CA Hinge Off Centerline
 

I'm building a Venus 40 with split elevator halves. Somehow, I didn't notice that two of the three CA hinges on the left half were off centerline. Elevator half is now 1/16th inch high on the inside hinge and 1/32nd inch high on the center hinge.

Any ideas on how to fix it?

Thanks, Doug

RE: CA Hinge Off Centerline
 

If it's a CA hinge, why not cut it off, sand smooth, cut new slots and re-hinge it?

RE: CA Hinge Off Centerline
 

I've never had to replace a hinge.

The half of a hinge in the horizontal stabilizer is centered, so I have to cut the hinge and all that CA right in the middle. It would seem to be a difficult task and it might leave a gap larger than the replacement hinge.

Apparently, you have do this before and a reliable repair can be performed?

Doug

RE: CA Hinge Off Centerline
 

I've seen worse fly....but if you want it fixed you must cut it off sand it smooth and rehinge...you must cut new hinge slots as the wood is already CA'ed where the old highes are. good luck

RE: CA Hinge Off Centerline
 

Cut the new slots where the old hinges aren't. You don't have to put the new ones where the old ones were. Repairs are often done quite differently than the jobs are done when assembling the kit. Hinge locations are often not critical.

And you actually won't have to cut all the hinges, just from the inside one that's 1/16" high to the last one that's out of line. With CA hinges, you can usually cut new slots and insert the hinges with some of the other hinges still in place.

But next time you're sticking together an ARF, and see any slots that are out of line, keep in mind that you only have to correct the entry part of the slot. You don't have to have a slot that is dead straight. The hinge can curve all over the place in the slot as it will be very solidly bound once the CA soaks into everything. All you have to do is cut a short slot from where it should have been to intersect the old slot. The CA will solidify everything when it's applied, old unused part of old slot and all.

BTW, it's not a bad thing to do when CA'ing hinges.......... Squeeze the area together right after you've applied the CA. Not a big deal but worth doing for some woods.