CafeenMan

A little while back there was a thread that generated a lot of interest in the building system I use. I've also received a lot of e-mail asking about it. So... I finally got around to making some more fixtures for a how-to.

There are drawings on the page that you can download as well as sources for all the hardware and magnets.

I think there is a lot more that can be done with magnets, so if you have any ideas please let me know.

http://www.airfieldmodels.com/inform...oard/index.htm

RCKen

My Feedback: (9)

Great information, thanks for posting it.

I do have one question. where do you get the actual building board?? I don't think that I saw that information in your how to.

thanks again for the info

CafeenMan

My building board is the one that I DO NOT RECOMMEND by Great Planes. I called around to local metal shops and found that I can get a piece of the same metal for less than $10. A sheet of 1/4" x 3' x 6' steel PLATE was about $80. I have no idea if that is a good price or not, because I only called one place to get a rough idea.

jboy381-RCU

try steel scrap yards...they have a lot of stuff to pick from...
john

OldRookie

My Feedback: (13)

CafeenMan
I have a couple of pictures I pulled from one of the threads here, and I thought they were yours. This shows an alternate clamping method.
Do you have any trouble with rust on your building surface?
Are you using cold rolled steel plate or galvanized?
I priced out a piece of 16 gage (aprox .062 thick) cold rolled steel plate, 3' X 5' for $37.00. This would go well on top of a piece of 1/2" plate glass that I use to build on. I planed to tack glue the steel plate using 3M77. The other side of the plate has a piece of SheetRock tack glued to it. Not much fun flipping it over.

CafeenMan

OldRookie - No, those aren't my pics - I saw them in a thread too, but don't remember which one. The plate I'm building on now is the Great Planes board. It's galvanized steel 18" x 48". It's good up to about a .40 size plane. It doesn't rust.

My plan in the very near future is to go check out the local metals guy's shop and see what he has. He said the steel plate he has will rust. My shop is not climate controlled and I live in Florida, so that will be a problem. My scroll saw table rusts, but I keep it waxed and it's not much of a problem. I expect I can put a few good coats of car wax on a steel building board and not have rust problems there either.

I have a 1/2" glass bench top as well. I plan to get an 8' x 2' sheet of steel to build on. I'm not sure what I'll buy yet. I'll have to go see what the guy has and decide then.

The main point I was trying to make is that sheets of steel are not nearly as expensive as I expected. $37 is nothing for a decent building board.

2 Piece

My Feedback: (8)

My building table is 30"x 7'. Built up of 2X's. The top is made up of two layers of 3/4" marine grade ply and two layers of 1/4 plate glass followed up with a piece of 16 ga sheet metal. Plain ole steel, not galvanized, and I spray a coat of black paint on it to help protect it. This table sits on six 4" casters for mobility. It has severed me well for seven years, about once a year I strip the black paint off and give it a new coat.
2 Piece

OldRookie

My Feedback: (13)

I may have to try waxing the steel plate.
I would think that paint would scratch off when sliding the magnets into position. 2piece...Does the paint scratch off?

Greg

localbuyer

My Feedback: (6)

I got a piece of galvanized sheet metal (12''x48") for $12 from a heating equipment company. Then
glue the sheet metal to a flat board. The tool I found most useful for stick building is this one:

http://www2.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXK332&P=7

I was building a Pen Knife and it worked very well with 1/4 thick stick.

tiggerinmk

That would account for your user name!

2 Piece

My Feedback: (8)

The paint will scratch off, but not that easily, remember I used plain ole 16 ga steel sheet not galvanized. Mostly build over plans- so there is not much magnet to paint contact. I use high gloss black Krylon. About once a year or so I strip off the paint and give it a fresh coat- this keeps my building surface looking good.
2 Piece

toy264

Question- why don't you like the GP building board? BTW, your site is down as of 8:00PM CST today.

CafeenMan

The whole server was down for a while - couldn't even contact the host and no e-mail either. It's back up now.

The board itself is fine, but it's only worth about $10-$15 bucks. The plastic accessories that came with it are really cheap. You're supposed to be able to thread bolts into some of them and they break when you do that. So I tried tapping them and they broke then too. Even if you get them to work, they're very flexible (the uprights) and not capable of really holding any pressure on a part or making sure it stays perpendicular because it will just flex out of alignment.

The rest of the accessories aren't real useful even if they do work, although one person who responded to this thread apparently likes the stick hold-downs. I don't find that they are even necessary for stick work but maybe that's just me.

The bottom line is I felt ripped off and I think the accessories that come with the board are so poorly made that Great Planes has to be aware of it and they simply don't care to correct them. Either that or they marketed the board without ever actually using it. So far nobody has really come to its defense, but several people have agreed with my assessment in other threads.

I give a source of materials on my site and you'll see that you can do one of two things: Either save a lot of money, or get a whole lot more for the same amount of money - your choice.

toy264

Good eval.--straightforward and frank without being a smear-- tip 'o the hat.
John

CafeenMan

2 Piece - I'm curious if you have any ideas for ways to use magnets that I haven't mentioned. I'm sure there are plenty more things that can be done. What do you use with your board?

2 Piece

My Feedback: (8)

CafeenMan, I only use the vertical presses (95% of the time) and individual magnets with the plates. I have some home made presses that I made out of ply plus I use the plastic ones. I haven't had any of the problems that you mentioned with the plastic ones available, but then again its been about 4 years since I have ordered them and maybe they have changed. I made my ply presses taller than the plastic ones so I could fit larger pieces under them. I haven't found any uses for the other accessories available.
2 Piece

CafeenMan

Thanks 2 Piece. I was hoping you would have some really clever devices for your board.

When you bought your board, was it manufactured by Ernst or had GP bought the rights to it by that time?

2 Piece

My Feedback: (8)

I think it was Eldon J. Lend? not Ernst. No GP had not bought them out at the time I purchase the system. But the replacement presses I bought about 4 years ago were GP. The only difference I could see was that the Eldon J Lend presses were made of orange plastic while the GP's were made of red plastic.
2 Piece

CafeenMan

2 Piece - Yeah... I always get them confused. Ernst makes the nice antenna exits and stuff. Well, I don't know why I had problems with the uprights, but I still think they are incredibly cheaply made. The thing is I was in Europe when I ordered it and I took leave specifically to build a kit. It took almost 4 months for my order to arrive because they sent it space available. I would have sent it back if I'd been here in the states when I got it, but after all that waiting, I didn't want to wait again.

I'm very happy with the system I have now though. I just need a larger board and I'll be set.

Droopy

Hey guys,

Great info for the magnet systems. I'm working on my 4th Super Chipmunk and am using magnets for the 1st time. I got the GP set and am ambivalent about it right now for most of the reasons Cafeenman stated, but some stuff (rib holders and stick holddowns) have been ok (not great).

Question tho.

Whats a good source for good strong magnets?

Thanks,

John

CafeenMan

I give sources on the page on my site linked in the first post. They have a lot of different types.

Droopy

Thanks! Excellent site and my apologies for asking a stupid question that you had already answered (probably many times)

John

CafeenMan

No problem. Usually questions mean I left something out or didn't make it clear. Thanks for the kind words too.

2 Piece

My Feedback: (8)

Here's a photo of my building table. Under that piece of ply is a sheet of steel when I build with magnets. On the larger planes (1/3) I use brad nails into ply. Works better and easier than pins, it would take to many magnets to hold down these larger parts. So when Im building a big one I build on ply and for the 120/150 size and smaller I use magnets. There are a few other photos of my shop under "tips and techniques- lets see your shop" http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_13...mpage_3/tm.htm
2 Piece