Buy Laser Cut Short Kits | The Balsa Workbench

Attention May 17, 2017: I’m a bit burned out on drafting at the moment, and I need to finish my own designs so I can offer them here. So I will be taking a month off from drafting projects. If you want me to draw your parts for cutting, get back to me at the end of June. For now I will cut from finished cutting files that you send me, as well as the kits on my list.

The list of kits for sale is at the bottom of the page after all of the long winded explanations. Sorry for this, but I get a lot of questions and it’s easier to just put all the answers in one place. You can get a lot more info on my SAQ page.

First of all, when you buy laser cut parts from me, I provide the wood, cut the parts, and mail it to you. You don’t have to send me any wood.

A short kit includes the parts that need to be cut to a specific shape, but it does not include hardware or landing gear, or generic sheet or stick wood, such as wing sheeting, spars, etc. Sometimes I will include rectangular elevators if I have extra space on a sheet, but sometimes I won’t, especially if it’s made of really thick wood that would look better if cut with a knife. I’m trying to save you money, and you don’t need me to cut a bunch of rectangular balsa parts for you, right? You’re a scratch builder and I’m a guy who cuts out the complicated parts for you.

My laser cutter does a good job cutting plywood up to 1/8″ thick. Anything thicker than that ends up looking like a burned cookie. Thicker plywood parts on the plan will be cut from thinner plywood and you will laminate them to make the thicker part. 1/4″ ply will be made from two pieces of 1/8″. 3/16″ parts will be made from two 3/32″ layers, or sometimes I will simply substitute one layer of 1/8″ when appropriate. Please see kit notes for details.

SHIPPING COSTS, AND HOW TO PAY

Look at my SAQ page for this information.

OTHER INFO

If you have a set of cutting files that you or somebody else drew already, you can email them to me and I will cut them out.

If you find an error in your kit, please let me know so I can fix it.

If you find a mysterious piece of wood in your kit that looks like this, it’s probably a dihedral gauge.

Some of my kits include parts for bolting the wing in place, where the original plan shows rubber bands. This is not true in all cases, but there are several with bolt-on kits included. These parts look like this:

The top left piece goes in the leading edge of the wing. The top right piece attaches to the spars. The bottom piece attaches to the bulkhead in front of the wing. A dowel goes through the holes. Go to my tutorial on changing your rubber band wing to a bolt-on wing for details.

I’ve been told that I need to add photos of finished planes to this page. I think that’s a great idea. Please send a photo after you build a plane from my kit. Thanks!

I have already done the drafting for quite a few airplanes, mostly from the RCM catalog. I’m always adding more, and the planes I have done are listed below. On some of them I have incorporated my own modifications, which I think the average builder would like. You can click on the name of the airplane to see what modifications I have made. If you prefer that your kit be cut out to original standard specs, let me know.

BALSA WORKBENCH

Balsa Workbench Primary trainer 37″ Short kit $30 Complete kit $50

RCM

1/2A SST 33″ $30
1941 Taylorcraft 62″ $40
Air Meister 42″ $60
Baby Buzzard 48″ $45
Bandito Grande 82″ $70
Big John OMT 77″ $80
Bingo! 70″ $55
Bobcat 54″ $45
Buzzard Bombshell 72″ $55
Center Fire 30″ $25
Cessna Ag Wagon 61″ $45
Classmate 39″ $30
Cloud Dancer 72″ $50
Cloud Dancer 40 60″ $40
Cloud Dancer 20 48″ (Cloud Dancer 40 scaled to 80%) $30
Cloud Dancer 120 96″ $65
Corkscrew 49″ $45
Das Liddle Stik 46″ $55
Das Mini Stik 36″ $45
Das Ugly Stik 60″ $65
DeNight Special 50″ $32
Divider 41″ $45
Double Trouble 36″ $40
Draggin By 58″ $40
Excalibur 38″ $30
French Poudle 42″ $30
Funster 20 60″ $50
Funster 40 72″ $60
Funster 40 scaled to 48″ $40
Golden Oldie 56″ $60
Golden Oldie 20 39″ $45
Headmaster Sport 40 59″ $40
Hornet 37″ $30
Lazy Ace 76″ $80
Long John 60″ $60
Miss Texas 84″ $65
Miss Vintage 59″ $40
Miss Vintage 122% $50
My O My 54″ $35
New Era III 45″ $45
Omen II 92″ $75
Osprey Bipe 58″ $75
Paragon 118″ $55
Pipsqueak 25″ $12
Q’icksilv’r 51″ $30
Q-Tee 36″ $30
RCM Basic Bipe 35″ $45
RCM Basic Trainer 52″ $40
RCM Big Bird 84″ $50
RCM Big Bird Too 84″ $50
RCM Senior Telemaster 96″ $60
RCM Senior Telemaster scaled to 72″ $50
RCM Senior Telemaster scaled to 54″ $40
RCM Senior Telemaster scaled to 42″ $30
RCM Sportster 50″ $45
RCM Trainer 58.5″ (RCM Advanced Trainer) $70
RCM Trainer Jr 52″ $45
Real Thing Mock Two 49″ $30
RO8 80″ $55
Seamaster II 48″ $45
Simple T-Craft 49″ $40
Small Wonder 46″ $35
Sporty Ace 48″ $50
Sporty Forty 40″ $50
Sporty Forty scaled to 30″ $40
SST 33″ $30
STOL Pigeon 44″ $45
Super Kaos 59″ .60 $70
Super Kaos Jr 52″ .40 $55
Super Kaos .10 – .15 36″ $30
Super Kaos .20 – .25 45″ $37
Super Sportster 90/120 73″ $75
Super Whiz Kid 44″ $35
Tern 54″ $45
Under Dawg $45
Whimpy 66″ $50
Whimpy Too 62″ $60
Whizard 41″ $35
Wicked Wanda 44″ $45
Wildfire 42″ $40
Wolfmeister 38″ $27
Zoegling Primary 1930 73″ $45

Ace RC

Ace foam wing kit balsa ribs $10
4-20 48″ $40
GLH 33″ $20

Model Builder

Big Stik 100″ $85

Model Aviation Plans (AMA)

Commodore 72″ $75

David Boddington

Big Flapper (modified structure, but built over the original plan)
Staaken Z-1 Flitzer scaled to 54″ (1/4 scale) $60

Top Flite

Hot Kanary biplane 38″ $45

Dick Mathis

Quaker 82″ (ribs, dihedral braces, two bulkheads) $30

Midwest

Aerostar 20 53″ $50
Esquire 51″ $40
Li’l Esquire 40″ $35

Other

Birdie Ten by Global 48″ $45
Duellist 116% 80″ $70
Duster by Bill Northrop 67″ $60
ET-20 trainer by Bob Martin 50″ $45
Flea Fli 39″ $40
Flea Fli Plus Ten 42″ $45
Goldberg Eaglet 50 $45
Pilot Models QB10H 39″ $30
Royal Mitsubishi Zero 35″ $30
RC Nobler 51″ $50
Sea Cruiser II 60″ $65
Super Trident glider 98″ $55
Saab 37 Viggen by Ziroli 32″ $40
Splash-E 43″ $30
Twinny by Svenson 40″ $50