Yes! \u00a0I started this website to help people learn how to build balsa planes. \u00a0I like helping those who are striving to achieve a goal. \u00a0If it becomes apparent that I care more about your project than you do, or if I’m contributing more effort, that’s my cue to kick you out of the nest and let you fly on your own.<\/p>\n
The usual way that model airplane knowledge is gained is trial and error. \u00a0Ask me a question and I’ll answer it, but sooner or later you’ll need to stick some parts together and fly the plane yourself. \u00a0I can suggest airplanes for you to build, I can give flying advice, and I may even be able to help you design your own plane, but the final decisions are all yours.<\/p>\n
Where are you located?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n In Missouri, USA.<\/p>\n What exactly is\u00a0a short kit?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n A short kit is halfway between a scratch building project and a full kit. \u00a0It includes the parts that need to be cut to a special shape, but you still have to gather all of the parts necessary to complete an airplane, including sheet wood, sticks, and hardware.<\/p>\n So you’re a scratch builder who hired a guy to do the tedious cutting.<\/p>\n Can you include all the sticks and sheets for my short kit to make it a full kit, and charge me the extra money? No, my list is way too long to do that.\u00a0 I keep a full range of sheet balsa on hand for cutting flat parts.\u00a0 I have over 200 planes on my list.\u00a0 If everyone wants me to turn every short kit into a full kit on request, I would have to keep an inventory of every size and shape of balsa and spruce sticks, plus balsa blocks, landing gear blocks, and trailing edges.\u00a0 I’d have to double my inventory, with no guarantee of frequent enough turnover to make it worth the investment.<\/p>\n Can you provide a bill of materials to tell me what I need to finish a short kit?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n No, I’m not going to compile a list of materials for each of the over 200 kits on my list.\u00a0 Shopping for materials is part of the fun, so go ahead and do it yourself.\u00a0 Here’s a guide to help you get started<\/a>.<\/p>\n Do you have the Whoopie Doo XYZ 40 in stock?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I don’t have any kits in stock because they are all cut to order. \u00a0Everything on my list is waiting for you to order it.<\/p>\n I want a kit that’s on your list, but I want the fuselage curved instead of straight, and I want the wing moved back 2 inches, and I want the tail a different shape. \u00a0Can you do that?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n It sounds to me as if you don’t really want the kit from my list. \u00a0Apparently you are a model airplane designer, and I think that’s great!\u00a0 If you design a new plane you will benefit yourself and the rest of us. \u00a0You may be the next Joe Bridi. \u00a0If you’re doing your own design, then you should go all the way and design the whole thing, then learn how to cut out your own parts<\/a>, and when you get the design all figured out send me the files or a scan of a well drawn plan and I’ll cut it.<\/p>\n I don’t want you to think I’m being sarcastic or rude. \u00a0I really do want you to design your own plane, and cut out your own parts, because it’s fun. \u00a0I don’t need to be involved, though, because I don’t have a magic wand that can make your vision come to life. \u00a0 \u00a0I don’t have the passion you have for your own project.<\/p>\n Short answer: \u00a0You want your ribs out of 1\/8″ balsa instead of 3\/32? \u00a0No problem. \u00a0You want two sets of parts for the wing? \u00a0No problem. \u00a0You want me to design your plane? \u00a0No thanks.<\/p>\n I have some files for parts. \u00a0Can you cut them?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Yes, I can cut parts from .ai files, .dxf files, .pdf vector files, or .dwg files. \u00a0If I’m not doing the whole project I’m less likely to find mistakes, so you’ll probably want to go over everything carefully yourself. \u00a0I know I just said in the previous question that I don’t want to cut a modified design, and all that jazz. \u00a0This is different. \u00a0The other question is for people who choose an airplane and tell me to change it. \u00a0(No thanks.) \u00a0This question is for those who know what they want and provide a drawing or finished files. \u00a0As long as you’re telling me exactly what you want, I can cut it out.<\/p>\n I sent you some files but you said you can’t open them.\u00a0\u00a0I’m not a computer whiz. \u00a0Can you fix my files?