Building Table

Here is a moderately expensive table that I built for myself from an RCM article:

Seems like an excellent plan to me.

Marty

Sounds like a good plan to me. Instead of a framework I just fastened a straight piece of 2X2 about 8 ft long against the wall at the right height and made up 3 legs for the front. I cover mine with a piece of 2" pink polystyrene insulation. I buy an 8 ft X2ft long piece and cut in two so I can have one on the go and another sitting in the corner. Since I can't use cyano, I use white glue or model A/P cement. Whilst waiting for something that is pinned down to dry I simply stand that peice in the corner and put the second one on the door and keep working on whatever is pinned to it. Works for me. Gord Schindler MAAC6694

That system makes a good building table - lightweight and truly flat.

Go for it

Malcolm

Just one word of caution. I use a hollow core door for my table and sit it on two ready- made sawhorses. In order to insert pins necessary in the building process, I laid a piece of soft ceiling tile on top. The tile is firmer that foam and takes pins well. A good pinning material that is big enough is hard to find since it has to be firm enough to hold the pins.and large enough to accommodate large scale wings. The doorskin is too hard for this purpose. In the process of building a large wing, I discovered much to my dismay, that the door had warped (concave) over a period of 4 years. This was probably due to the spacing of the sawhorses so take note.. I like the sawhorses since the table can be dismantled quickly if this is a requirement. I couldn't believe that door would warp but it cost me a completed half wing for 1/4 scale J3. The 2x4 along the wall would certainly help this warping problem. It could be lagged into the studs for quick removal.

Good luck mate from the other side of the world where its currently minus 15 degrees Celsius. Brrrrr. Knew a University Professor from Perth many years ago. He taught at the University of Toronto and returned after retirement.

G'Day Thommo,

I have a door also. Mine has a layer of 25mm cork. Take pins perfectly.

My door is mounted on a steel bench frame that I have mounted wheels. I can move it around the workshop and get to both sides. The cork was not cheap (it cost me about A$100, but it works well and is a bit more durable than the ceiling tiles or foam. I turn the door over if I am doing dirty work (painting etc). I try to keep the cork side clean.

Regards

Tom Watson Sydney Australia

I recommend a solid-core door. It will be heavier, but it won't warp like a hollow door might. I put ceiling tiles down on the top side and cover them with 3/32" cork. It takes pins great, and is the perfect building surface. Mount the door to STURDY legs. You can build them yourself easily. Good luck with it!

Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

i'm using a forgotten ping pong table (tabletennis)

PERFECT! Same thing I've used for 30 years. Best building board system ever!

I use a solid interior door that has a 2X4 frame underneath with cross-bracing to counteract gravity. On top is a layer of Sheetrock (wallboard). I've built many a straight wing for almost 10 years now and it cost me maybe $35.00 total.

My neighbor uses the same set up but between the door and the Sheetrock there is a 1/2" piece of glass. Straight and true for sure...I believe the glass cost him $150.00. Cheap though, considering what a large warped wing might cost to rebuild.

Whatever you use, do not forget to take a metal straight edge (such as a yard/meter stick) and check the "flatness" of your surface with the edge. I shim up my building surface with newspaper in the low spots. With the large size of a building surface it`s easy to have a low spot here or there. Another good building surface is a piece of tempered glass. Perfect for any flat surface (stabs, fins, sides etc) the you can just glue and weight down. Great for sanding also. I use a glass top from an old coffee table I found at a yard sale. rick markel

My Model Aircraft Home Page

The core door works great and you can put three wire and turnbuckle trusses (like the old time RR boxcars) under the bottom and control the warpage quite accurately. I just pin right into the surface, it's soft enought if you get luan(sp?) plywood but a sheetrock surface works well too. I didn't use it tho because I thought that the extra weight of the gypsum board would aggrevate the warping problem. You can rub the surface with pariffin wax to prevent glues from sticking to it. Rub the wax on heavily and then use your heat gun to distribute it evenly.

Phil AMA609

Thommo wrote:

That works, but you DO have to make sure it is supported. It is amazing how much even 1/2 inch think glass can bend!

Aileron37 wrote>> Another

So true, I should have mentioned that, thanks. rick

Glass is considered by some to be an amorphous solid. That is, the molecules are rigidly bound but disordered. Others consider glass to be a very slow-flowing liquid because there is no crystalline structure formed as it is cooled during processing. Glass exhibits properties of both solids and liquids.

Reference -

The glass building table WOULD have to be very well supported, moreso than a wood table.

Dr.1 Driver "There's a Hun in the sun!"

I do the door thing. Cheap, and it works great.

From Dr. 1:

Then the old telescope lenses and mirrors must be sagging into puddles of Silly Putty.

Bill(oc)

I made a 3600 x 600 frame of 50 x 75 pine, topped it with 19mm chipboard, also made some shelves below top. Put heavy duty castors on it and it sits in middle of shed as a moveable table. It VERY important to make a solid well braced frame so you dont get warped models.

I then topped the whole thing with a 1200 x 3600 sheet of canite cut in half.

This is the ultimate surface to build on, nice and soft foe pins and when you finally destroy it (both sides) you throw it out and get a new sheet. The canite is the key.

Americans call canite someth>Hi Guys, yet another newbie here, (from Perth, Western Australia)but I

Bob Tomlinson

Aussie RC Enthusiast and Rugby Fanatic.

Thank heavens the USA hasn't discovered and packaged Rugby.

Actually, if you measure the xxx hundred year old pane glass in some of the surviving landmarks, they are very noticably thicker at the bottom than at the top, and are getting more so all the time.