Question about hinge slot cutting...

We don't need no stinking Slot Machine.

Take an old #11 exacto blade with a pair of pliers and break the last 1/8 to

Use a new blade to score the top and bottom edges of the slot (distance apart dependent on the type of hinge you're mounting) and use the old modified blade to scrape out what's between the slots.

Cheap, available (who isn't sitting on a handful of old blades?) and reasonably effective (it's all I used for the bakers dozen planes I've built)...

/daytripper

a hot knife??? I don't like the results of just a hobby knife.

In a world full of crap, the GP slot cutting machine is one tool worth having! I used to hate hingeing, now I don't mind it at all.

I bought a dubro ? hinge slotter tool , has 3 blades, a picker , and guides for blades the blades are designed to go into a hobby knife handle, just used it on my 2nd plane, its slow going, but works, didnt cost must ,

For CA hinges I just use an X-Acto knife with a #11 blade. For hinged type blades where I will use epoxy, I have used the Slot Machine with mixed results. Most of the time it worked ok but some times I ended up with two parallel thin slots instead of the proper thicker slot. Something to do with the balsa grain near as I can figure which forced the cutting blades apart. That or I screwed up which is always a possiblity. The Slot Machine does take some practice if you want it to make the hinge slots where YOU want them to be...

Yeah! I HATE slotting hinges and the slot machine is great! You can slot a dozen hinges while others would be picking the balsa out of their first hole. Make sure you also invest in the alignment guide tool thingy, it helps alot. Steve

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote:

i really like the slot cutting machine charlie

Absolutely!!! I can slot a whole airplane before you finish your third slot with a knife, and they'll all be uniform and accurate.

p.s. Get the corded slotter and you wont have to worry if your batteries are charged.

Add me to the GP Slot Machine fan's. Used the x-acto and dubro fork slot blades for years. Tried the Slot Machine one time and fell in love with it. I wouldn't go back if ya paid me now :-)

Bob Ruth AMA 720565

I use a Stanley Handy Knofe. The blade is a little thicker so it doesn't snap off and it sticks out just the right length for the hinges. Plus the blades are cheap.

I hate it so much, that I now laminate controls and where they attach, using a central core of 1/32mm ply or balsa, which is missing where I want a hinge to eventually go. Its helpful to fill the gaps with polythene tho, or the glue fills em up. You remove that before installing hinges.

I have to say, mostly I use a strip (or two) of 'solartex' now instead of hinges...

On 1/10/2004 7:19 PM Ted shuffled out of his cave and grunted these great (and sometimes not so great) words of knowledge:

I have the Slot Machine, and do use it ON OCCASION. If the balsa is VERY hard, or I am using basswood, or I am using nylon (pin type hinge) I use the slot machine. For CA hinges I use a #11 blade in a hobby knife.

Words of advice - the slot machine does a great job, but does require practice. Without practice you will not put the hinge slots where you want them.

Bottom line - for the majority of CA hinges I find a #11 blade as fast (in fact, faster) than using the slot machine.

GP Slot Machine ordered, thanx, ken

Robart hinge points are a _lot_ easier to install, and the only tool needed is the drill jig (MSRP $5.45) and a drill bit which most modelers already have.

Irrespective of the type of hinge, marking the location is the same.

With Robart hinge points, you set the drill jig on the "X", drill the hole, and move on.

The first ten years I build model aircraft I installed a s***load of slot-type hinges and got maybe 95% of them right.

In the last twenty years I've installed a s***load of Robart hinge points and have never got one wrong.

Something irksome about needing a $35 tool set-up to install hinges, IMHO.

If you've not seen the Robart hinge points, have a look at the photo album "Scale Hinging" on my web site. Cheers, Fred McClellan The House Of Balsa Dust

I have started to use Robart Hinge Points. They come with a really easy to use drill guide. Perfect results every time.

Regards

Tom Watson Sydney Australia

I'm not sure about the slot machine, but this is what I do now:

If you have a drill press, invest in some small Dremel grit cutoff wheels (they're about an inch across) and the mandrel to hold them. Chuck it in the drill press and raise the bench to just about an eighth-inch or so below the disk and then you can slide your control surface and its corresponding trailing edge up onto the spinning wheel. It makes a perfect semi-circular slot (about 1/16th wide, perfect for pinned hinges) and both are in the exact same spot relative to the top or bottom of the wing.

If you don't have a drill press, get one!

Dan.

I use the alignment guide to get parallel, centered marks. I made a slot cutting tool. I used a cut off hacksaw blade with the back side sharped to a shape like a #11 blade only bigger. You plunge the blade in and as you draw the blade out, the teeth remove the balsa. I get a clean slot that holds epoxy for the larger hinges. If you want thinner slot, flatten by hammering the teeth offset and you will get a slot the same width as blade. Paul

semi-circular