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n No, I’m not a computer whiz either. \u00a0I know how to use my computer and my software. \u00a0I start with a scan of a plan and I draw parts, and I cut them out. \u00a0Making DXF files work correctly is not my specialty, so if the file doesn’t open, that’s the end of the line for me. \u00a0I have a long list of other parts that other people want me to draw, and I’d rather do that than try to figure out why your files don’t open.\u00a0 Don’t ask the chef to fix \u00a0the oven. \u00a0He just wants to cook.<\/p>\n I have\u00a0a 100″ Spitfire plan, but I want you to shrink it to 50% and cut a kit. \u00a0Can you do this?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n This is a not-very-good idea.\u00a0 Two different sizes of the same plane should have different structural design. \u00a0You can’t just change scale and expect to build the plane straight from the plan. \u00a0You have to do some engineering work to build it correctly.<\/p>\n As a parts cutter I want to send you a good product. \u00a0If you resize a plan with a copy machine and tell me to cut out the parts, that may not be a good product. \u00a0Somebody needs to figure out the new thicknesses for sheeting, sticks, and landing gear blocks. \u00a0If I was doing it I wouldn’t be satisfied without some flight testing and redesigning, but unfortunately I don’t have time to do that for everybody. \u00a0It’s your project, so you need to do the engineering, and draw the parts for me to cut. \u00a0This puts us back to the question directly above this one. \u00a0“I have some files for parts. \u00a0Can you cut them?” \u00a0And the answer is yes, but I’m not designing the parts. \u00a0You are.\u00a0 Here’s a whole article you can read for more info on rescaling<\/a>.\u00a0 In the end the design decisions are yours.<\/p>\n I sell some kits of rescaled or redesigned versions of standard planes, but in most cases these are planes I have redesigned and tested myself, such as the QTee 10, Cloud Dancer 10, etc. \u00a0If you want a new project, you have to do it yourself, the way I did\u00a0mine.<\/p>\n What’s the turnaround time after I place an order?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n It’s usually pretty fast, but sometimes not.\u00a0 Sometimes the guy right in front of you in line orders something that cleans out all of my 1\/8″ plywood so I have to wait for new stock to come in.\u00a0 Sometimes my laser cutter is out of adjustment because the weather was warm and then it got really cold for three days and I don’t feel like adjusting all the mirrors just so I can adjust them again three days later.\u00a0 Sometimes all of these things happen at once.\u00a0 Orders usually come in waves at the beginning and middle of the month because of payday, so sometimes I just have a ton of stuff to cut out all at once.<\/p>\n Usually when I receive an order I can get right to work on it, but after that it’s subject to UPS’s schedule.\u00a0 UPS comes to my small town only Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and they tend to pick up at the local spot around noon.\u00a0 Depending on when I handle your order it may not go out for a few days.<\/p>\n So the short answer is that your package may be shipped the next day, or sometimes ten days later.<\/p>\n Do you ship to foreign countries?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n The only foreign country I will ship to is Canada. I feel like it’s just silly to start with $25 worth of wood, add $45 worth of labor, then pay another $70 to ship it across the world. \u00a0You should just cut the parts out yourself. \u00a0Even if $25 worth of wood costs $35 in your country you could buy twice as much and waste half of it on mistakes, and your final cost would still be half as much as it would cost to get it from me, and there would be no risk of it ending up smashed, busted open, lost or stolen.\u00a0 And you could cut all your parts in the time it takes to wait for mine to arrive.<\/p>\n Incidentally, shipping to Canada is terribly expensive and seems like an unjustifiable waste to me.\u00a0 I can cut your fuselage sides in half and save about 20 bucks if you want.\u00a0 Or you can pay the going rate for a full size fuselage side.\u00a0 Usually packages arrive safely in Canada, so if you want to spend the money it’s your choice.<\/p>\n If you live in some other country maybe you need to learn how to cut your own parts, or buy your stuff straight from China.\u00a0 They seem to have an unlimited capacity to ship things cheaply and assume damage liability.\u00a0 (If you’d like to know why China can always ship cheaper than I can, you should read about the International Postal Treaty, which works better than any plan you could have devised to destroy Western commerce.