Holding stick-built frames down
10-13-2002, 08:13 AM
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Holding stick-built frames down
I'm building a Barron Stearman. The frame is made of 5/16th hardwood dowels. The sides of the fuse went together ok, but when it came time to put in the crossmembers and bracing, I wound up with a banana twist in the fuse.
There were two basic problems: 1) The dowels aren't all that straight. They seem to have a mind of their own. 2) Simply holding the frames over the plans doesn't work as well as it does on my balsa planes.
I use a melamine topped desk for a building table, so putting pins in wasn't possible. I could put in jig blocks and that would work, but be a lot of cutting.
I thought of what I used to clamp 1/4" tubing for my swamp cooler - kind of a "p"-clamp. After going to the hardware store, I spotted some plastic staples used to hold Romex to house frames. This was wide enough, had two nails to hold it to the table, and could be moved and reused by prying them up with a pair of diagonal cutters.
Bought a bag (50 for $1.25), taped the plans down tight, put some waxed paper over them, and then nailed the staples over the dowels. Worked perfectly. I cut matching top and bottom crossmembers, and then used slow CA and a square to make sure the fuse was straight this time.
These might be something that other people building stick-built fuses might look into. Sure is more efficient than all those pins I've been using!
There were two basic problems: 1) The dowels aren't all that straight. They seem to have a mind of their own. 2) Simply holding the frames over the plans doesn't work as well as it does on my balsa planes.
I use a melamine topped desk for a building table, so putting pins in wasn't possible. I could put in jig blocks and that would work, but be a lot of cutting.
I thought of what I used to clamp 1/4" tubing for my swamp cooler - kind of a "p"-clamp. After going to the hardware store, I spotted some plastic staples used to hold Romex to house frames. This was wide enough, had two nails to hold it to the table, and could be moved and reused by prying them up with a pair of diagonal cutters.
Bought a bag (50 for $1.25), taped the plans down tight, put some waxed paper over them, and then nailed the staples over the dowels. Worked perfectly. I cut matching top and bottom crossmembers, and then used slow CA and a square to make sure the fuse was straight this time.
These might be something that other people building stick-built fuses might look into. Sure is more efficient than all those pins I've been using!
