jmiracle

My Feedback: (9)

OK....so I finally botched one....and I'm not happy about it.[:@]

I have been working on skinning all the foam parts of a new 35% kit. I had glued up the skins for the first wing panel and put it in a vacuum bag to cure. I usually let the parts sit undisturbed for ~12hrs...I've done this many many times before and never had a problem...and I think this is where I went wrong.

After I pulled vacuum and everything was where I wanted it, I left the basement and didn't check the wing again for several hours. When I did finally check it, the power strip that the vacuum pump was plugged in to had tripped....killing power to the pump. I'm not exactly sure how long the pump ran, but I don't think it was very long. The front half of the wing skins were only adhered in spots....the back half did better, but still has spots that are not adhered. I had maybe 50lbs max on top of the wing just to keep things flat.

So I've already accepted that the skins are ruined and will need replaced. My bigger concern is the core. I can peel the skins off, but I will take the first layer of beads off with the wood. This will leave some pretty rough spots in the foam.

Should i even attempt to salvage the core, or just toss the whole thing and order a replacement? I do not want to risk the plane by using a questionable wing panel.

In any event....the lesson here is make sure your vacuum pump is the ONLY device plugged in and running when skinning wings![:@]

Steve

My Feedback: (54)

Best way is to sand them off. Not pull them off. If you have some wood carving tools you can strip the balsa off down to the glue. The balsa should be softer than the glue and make it easy to strip the balsa and sand the core.

tkilwein

Is the glue water soluable?
If it is not, I would do the sanding as mentioned first.
I have a small planer that I would use to get most of the balsa off first before sanding.
If you do not have one they are ~$3-4.


Tony.

sweetpea01

My Feedback: (10)

I see your biggest problem being weight......


I think with time and work you can salvage the wing core, but if you sand too much foam or not enough glue that wing may weigh more or less than the other side.

mglavin

My Feedback: (31)

I'd obtain a new wing core, ultimately your subjecting yourself to many problems. Weight and effort being at the top of the list for a wing panel that might be imperfect when it’s all said and done.

cbk07

My Feedback: (64)

I agree with mglavin. For the time and expense that goes into one of these planes, it is worth buying a new core (assuming it is still in production). I would hope the manufacturer would be sympathetic to your situation and treat you very fairly. Good luck whatever you decide. Craig

jmiracle

My Feedback: (9)

I think that's what I'm gonna do....there's no way I'll ever get the 2nd panel as nice as the first....not to mention all the extra weight.

The thing that worries me most about trying to sand off the skins is that the skins are only adhered in spots. I'd never be able to sand the glue off without sanding down the surrounding foam. The finish I'd get after re-skinning would look terrible....not to mention what the sanding would do to the airfoil. A good airfoil on one side of the plane and different airfoil on the other side sounds like a trimming problem I don't even want to deal with.

Oh well....at least this happened early in the build so it won't affect the finished airframe.

Thanks for the suggestions.