\u00a0 That’s right, you don’t really get cheap shipping from China.\u00a0 American taxpayers already paid for the shipping.)<\/p>\n You would make an exception for me, right?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n No.\u00a0 I ship to Canada and the USA.\u00a0 That’s about all the liability I can tolerate.\u00a0 Even if the shipment is covered by insurance, if it gets lost or damaged I will pack and ship 2 or more times to get paid once.\u00a0 No thanks.<\/p>\n I still like my overseas friends, and I am always happy to help you guys learn how to cut balsa wood and stick it together. \u00a0That’s what my website was originally for, long before I got a laser cutter, and I’m still here to help those who are willing to help themselves.\u00a0 So go ahead and buy some bulk balsa and hardwood sticks from wherever you were planning to buy them when you thought you would be finishing one of my short kits, put a sharp blade in your hobby knife, and start cutting.<\/p>\n I have a question but I don’t like to type. \u00a0Why don’t you post your phone number so we can talk about it?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I spend a lot of time outdoors and I don’t like playing phone tag.<\/p>\n Everybody has a cell phone. \u00a0Give me your cell number and you can answer anywhere.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I have a cell phone but I don’t like the cell phone lifestyle, so it sits on my desk pretending to be a land line.<\/p>\n There are some really great people out there, and my website has allowed me to become acquainted with a lot of them. \u00a0I used to build and sell harmonica amplifiers, and I spent hours talking on the phone about amplifiers, music, sound levels, loud drummers, etc. \u00a0It was too much, and I don’t want to let that happen again with model planes. \u00a0I love you guys, but I can’t talk to everybody on the phone all the time. \u00a0Just send me an email.<\/p>\n I sent you an email but you didn’t answer.<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n There are a couple of possible reasons for this. \u00a0Maybe I’m out of the house. \u00a0I read and answer email on a desktop computer, not a cell phone. \u00a0Sometimes you’ll hear from me at midnight or on a Sunday morning, but this is not always the case. \u00a0Sometimes I’m out of the house. \u00a0If you’ll exercise a little bit of equine retention (hold your horses) I’ll get back to you before too long.<\/p>\n On the other hand I get quite a lot of email, so sometimes yours will fall through the cracks. \u00a0So if you don’t hear from me for a few days, giving me a little nudge could be helpful.<\/p>\n One other reason for not hearing back from me is that maybe you mis-typed your address in my contact form.\u00a0 Or maybe I answered and my message went to your spam folder.<\/p>\n Can I specify balsa grade for my short kit?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n No, I can’t afford to do that.\u00a0 The current global balsa situation is pretty sketchy. Over 90% of the balsa harvest goes into windmill blades, and we have to be happy with what we get.\u00a0 I imported a bunch of balsa, and it’s not bad.\u00a0 Not perfect, but not bad.<\/p>\n Where do I get plans?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n There are multiple sites online where you can get them.\u00a0 Plans used to be published in magazines, but now that we have the internet you can find websites where people have been uploading old magazine plans. \u00a0My favorite website is outerzone<\/a>. \u00a0PDF files have size data encoded in the file, so the print will come out at the right size. \u00a0When you have downloaded the file, tell the print shop employee to print your plan at 100% (unless I tell you to print the plan some other size<\/a>.) \u00a0You can also buy paper plans from various companies that still publish them, or buy old ones on ebay.<\/p>\n There are also some plan sellers on ebay who have a ton of PDF files stored, which are then printed on paper and mailed to you when you buy the plan.\u00a0 Here’s a secret:\u00a0 These ebay sellers downloaded their PDF files from Outerzone, which I know because some of the PDFs are the very same ones I scanned and shared to Outerzone myself.\u00a0 These ebay sellers are not model airplane geniuses.\u00a0 They’re just opportunists looking for suckers.\u00a0 Download the plan yourself for free and shop locally for printing.<\/p>\n If I want you to cut me a kit, do I send you the plan in the mail so you can make the parts?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n You don’t mail me any paper, and I don’t mail you any paper. \u00a0If you want me to cut out a specific kit, I need a PDF of the plan.