AlanM66

Actually these hand planes are still manufactured. You can buy them new - at least here in Australia you can

Thanks very much for your reply. Actually I did see later that the plans do show a C/G symbol. I didn't pick that up when I looked initially.5 deg down-thrust sounds about right. Presumably that angle is in relation to the centre-line of the body of the bird. On my Dancing Wings Eagle down-thrust is about 8 deg relative to the underside of the wing - which sounds about the same.

I have flown RC model planes as hobby for a couple of years and the birds sometimes come and follow the model plane.I had about 60 birds of a number of varieties follow one of my planes around one day - and often there are half a dozen or so. It seems they are just curious about that strange "bird"Occasionally a bird will attack a model plane - usually in bird nesting season, but no responsible person goes and deliberately chases or annoys birds.

I'd also like to know where to obtain plans for this bird

I have been sharpening drill bits by hand since I was taught how to do it as an apprentice fitter and turner over 50 years ago.Unlike in the video I start at the cutting edge and raise and twist the drill to grind the back clearance.If you have never done it before it does take quite a bit of practice to get it right.The important thing is to get the angle the same both sides, the length of the cutting edges the same and the height of the outer corners of the cutting edge the same with about 4 deg of back clearance - if drilling metal. It can be a bit more if drilling wood.Also as stated - don't let the drill get so hot that the metal starts to discolour. Carbon steel drills are softened quickly if they overheat. High speed drills are a little better in that regard but still don't let t...

I have been sharpening drill bits by hand since I was taught how to do it as an apprentice fitter and turner over 50 years ago.Unlike in the video I start at the cutting edge and raise and twist the drill to grind the back clearance.If you have never done it before it does take quite a bit of practice to get it right.The important thing is to get the angle the same both sides, the length of the cutting edges the same and the height of the outer corners of the cutting edge the same with about 4 deg of back clearance - if drilling metal. It can be a bit more if drilling wood.Also as stated - don't let the drill get so hot that the metal starts to discolour. Carbon steel drills are softened quickly if they overheat. High speed drills are a little better in that regard but still don't let them overheat.For drilling metal such as brass and bronze the cutting edge needs to be flattened to a width of about .25mm to .5mm (depending on drill diameter) parallel to the axis of the drill so that the drill doesn't grab and pull itself into the metal. This can be done on the grinding wheel if you are very careful - or by hand using a diamond hone.For drilling metals like steel I like to use a cooling/cutting compound, Tallow (animal fat) works well and is cheap. Or you can purchase "Soluable oil" which you mix with water.Drills will stay sharp longer with a lubricant.For drilling stainless steel I use a product called "Trefolex" available from engineering supplies.For drilling aluminium and lead use kerosene as a lubricant. The same goes if tapping metals.

Years ago a friend of mine in Auckland, New Zealand who had an inground pool used several big coils of black alkathene plastic pipe laid flat on the roof of his garage coupled to the pool pump to heat the water.I think he said he had about 500 metres of pipe all told.He used a floating pool blanket when no one was using the pool and he told me that he was able to extend their use of the pool by several months.I don't remember the size of the Alkathene tubing but think it was 1 inch diameter. Also not sure whether the coils were connected in parallel or in series.While such a setup is not as efficient as a proper solar pool heater it certainly does work and is not too expensive to set up.

Thanks for that link.It doesn't actually say what type of glue it is on that site - but sounds from the description to be a type of PVA glue perhaps - since they mention it can be cured with RF? I know that PVA glues can be cured by RF (radio frequency).as I used to work in a furniture factory that had a RF oven for curing PVA joints in wood panels.The safety data sheet says that it contains a small amount of Aluminium Chloride anhydrous (1 - 5%) which is a hazardous material that can cause burns.The only Titebond glue I have used here in Australia is a PVA glue It was quite a while ago and can't remember what grade it said on the label..

Ah ha - I came across this on a Titebond websitePolyvinyl Acetate (PVA) Glue Any glue consisting primarily of polyvinyl acetate polymer. This category includes most traditional white glues and more advanced yellow aliphatic resin glues. Although PVA glues can vary in strength, flexibility, water-resistance and sandability, they offer good performance, cleanup with water and are non-toxic. Because PVA glues tend to “creep”, or slowly stretch under long-term loads, they are not recommended for structural applications.So - it is as I thought perhaps it was - a type of PVA glue that is reasonably waterproof.I think it was the white PVA Titebond glue I used once before - not the yellow one.

