help in cutting out from plans and getting balsa wood, required tool etc

Actually I would appreciate one of the more experienced hands in this group taking a stab at som esort of tutorial on this point myself. Indespensible tools almost forgotten techniques and etc. Please guys help this guy and me out.

Maybe this might help you ??

Cut the parts out of the plan very carefully. Attach to balsa with paper mucilage. Cut very carefully around outline. Remove paper from balsa. Sand.

Make sure you cut your parts to the proper grain direction, which should be indicated on the plans. If you dont, the part will not handle the designed stress of the part.

oldog wrote:

There are several tricks the OF's use, but one I use is fairly simple. Print them out or photocopy them with the setting on dark and then put them face down on the balsa and iron them with a sealing iron. The ink will transfer and you will be in business. Just remember that you are getting a mirror image...

Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

There are several methods of transferring the plans to balsa. With each method I strongly suggest making 2 copies of the original plans first and then working from the copy to do the parts. The reason for this is that copiers sometimes change the sizes on plans (a little longer, shorter ). Use one set of the copies for the parts and the other set to build with. That way the parts AND the building plans are going to match.

With all methods make sure the grain of the balsa is running the correct way for the part.

1. Make a copy extra dark and use an iron to low to transfer the part outline to the balsa.
2. Same as above, but wet the plans with acetone prior to ironing. If you use this method I strongly suggest doing it outside as acetone is flammable and the fumes are rough on the lungs.
3. My favorite method. Cut the parts from the plans and adhere them to the balsa using a glue stick (kids school supplies) or muselage or rubber cement. Then cut the part and sand JUST TO THE EDGE OF THE PART. Remove the pattern after sanding. The downside to this is that there is frequently a residue left on the balsa from the glue stick, rubber cement, etc. For ribs, fuselage formers and stuff that will not have covering attached or be showing just leave it be. For the parts that will be showing or have covering attached sand lightly with some 220 grit paper.

If you are using a scroll saw for cutting the parts I suggest the following:

use an 18 tpi (teeth per inch) or 20 tpi blade. This will not tear the balsa up.

cut the part about 1/16" larger than the outline and sand to the outline.

For multiples of the same part (wing ribs ), I usually adhere 4 or 5 together and cut as one unit. I then take the stacks and cut the slot for the spar. Then I place all the stacks on the spar, adhere the stacks together and sand as one unit. Finally I separate the ribs and label/mark them with a soft pencil with the part number.

If the mirror image not suitable, print a mirror image of the plan first, then ironing gives a mirror of the mirror image - ie now the right way round

"Six_O'Clock_High" Print them out or photocopy them with the setting on dark and then put

To build a plane you have to have some idea of what you are trying to accomplish in a hundred things that need doing in construction. Go find a kit or buy mail-order a kit. Build some kits of planes you can manage. Simple planes, then more complex ones. Build from plans when you know you can handle it. There will be a dozen problems to solve that you will have to figure out on your own. Experience from kits is the only real way. If you cannot afford to buy decent plans you certainly cannot afford this hobby. Subscribe to "Fly RC" and "Model Airplane News." They are not expensive, they are full of information and ideas and the advertisements are listings of the parts and assemblies and plans and kits that exist and can be bought at a hobby shop or by mail to solve problems you cannot even imagine until you have to solve them.

Minimum building space is probably like the setup I use. I have been building balsa airplanes for 60 years. Continuous low-key effort. I have a table from Wal-Mart, fiberglass with folding legs; a storage rack made with 1 x 2's from Home Depot, total space 3 ft by 8 ft and 8 ft tall. Cost about $200 total for table and rack. In building the kitchen table will not work because it will take days or more likely weeks and probably months. Continuous process. Foam kits and ARFs are a lot faster.

Lots of big expensive power tools are very nice. Us ordinary mortals get by with hand tools. You need a couple of Exacto handles and a substantial supply of (#11) blades. A large flat file (shaper); a supply of sandpaper and some wood blocks to serve to hold the sandpaper. Hand tools- 6 and 8 inch needle nose pliers, a couple of hemostats in different sizes, a medium size ball peen hammer, a razor saw and two or three screw drivers of phillips and flat tips, an allen set in inch and one in metric, water pump and channel lock pliers, about a 100 T-pins from hobby or fabric stores, Saran Wrap, blue painting tape, a kit pack for electrical work that includes a crimper tool and a decent small soldering iron. Make sure any solder you buy is 60% Tin and 40% Lead and not the other way around and it has a rosin core. You will need a propane torch and buy silver solder as a small kit from a model airplane hobby supplier. Find propane cheap in a camping supply place. Buy a Coleman propane lantern while you are there for emergency lighting. I bought a bottle of Propane last week at Wal-Mart for $2. Another brand of the same stuff on the same shelf was $7. For tools and a box for them check Harbor Freight. A Dremel or similar rotary tool will help. An electric drill is required. Razor plane from the hobby supplier. You really do not have to buy expensive pretty things like a $150 Flight Box to build good airplanes. Just buy decent plans, good balsa and parts, and use decent tools made to do what needs to be done. A couple hundred dollars worth of tools and supplies will get you to where you can reasonably start to begin to build from scratch. Kits are actually a little cheaper but the same tools are pretty much still needed. Foam ARFs can be done (sometimes and according to the manufacturers) with bare hands and maybe some special tools included in the kit. Ultimately there is no end to the list of tools or supplies and the ones mentioned above are only an idea of the minimum to get by.