Air Racer Cook-up

[K_mars]

K-2 of Kawanishi Aircraft Company is only and real Speed-Racer developed in Japan.
At the start of the 20's it was realized in Japan that racing planes could be of great interest, therefore the first plane in the country designed for that  purpose was built by Kawanishi and designated K-2. It was to be powered by a six-inline Hall Scott rescued from another plane.
By 1921 the result of the endeavor was a very pleasing, modern –for the time- little plane of refined lines that showed promise. It was made mainly of wood and had a low cantilever wing of constant chord.
color scheme:all silver,no serial.

kenji.

[Balsabasher]

Kenji,what a machine ! just look at that radiator up top,this one has to be made as a solid,thank you for the drawings.
Barry.

[K_mars]

Barry,

I drew the illustration of K2. The position of the radiator is interesting.

kenji.

[K_mars]

Production of tail of "Conquest I".
The aerofoil tip of the tail is cut down with the knife.
This knife can cut down the curved surface.

The aerofoil tip bonds another tree. This is because of making it to the grain that cuts down easily.

kenji.

[Balsabasher]

Dear Kenji,exquisite drawing of the K2 and that oddly positioned radiator,no doubt for maximum cooling at the expense of good vision !

Your carving techniques are appreciated and very interesting,what type of wood are you using ? the grain looks very fine,these insights into your work are being absorbed and are inspirational.

Barry.

[K_mars]

Barry,

This wood is called "HOO".

In English, it is called "Magnolia obovata".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnolia_obovata

The wood is strong, light, and easy to work.The processing of small parts is easy.

kenji.

[Ken Pugh]

I need to find me a knife like that, love the long, narrow blade.

Ken Pugh

[Balsabasher]

Yes Ken me too,I struggle through with a No.10 blade in a craft knife,the problem is X-Acto discontinued that blade years ago and I am getting low on stock,something like this excellent tool would be ideal.

Barry.

[Mothman]

It's really very simple to make such tools as these.  All you need is a bench grinder and a stone to hone it.  One of the best honing tools is now the diamond dust hand flat some of which even come on a key ring. I have a diamond dust block which was way too expensive for a hobby item, but I had to have it for work, so a £100 "stone" was justifiable. I now use it to sharpen everything from scalpels to 2" chisels and plane irons.

My Dad always used old table knives. He'd snap them off (if they weren't already) and grind them up into whatever shape he felt comfortable with, then give them an occasional scrape on an oil stone to keep them razor sharp.
You can find old knives of fine old steel at boot fairs and Sunday Markets anywhere for pennies.  Nice bone handles on them too.
My Grandad also did that to make inlay and marquetry knives for his cabinet making.

I also use a lot of Swiss files and every now and then I break one being impatient. Immediately the remaining bit gets ground and honed into a new tiny chisel, which can cut Ureol, hard wood or clean up solder.  Nothing is ever wasted.  Broken fine drills can be used the same way.  It's all good steel and is therefore tool quality.

Cheers,
Martin

[Balsabasher]

Some good tips there Motham,I built my P-38 Lightning from Ureol,there is a wood shop near me that makes staircases etc the manager has seen my models and glady lets me have offcuts,I like free !
Barry.

[Mothman]

Barry, how did you get on with the Ureol?  It's lovely stuff, but can be a bit "crispy" and edge chip I find.  nonetheless I've used it on 1/20th scale Aston martins, BTCC cars and a model boat and am enjoying it so far on the Rapide model.
Perhaps we should say that Ureol is also known as CIBATool, Axson, Ebalta and Renshape and comes in many different grades from Crunchie bar to frozen Bournville!

Martin

[Balsabasher]

It is ok Martin but needs special care as it can split without warning,my Short Shetland flying boat had the hull carved from Ureol and it held the crisp edges on the chine etc,it is a very heavy wood as well which has a certain feel to it,sometimes the grain can look odd and change direction rather abruptly,it takes a wood rasp well and will sand down to a sheen,I think that my stock comes under 'Frozen Bournville' and had always thought that was its characteristic until you mentioned that it comes in other grades.
I am leaning all the time with its characteristics and trying to get the best from it for my purpose.
Barry.

[Mothman]

Barry,
we're talking at cross purposes here, I think.  Ureol is a modelling board, epoxy I believe.  I first saw and used it in Germany when I was making prototype cars at VW.  Is there a wood called Ureol too?  That would be an amazing coincidence.  In America it's known almost universally as Renshape. These days patternmakers use it instead of mahogany or Jelutong.  Certainly the darkest one looks like Pear, which is my favourite wood for fine carving.
I have enough pear to do my occasional 1/48th scale model boats or any aircraft I want to do for me in the future.  I believe some call it Swiss Pear.
I could send you a bit to try if you like.

Cheers,
Martin

[Balsabasher]

Ah synthetic wood ! yes I have a few bits in my specials bin,it is very good for carving small items like wheel spats etc,yes the Ureol I use is a wood,what a co-incidence ? they use it in the ornate staircase industry.
I can see now why you use it because it has no grain or anything,how do they produce it so air bubble free as well ?
I have had my offcuts for years and treasure it because I do not know where to get any more of it,I have some Jelutong as well from the days when I would visit pattern makers and sweep their floor for the spoils,very few pattern shops exist around here now (Warwick )

Barry.

[Mothman]

Barry, that was weird!  I'm doing the Rapide entirely in "synthetic wood", but the dust is a problem and I may yet go back to pearwood, so I can chisel it, not file or sand, because wood dust can be dangerous too. It's started making me itch, since I put three oak trees in our old canal boat during her restoration.
I assume when the synthetic stuff is made it's done in a vacuum de-gassing tank.

I don't rate Jelutong as highly as many. It can be unstable in large chunks. Odd for a patternmaker's wood.  My boss at Toyota was a youngish Brummie patternmaker and he was obsessed with jelutong.
He told me to draw some out of the stores and it was twisted like a big propellor. Quite unsuitable for the job required. I had to leave most of it on the workshop floor in trying to straighten the plank.
I also worked with a lad in Germany who reckoned he was the last time-served patternmaker in the Midlands.  But he was on £16 an hour in England, so he was happy enough.

Cheers,
Martin