Agreed - epoxy is not the best stuff to work with.- however I am not sure what type of glue you are talking about when you mention Titebond"Titebond" is just a brand name and they make quite a range of glue typesSomeone in America might understand what you mean but anyone else outside USA doesn't neccessarily know.So can you please explain what type of glue you are refering to.Same with Gorilla Glue. Gorilla is just a brand name too and they also make a whole range of glue types. Polyurethae glue was not developed by Gorilla as some might believe but was developed and used in Europe for years before the USA got hold of it.I presume in this instance you are refering to Polyurethane glue when you mention Gorilla since Americans seem to mostly be reffering to Polyutethane when me...

Agreed - epoxy is not the best stuff to work with.- however I am not sure what type of glue you are talking about when you mention Titebond"Titebond" is just a brand name and they make quite a range of glue typesSomeone in America might understand what you mean but anyone else outside USA doesn't neccessarily know.So can you please explain what type of glue you are refering to.Same with Gorilla Glue. Gorilla is just a brand name too and they also make a whole range of glue types. Polyurethae glue was not developed by Gorilla as some might believe but was developed and used in Europe for years before the USA got hold of it.I presume in this instance you are refering to Polyurethane glue when you mention Gorilla since Americans seem to mostly be reffering to Polyutethane when mentioning Gorilla.

I think this is a great concept and could be applied to construction of things like tiny houses too I am sure.I'd be inclined to cover both the inside and outside of the foam with fabric before construction begins. This will make the structure more than twice as strong and not add significently to the weight. The inside fabric could be a bit lighter than the outside. When both sides are covered you have in effect an I beam construction.Using a synthetic fabric allows a bit of "give" in the structure to absorb stresses without cracking.I have built several light plywood dinghys using the same synthetic tape as is sewn along the edges of horse blankets. I glued it along the chines both inside an outside (no framing). The tapes are saturated with epoxy resin and allowed to cure o...

I think this is a great concept and could be applied to construction of things like tiny houses too I am sure.I'd be inclined to cover both the inside and outside of the foam with fabric before construction begins. This will make the structure more than twice as strong and not add significently to the weight. The inside fabric could be a bit lighter than the outside. When both sides are covered you have in effect an I beam construction.Using a synthetic fabric allows a bit of "give" in the structure to absorb stresses without cracking.I have built several light plywood dinghys using the same synthetic tape as is sewn along the edges of horse blankets. I glued it along the chines both inside an outside (no framing). The tapes are saturated with epoxy resin and allowed to cure off. Again you have here an I beam structure.One of the dinghies I towed for around 6000 nautical miles and never had any delamination,cracking or failures of any kind of the joints despite a lot of sailing in winds of up to 35 knots and in open waters. Neither of the other two dingys have had any failures either.I am of the opinion that a trailer built using these method of construction will stand up to the rigours of being towed even on rough roads without problems.While these materials give off toxic smoke if they burn, if the cooking area is lined with thin aluminium sheet the risk of fire is extremely minimal.There are thousands of boats that are built using foam and syntehtic resins so I don't see any difference as far as safety goes.

AlanM66 made it! (author) Reply a few seconds ago I think this is a great concept and could be applied to construction of things like tiny houses too I am sure.I'd be inclined to cover both the inside and outside of the foam with fabric glued on with epoxy resin before construction begins. This will make the structure more than twice as strong and not add significently to the overall weight. The inside fabric could be a bit lighter than the outside. When both sides are covered you have in effect an I beam construction.Using a natural or synthetic fabric allows a bit of "give" in the structure to absorb stresses without cracking.I have built sever...

