Craig's Cool Ideas

1) Cool Push Stick

My pushstick for rubber models would never fit anywhere and I often forgot it because it wasn't in my tool box. NOT ANYMORE! Using three 30cm lengths of 6.4mm strong wooden dowel and some short lengths of 6.4mm (1/4") inner diameter alum tubing I made a pushstick that would break down into three pieces. One end has the bits for holding the rubber, on stick has a metal hook for pulling bits of rubber out of fuselages and all are connected by slipping them into the aluminum tubing which has been glued at one end of the dowel. If you need a longer stick, just make another extension. Easy as pie.

2) Cool magnets

I use the Eldon J. Lind master magnet building board for almost all of my airplane projects. However, for the smaller FF airplanes I found that the magnets that came with it are a little too strong. I bought a bunch of small (6mm diameter) rare earth magnets from Lee Valley tools (about 35 cents each). I also bought some 3/4" x 3/4" square wood. I cut the wood into 2cm lengths, drilled a 1/4" hole in the bottom and epoxied the magnets in. Work perfectly and has 1 to be just right for even the most delicate work.

3) Storing rubber

I've taken to storing my rubber motors into used film cannisters. You can get them by the hundred for free in just about any place that develops film. I take the ones with the gray lids so I can write on them. Each cannister holds one motor for one airplane. I just write the name of the date and the airplane it is for and off I go. The motors (so far) have been quite well preserved and the best part is that I don't have to fiddle with plastic bags (which is pain when your hands are covered with rubber lube.)

4) PHOOEY ON WRINKLES IN THE CORNERS

With all types of covering I've found the only effective way to eliminate wrinkles in the corners of open frames is to pad them with generous gussets. They must blend in cleanly with leading/trailing edges or whatever structure is being covered. Note only the corners of the structure or where there is a change of angle where the covering is applied (such as a dihedral joint) needs a gusset. You don't need gussets at every joint.

5) DEANS CONNECTORS

I like using the small two conductor Deans connectors for my electric FreeFlight models. However, the connectors themselves are unpolarized which can lead to plugging in the connectors in reverse. To fix that, I expoxy two small pieces of thin plywood on to the connectors, one for each, in such a way that they can only be plugged together with one orientation. Since the plastic housing of the connectors is so smooth I take my Xacto knife and cut a crosshatch pattern on the surface of the housing before gluing. This will make sure the epoxy stays put. If I am not short for time I will use regular epoxy cured overnight for maximum strength.

Last modified: Nov 28, 1998 - Bummer, man