\u00a0 I can find most plans at Outerzone, but in the case of a plan that hasn’t been shared there yet, you’ll have to get your paper scanned somewhere and email me the PDF.<\/p>\n Can you cut any kit that I want, even one that’s not on your list?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n I’m implementing a new policy on special requests.<\/p>\n I’m currently developing full kits including hardware, a plan, and instructions.\u00a0 The process involves setting up a supply chain for parts, building prototypes, writing the instructions and taking photos for the manual, and getting an old HP large format printer up and running so I can print plans.<\/p>\n This process has been extremely challenging because there is always something to distract me from the project.\u00a0 That’s largely my fault because I have an unconventional lifestyle, varied interests, and frankly a poor work ethic.\u00a0 But also, potential customers making special requests for new short kits creates an unwelcome delay in my full kit project.\u00a0 Although I want to help everyone out with their requests, I’m afraid I’m going to have to put new requests on hold indefinitely while I work on my full kits.<\/p>\n I don’t want to delete the entire special request section from my FAQ page, so I’m leaving the next section intact so you will know what not to request later when I start taking requests again.<\/p>\n Are there some plans you will not cut a kit for?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n While it is true that just about any kit can be cut, there are a few caveats. \u00a0Some\u00a0plans are just\u00a0crap. \u00a0Maybe the drawing is all blurry, or maybe somebody spilled coffee on the original and ruined some important parts. \u00a0Some kit plans don’t even show all of the parts. \u00a0I’ve seen other plans that left a lot of questions unanswered in the drawing just because the designer didn’t think of it. \u00a0For instance, sometimes you can’t tell if the fuselage bottom is below the sides or between them. \u00a0A bulkhead view helps to clear up that kind of question, but some plans leave a lot of questions unanswered. \u00a0I’ve seen where major fuselage assemblies are somehow together on a drawing with no explanation of how they’re supposed to be connected.<\/p>\n I don’t want to work from a bad plan because a bad plan requires interpretation on my part and yours, but we may not have a meeting of the minds. \u00a0In the end I’m hoping to send you parts you can use. \u00a0I do not want to take your money and send you a bunch of weird parts that aren’t what you really wanted. \u00a0I don’t want to spend tons of time figuring things out anyway. \u00a0I just want to draw. \u00a0For those reasons, I prefer to stick to common designs that are well drawn.<\/p>\n Another thing I’ve decided is that I’m not the Big Scale Airplane kit cutter. \u00a0I’ve been asked to do plans for giant scale monocoupe type airplanes from the 30s. \u00a0These are beautiful planes, arguably the pinnacle of artistic beauty in aviation. \u00a0I love these planes.<\/p>\n I also get requests for a giant DC-3, various World War II fighters big enough to need their own trailers, and other giant scale subjects. \u00a0Other kit cutters already have the reputation for cutting giant scale model parts for these beautiful projects, and I \u00a0don’t want to try to get into that market. \u00a0It would be sort of like starting an auction website to compete with ebay.\u00a0 After I sell one copy, future buyers will go to the kit cutters who are already well known in the giant scale genre. My specialty is 1\/2A to 120 size sport planes published in magazines. \u00a0I’ll just stick with that.<\/p>\n I also don’t cut out planes that are currently in production by a regular kit maker. \u00a0If you want a 4 Star 40 or a Kadet, call Sig.<\/p>\n How can you cut parts for a plane if you don’t own the copyright?<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n Well, this is a big can of worms. \u00a0Let’s dive in. \u00a099% of the things that 99% of people think they know about copyrights are wrong. \u00a0Most people don’t even know how to spell copyright. \u00a0(hint: \u00a0There’s no W.) \u00a0It means the right to copy printed material or electronic recordings\u00a0for distribution for free or for pay. \u00a0If we assume that we are talking about aeromodeling for the purposes of this discussion, the copyright applies to a printed plan or an electronic facsimile thereof or an electronic drawing. \u00a0It does not apply to the building of planes\u00a0that may have been inspired by the drawings, nor the business of hiring somebody to provide parts, nor to hiring somebody to build the plane, nor any combination of these activities.