaply at most any hobby shop. I guess those who do "re-invent the wheel" when it is not necessary are also those who claim it took them two or more years to "build" a plane. No wonder!

lennyk

My Feedback: (12)

I don't live in the US and there aren't any local hobby shops in
my country in the Caribbean either.

So apart from ordering from the US and paying an arm and a leg
to have it shipped sometimes it is good to know alternative methods.

PaulSwany

My Feedback: (45)

Aptar... I know alot of guys that mix their own fuel.... I even read about a guy that built his own engine... Made the investment casting mold himself!!! If no one ever did this kind of stuff... we wouldn't have it to buy.... Everyone likes doing this hobby their own way....

Maybe it just irks the guy to spend $6 - $8 plus shipping to the Caribbean.....

too each their own...

If you don't like it... Go "build" another arf.....

bugsiegel

My Feedback: (2)

i'm actually happier with the twist and melt system than the crimp system or the tie a knot system.
There is a hobby shop in Staten Island NY names Browneys.
I believe the owner's name is George Brown. ( He recently made the AMA hall of fame) He makes his own engines, props, wings, foam wing cutters, planes, pipes ect....
to each is own. some guys just aren't happy till they get their hands wet..
Personally, for me it's a matter of wanting to learn something new. There is a saying i believe in:
" You can tell alot about a guy by his shoes"
That kind of carries over to his planes... :

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

Finally an answer from the original poster which makes all kind of sense. Nowhere to purchase, too expensive to order.

And I especially appreciate PaulSwany's remark "If you don't like it...Go "build" another ARF.......". That was so cute of you to say so. Do you feel better now?

Just for the record, in 20 years of building planes, I have had only one ARF trainer that was purchased a long time ago when my wife indicated interest in learning to fly at the beginning of one flying season and that one was assembled by someone else. In that same 20 years, my best guess is that I have built around 100 planes. In one building season, I completed 13 planes. All but two of the 100 or so were from kits with two being completely scratch built from the drawing of the plans on up to completion. These planes were everything from trainers to Big Bird fighter planes and pylon racers to turbine powered jets. Arf builder, yeah right.

PaulSwany

My Feedback: (45)

aptar - my apologies....

I just couldn't understand someone that coudn't understand why someone would want to do something different... I understand your point... "Why build it when it's readily available"... But some guys just like to do it because they can

Steve Collins

My Feedback: (8)

Thanks Paul. Despite the way previous posts sound, we really do understand each other.

I too have fabricated my own items but mostly they weren't available otherwise and you are right about the satisfaction of doing so. One that comes to mind is a retractable tail wheel assembly that was mounted in several different Dynaflite Corsairs. At one time a few members of a club I once belonged to were playing around with arrested landings. I am usually not satisfied with the scale fidelity of the preformed exhaust stacks which come with some of the scale kits and I carve my own from balsa.

greg-RCU

heh heh post this in the "scratch builders" forum.
"If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe." - Carl Sagan.

Personaly I get a real kick of seeing just how little I can spend to get in the air. Built pushrods by taping plastic straws together - amazingly light and you can run the antena down it. I've got a graphic shaft from a broken golf club. Hmmm... pod & boom Fuse? Wish I knew how to wire those tiny coreless stepper motors from scrap 3 1/2" floppy drives to use as servos .