The title of this thread is “Thats a Clever Idea" or it could be "Why didnt I think of that.” :graduate:
As modelers we come from all sorts of backgrounds.
Sometimes your education, employment, or life experience is of great assistance to your modeling as you have aquired some skill or knowledge along the way,
which you can apply.
The other way of aquiring skill and knowledge is by example or copying.
“There is nothing new under the sun,” is one quote that you may have heard."
So, if you have a good idea that you have seen elsewhere or thought up yourself please share it here so that we might all benefit from that shared knowledge and use your idea if it should fit our need.:zbeer:
Here is my good idea to start us off.
The challange is…to adjust the bulb weight and position on a FOOTY keel before fitting everything into its final position.
Solution…use an offcut piece of groovy alloy mast section filled with lead (or shot/epoxy mix) which can be slid along the fin to find the correct position before final glueing.
Bloody clever, what?
adding graphite powder to yer resin, adds hardness and slickness.
adding aluminum powder is good for uv protection…
nigel
OK, here goes one. You often find yourself in the need to drill a hole thru the longitunal axis of a mast or a boom and after you drill it, it is horribly off center. Here is a trick used by machinist to over come this.
Of course your surest way is to use a drill press or a mill/drill and a vice. When you get your piece oriented under your drill bit and before you drill, lay a small ruler across the piece and bring the drill bit in contact with it (NOT RUNNING THE MOTOR). The ruler will tip to one side or the other, so just move your piece around until the ruler is straight and you will be on the center of your piece.
Bob
A grommet used as an adjuster can also be used instrad of a bowsie by running the line underneath it (i.e. between the grommet and the spar).
Here is how I drilled the holes in my masts. I am spending the winter in sunny Arizona and so I am away from my workshop
I took a piece of scrap wood, about 2 * 2 * 1 inchs. With a handsaw, I cut a 45 degree angle cut along the length of the wood, then cut another on the oposite angle. This created a 90 degree groove. Next, I drilled a pilot hole at the peak of the V, through the wood.
Now turn the wood over, lay it on the mast, and drill back through the pilot hole into the mast.
Get an atomizer from a craft store. You want one that puts out a mist, not a spray. Fill it with denatured alcohol. When you’re about to lay on a finish coat of epoxy, “poof” the surface of your mixed epoxy with the alcohol. The mist will thin the surface of the epoxy and allow bubbles to burst, so you don’t paint them on your work. “Poofing” the epoxy after it’s laid down will pop bubbles that were inserted by the painting process.
Cheers,
Earl
Blowing LIGHTLY with a warm breath over a surface on which you just applied epoxy will often cause those same bubbles to surface and pop due to carbon dioxide in one’s breath.
Putting an epoxy brush inside of wax paper in freezer will allow a second use of the brush within a 24 hour period without having to wash out the brush in acetone.
For really small mixes of epoxy, you can use the attached graphic - just enkarge or reduce on copier to get the size of cirles to mix the small amount needed - Overlay with wax paper - no scale needed.
Old broken window glass (or cut glass for straight edge) can be used as a scraper on “green” epoxy to remove drips, runs and give a quick smooth surface without loading up the surface of sandpaper. “Green” (not completely cured) epoxy easy to remove before full cure, but glass scraper will work on cured epoxy too.
If trying to saturate balsa for waterproofing without a thick surface resin build-up, - heat the balsa under lamp BEFORE coating with a thinned epoxy resin. As the wood cools down, the pores will “pull” the epoxy resin into the wood. (If heated after coating - wood pores will release air bubbles. See item #1 to fix)
WEST System epoxy can be thinned with Acetone, lacquer thinner or alcohol. Stay away from open flames ! Viscosity can be controlled this way, but strength of joints is reduced - I suggest for coating use only. If viscosity is too thick, entire can of resin and hardener can be placed in warm water to allow contents to warm up and get thinner.
Reuse plastic butter tubs (polyethelene type) for mixing epoxy. Let harden, deform the plastic tub and cured epoxy will pop out so tub can be reused, and reused, and reused.
If quick epoxy pondside repairs are needed, increase warmth of boat and resin to help epoxy “kick off” quicker - just place inside of a black garbage bag and leave it in the sun. Careful as heat build-up happens quite fast!
Use plastic packaging tape as a covering before coating which will allow you to remove cured epoxy. It won’t stick to the smooth, glossy finish. Can also cover a part made from foam to release covering of fiberglass cloth (works like mould release).
