Cabin Fever

[IanF]

With the current, and upcoming Covid restrictions, and my skippy leg getting worse, I’ve had a bad case of Cabin fever being stuck in the house most of the time.

So much so I have finished three new ARTFs and am just about to start on a KIT.. I opened the box and it’s just a bundle of sticks! It is a bit of a PANIC for me. 😉 So I’ll be on a relearning curve. 😀

One. Question for you Balsa bashers. What do you build on?
My thoughts are an MDF board with smooth cork tiles  glued on top. What do others use?

[Mike Deans]

Hi Ian, ahh the joys of balsa assembly your'e going to have so much fun even with a few rude words thrown in occasionally, I have in the past used mdf with cork tiles with some success although it was not a large board. I was fortunate some years ago, when I visited a model shop while on holiday, to buy a balsa building board 4 feet in length, been using it ever since.
        I know what you mean about cabin fever, I have a sever twitch myself.

Mike

[PhilR]

Good morning Ian. I use plasterboard, it’s available in various sheet sizes.

[Alan C]

Hi Ian,    i use the material used for notice boards called sundeala but it only comes in 1.2 x  2.4 sheets also expensive  plasterboard sounds good to me cheap and very easy to get ,  happy building   cheers Alan

[IanF]

Thanks for your replies ....I’m going for a Balsa board laid on top of a 3/4” MDF sheet of 48 x30.
It’s way big enough for the four wings I have to build, so no PANIC there 😜

I need pins, glues a new razor plane ( dropped my old one ) , so I’ll put an order in with SLEC in the New Year.

[Mike Deans]

Did you just drop a hint at what you are building ? 

Mike

[IanF]

Don’t PANIC I’ll tell you later!  😂

[MikeB]

I have a SLEC  board and not using for now, your welcome to it

[MikeB]

Failing that plan pinned to plasterboard and covered  by film (got plenty film spare) on a bench or folding table.

Works really well

[IanF]

Thanks for the offer Mike, but I think I’ll get my own as  I may take up building ( must be getting too old! )

I’ve four wing panels to make for the first build, so I may take some time as I don’t want to get in a PANIC by rushing. 🙂

[Norman1]

Here's my tuppence worth  Ian,

3/4 MDF is fine as long as it is balanced.  Put simply the building board needs to be sealed on the underside too or it will never stay flat and will most certainly curl (hence this is why e.g. kitchen worktops are finished on the underside). 48 x 30 is way too big -   48 x (12 - 15) will be more stable. Construct a ladder using dressed 2 x 2  redwood / whitewood - pva and screw the MDF at 3 inch centres - remember my comment re balancing and seal the entire structure with a couple of coats of polyurethane varnish or something similar) before you attach your final choice of board surface to the MDF.

 Tip - purchase  a decent bit of seasoned timber for the ladder and not something from B&Q that's been lying outside for the last three months (fulll of moisture).

Plasterboard lath sheet is fine and is available in small sizes (48 x  18). Alternatively, as Alan suggests, you can use sundeala board - but if you want a low-cost alternative that will do the same job  you can use suspended ceiling tiles.  I'm currently using  12 x12 x 3/8 self adhesive cork tiles.

You are not in a PERKINS PANIC having four wing halfs to build  - are you?

Norman

[IanF]

Thanks for the inputt Norman. If I were to go down your route I’d still be building the board next Xmas 😉.
In my case tha MDF will be screwed down to my workbench which  is made from 1” steel box section with an HD worktop with a hard surface. It’s totally flat,  checked with a 1 mtr spirit level. It doesn’t even sag with me standing on it!  It was previously used as a check area in an offshore warehouse.

On top of that will go a Balsa building sheet from SLEC.
( this is getting a bit complex, I should have got an ARTF 😜)

[Norman1]

That sounds great.

I'm afraid I'm stuck with a portable version that appears when the wife is not at home !!

Norman