Wing construction

[Biggles]

Lou I'm about to start work on a 35/40 cm 747 jumbo, any advice on making large models?
thanks, Biggles

[lastvautour]

Dry wood and straight grain that runs parallel to the center line of the fuselage. The wings should be two pieces with the grain of the wood running parallel to the trailing edge of the wing.  Check out http://smm.solidmodelmemories.net/SMF/index.php?topic=1241.0

Lou

[Biggles]

Thanks lou.

[Model Maker]

Lou:

I had always aligned the grain of the wood with the centreline of the wing. It made it easy to shape the wing with the block plane. I never thought of the benefit of having the grain parallel with the trailing edge of the wing. But it certainly makes sense since it is the most fragile part of the wing.

Thanks for sage advise. I'll give it a try on the mosquitoes which I am currently laying out.

- ken

[Biggles]

Yes, I have not thought of it ether.
today my belt sander died, my dad has had it for 13 years. I'm sorry Have not been able to post photos of any planes I've been making, as a Kid I have limited computer time so I hardly get through replies before the timer goes of.
Biggles

[lastvautour]

The only time I align the grain to the trailing edge is for swept wing crafts to provide strength to the wing tips. When doing a delta wing platform the grain is aligned with the leading edge.

Lou

[Model Maker]

Biggles:

Sorry to hear about the belt sander. Not sure what else you and your father used it for in addition to your models. If you are looking for a new one, you may want to consider one of the stationary combination belt and disc sanders. If memory serves me correctly, my combination sander was cheaper than my belt sander. At it's a lot more versatile for model making than a portable belt sander.

Just a thought for your consideration - ken

[Biggles]

thank you Ken, Yes a combo is what i need, ours was a hand held one so I just put it up side down in the vice - a bit dodgy I know but it got the job done. We are thinking about taking the pulleys out of it and making a new one on a frame, my dads a fitter so it should not be to hard. Living on a farm with 9 in the family it will probably be years before we get around to it but it will probably take that long to sell enough models to be able to buy a new one!
thanks for your thoughts on it,
Biggles

[Model Maker]

Biggles - One last thought in passing. If the belt sander turns freely, but just isn't working you may want to check the brushes. The brushes are a wearable item which are easily replaced and cheap to purchase. I just checked the price of brushed for my Makita belt sander. They run around $10.00 for the set. There are lots of places on the web where brushes can be purchased if local parts are note available.

-ken

[Biggles]

thank you ken but I don;t think it is that, I was using it and it started to lose power so I turned it of and it was smoking so I think the motor burnt out.
biggles

[lastvautour]

Biggles and Ken, I have relocated this discussion to ensure it is not lost.

Lou

[Biggles]

thanks.