<\/p>\n Have you ever heard of anybody showing up at a bake sale claiming that the production and distribution of a pineapple upside down cake is a violation of the cookbook copyright? \u00a0Neither have I. \u00a0Only the cookbook itself is copy protected. \u00a0Similarly, a copyright owner who sells you a printed or electronic plan is selling the image only. \u00a0The copyright owner does not own your right to build airplanes, or your right to cut out parts.<\/p>\n There is another legal instrument called the trademark, which almost never gets mentioned in arguments about model airplanes, usually because it doesn’t apply. Trademarks are used to prevent other people from saying a specific word or using a specific image to advertise similar products. \u00a0You can’t sell potato chips called Frito Lay. \u00a0You can’t sell a hat with big black ears on it and call it Mickey Mouse. \u00a0This is all pretty obvious. RC plane names are very rarely registered as trademarks, but for some reason most people seem to believe in imaginary rights secured by a “copyright on a design”. \u00a0Designers who want to enforce their imaginary rights sometimes\u00a0pretend<\/em> that it is illegal for an unauthorized person to mention the name of the design and cut out pieces of wood. \u00a0Some designers assign imaginary rights to a specific kit cutter, and ask other kit cutters to desist from cutting out little pieces of wood and desist from saying the name of the airplane.<\/p>\n For instance, Joe designs a plane and calls it the Sky Guy. \u00a0He calls his buddy John who has a laser cutter and says “You’re the designated kit cutter for the Sky Guy. \u00a0Charge whatever you want, and give me 20 dollars every time you cut one.” \u00a0Then a random enthusiastic modeler sends me the plan for the Sky Guy and asks for a kit. \u00a0Sure, why not? \u00a0So I draw the parts and put the Sky Guy on my list, and then Joe emails me and tells me that John is the official source of Sky Guy parts so I’d better take that one off my list.<\/p>\n Contrary to popular belief, there is no legal basis for this request. \u00a0I’m not making copies of the plan, and “Sky Guy” is not a registered trademark. \u00a0And besides, the plane is usually a totally uninspired effort that looks like this anyway:<\/p>\n Joe’s drawing is protected by copyright, but he did not register “Sky Guy” as a trademark, and if he\u00a0wants\u00a0to claim\u00a0that his\u00a0design is off limits to other people\u00a0he is\u00a0required to make a legal argument that the design is innovative in some way and is thus worthy of protection, rather than just a box with a Clark Y on top.<\/p>\n This has actually happened to me.\u00a0 The name of the actual plane is not a registered trademark and no rights actually existed.\u00a0 I complied with this friendly but legally unfounded request to desist, simply to avoid potential hostility from well meaning members of the modeling community who wish to protect the imaginary rights of designers.<\/p>\n I vaguely remember some issue many years ago about a light aircraft company, possibly Piper, threatening legal action against model airplane makers using the name and trademarks owned by the full scale airplane company, but that’s an entirely different issue because the company actually did own trademarks.\u00a0 Nothing came of it, though, and nobody really cares anyway.<\/p>\n In summary regarding “copyright protection”: \u00a0The law prevents distribution of copies of drawings for which a copyright has been claimed.\u00a0 A case could be made that distributing and printing plans is a violation of the rights of copyright holders, but that’s not really an issue because in most cases the people who inherited the rights to most plans either are uninterested in managing their intellectual property, or are unaware that they even own it, so it’s usually not an issue.\u00a0 Although nobody cares, at least that is an actual thing.\u00a0 But we all have the right to cut little pieces of wood, or to hire somebody to cut little pieces of wood. \u00a0But<\/strong><\/em> I’m still not going to cut you a 4 Star 40 or a Kadet because that would be pretty lame.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This is the place where you can get answers without being offended because I’m not talking to you. \u00a0I’m talking to everybody! \u00a0Go ahead and do some reading, and you’ll get a good idea of how I operate. Most of … Continue reading
\n<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n![\"monocoupe\"](\"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/monocoupe.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n![\"skyguy\"](\"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/skyguy.jpg\")
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