{"id":2370,"date":"2017-12-18T00:34:24","date_gmt":"2017-12-18T06:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/?page_id=2370"},"modified":"2021-05-24T21:27:33","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T02:27:33","slug":"customizing-trailing-edge-balsa-stock","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/?page_id=2370","title":{"rendered":"Customizing trailing edge balsa stock"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are lots of plans that call for trailing edge stock in the wings. \u00a0It’s a very common item, so\u00a0as an avid scratch builder I like to have several sizes on hand…. but unfortunately I usually don’t<\/em> have several sizes on hand. \u00a0What I have instead is a\u00a0whole bunch\u00a0of one size. I bought a guy’s hobby collection a long time ago and got dozens of\u00a0pairs of 1.5″ trailing edge stock. \u00a0I’ve been chipping away at these for years and I still have a lot of them left. \u00a0The good news is that the wood quality is very good, so they’re easy to work with.<\/p>\n

I’m currently building a Baby Buzzard, which calls for 3\/16″ x 1″ trailing edge stock in the wing. \u00a0Although I happen to have a couple of pieces in the correct\u00a0size, one piece is really hard and the other is really soft. \u00a0I don’t want my wing to be out of balance, so I’m not going to use them. \u00a0Instead, I decided to\u00a0cut\u00a0some big trailing edge stock down to the correct size.<\/p>\n

If you have wood that’s not quite the right size, don’t let it push you around. \u00a0Teach it who’s the boss. \u00a0You can even make trailing edge stock out of regular sheet wood 1\/4 or 3\/8 inch thick, or from multiple pieces laminated together to make the required thickness.<\/p>\n

Here’s what I started with.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0591\"<\/a><\/p>\n

First I marked it so I could cut it an inch wide.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0592\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Because the wood has a tapered cross section I had to support it on top of another tapered piece to make it flat on top.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0594\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Then I put the metal ruler on it and cut it straight down, holding the knife vertically. \u00a0When you’re cutting something thick like this don’t try to cut it all in one pass. \u00a0Cut it a little bit, then go back over it and cut it a little bit more, etc. \u00a0Maybe cut it in 4 or 5 passes. \u00a0Here’s how the trimmed piece compares to the original size.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0593\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s the right width now, but it’s still too thick. \u00a0My plan calls for 3\/16″ thick, and this is piece is more like 5\/16″. \u00a0I’ll have to trim 1\/8″ off at the thick edge. \u00a0The thin edge looks about right.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0595\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I don’t want to go at it with the sanding block right away. \u00a0That would take a lot of sanding. \u00a0So I’m going to use a hobby sized planer.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0596\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"DSC_0597\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s a good idea to shave a little bit, check the thickness, shave a little bit more, check again, etc. \u00a0When it’s close, stop shaving it.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0598\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now it’s time to sand. \u00a0Put the thin edge at the edge of the table, hold it with your less talented hand, and start sanding. \u00a0You’ll notice that you can’t sand the other end very easily, because your\u00a0hand is in the way. \u00a0You can’t turn the stick around because the\u00a0taper would make\u00a0the sanding block hit the table. \u00a0\"DSC_0600\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Put an\u00a0extra\u00a0piece of trailing edge stock in place at the edge of the table as if you were going to sand it. \u00a0Take the piece that you were working on and turn it around, and put it on top of the extra piece so the top is flat. \u00a0Now you can sand it easily.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0601\"<\/a> \"DSC_0603\"<\/a><\/p>\n

It’s a good idea to get a piece of wood the correct thickness (the thickness that you’re aiming for) and set it on the table. \u00a0Compare the thick edge of your trailing edge stock to your measuring stick frequently so you don’t sand it too much.<\/p>\n

Here’s what the finished piece looks like next to the original. \u00a0You can see that in addition to the reduced width, the taper angle was also changed significantly.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0605\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now I have the exact size that I need for the plane I’m building, and I also have some oddly shaped sticks.<\/p>\n

\"DSC_0599\"<\/a>These will be used as reinforcement around landing gear blocks, next to bulkheads, and behind firewalls. \u00a0It’s also great for reinforcing wing bolt blocks. \u00a0Any time the plan calls for\u00a0trailing edge stock, triangle stock, 1\/4″ sticks, or any other such thing for corner reinforcement in the fuselage, the shape really isn’t critical. \u00a0Jam some of this stuff in there and save yourself a little bit of cash to put toward the next jug of fuel.<\/p>\n

One final point: \u00a0This idea works not only for making big trailing edge stock smaller, but also for making small trailing edge stock bigger. \u00a0You can laminate a strip of sheet wood to one face of a piece that’s too thin, and then sand it to the correct taper. \u00a0Or you can add a fat stick to the thick edge to make it wider. \u00a0Balsa wood is great stuff. \u00a0You just stick pieces\u00a0together until it looks like what you’re trying to build.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are lots of plans that call for trailing edge stock in the wings. \u00a0It’s a very common item, so\u00a0as an avid scratch builder I like to have several sizes on hand…. but unfortunately I usually don’t have several sizes … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1833,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2370"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2370"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2370\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4628,"href":"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2370\/revisions\/4628"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.balsaworkbench.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}