AlanM66 made it! (author) Reply a few seconds ago I think this is a great concept and could be applied to construction of things like tiny houses too I am sure.I'd be inclined to cover both the inside and outside of the foam with fabric glued on with epoxy resin before construction begins. This will make the structure more than twice as strong and not add significently to the overall weight. The inside fabric could be a bit lighter than the outside. When both sides are covered you have in effect an I beam construction.Using a natural or synthetic fabric allows a bit of "give" in the structure to absorb stresses without cracking.I have built several light plywood dinghys using the same synthetic tape as is sewn along the edges of horse blankets. I glued it along the chines both inside an outside (no framing). The tapes are saturated with epoxy resin and allowed to cure off. The tape on the outside was faired off with filler before painting the dinghy. (I have seen glass tape split in this application). Again you have here an I beam structure.One of the dinghies I towed for around 6000 nautical miles and never had any delamination,cracking or failures of any kind of the joints despite a lot of sailing in winds of up to 35 knots and in open waters. Neither of the other two dingys have had any failures either. It was still going fine when I sold it.Polyurethane glue (one of the types of glue Gorilla manufactures) is the best glue in my opinion for gluing foam. It will give a joint stronger than the foam itself.You don't need to drill holes in the mating surfaces to give adequate strength. The foam will break long before the glue lets go.if my experience of building model planes from foam is anything to go by.I am of the opinion that a trailer built using this method of construction will have no problems standing up to the rigours of being towed - even on rough roads.While these materials do give off toxic smoke if they burn, if the cooking area is lined with thin aluminium sheet the risk of fire is extremely minimal.There are thousands of full size sailing boats and launches that are built using foam and synthetic resins so I don't see any difference as far as safety goes.There are two ways to build a curved surface with foam.The first is to laminate the curve from thinner sheets that will bend to the curve easily.The sheets can be glued together with epoxy.The other is to kerf the inside. That means cutting spaced groooves about half to 3/4 of the way through the foam (depending on the radius of the curve, the spacing of the grooves and the thickness of the foam) on the side that will become the inside of the curve.Bend the foam to shape in a temporary jig and glue on the fabric inside. Then glue the fabric to the outside once it is fully cured.

I think this is a great concept and could be applied to construction of things like tiny houses too I am sure.I'd be inclined to cover both the inside and outside of the foam with fabric glued on with epoxy resin before construction begins. This will make the structure more than twice as strong and not add significently to the overall weight. The inside fabric could be a bit lighter than the outside. When both sides are covered you have in effect an I beam construction.Using a synthetic fabric allows a bit of "give" in the structure to absorb stresses without cracking.I have built several light plywood dinghys using the same synthetic tape as is sewn along the edges of horse blankets. I glued it along the chines both inside an outside (no framing). The tapes are saturated with...

I think this is a great concept and could be applied to construction of things like tiny houses too I am sure.I'd be inclined to cover both the inside and outside of the foam with fabric glued on with epoxy resin before construction begins. This will make the structure more than twice as strong and not add significently to the overall weight. The inside fabric could be a bit lighter than the outside. When both sides are covered you have in effect an I beam construction.Using a synthetic fabric allows a bit of "give" in the structure to absorb stresses without cracking.I have built several light plywood dinghys using the same synthetic tape as is sewn along the edges of horse blankets. I glued it along the chines both inside an outside (no framing). The tapes are saturated with epoxy resin and allowed to cure off. The tape on the outside was faired off with filler before painting the dinghy. (I have seen glass tape split in this application). Again you have here an I beam structure.One of the dinghies I towed for around 6000 nautical miles and never had any delamination,cracking or failures of any kind of the joints despite a lot of sailing in winds of up to 35 knots and in open waters. Neither of the other two dingys have had any failures either.Polyurethane glue (one of the types of glue Gorilla manufactures) is the best glue in my opinion for gluing foam. It will give a joint stronger than the foam itself.You don't need to drill holes in the mating surfaces to give adequate strength. The foam will break long before the glue lets go.if my experience of building model planes from foam is anything to go by.I am of the opinion that a trailer built using this method of construction will stand up to the rigours of being towed - even on rough roads - without problems.While these materials do give off toxic smoke if they burn, if the cooking area is lined with thin aluminium sheet the risk of fire is extremely minimal.There are thousands of full size sailing boats and launches that are built using foam and synthetic resins so I don't see any difference as far as safety goes.