Are foam board paper hinges durable ?

[GBJim]

I'm building a slow flying Flight Test Simple Storch, which has a 57" span and rather long hinge lines. Can I expect the foam board paper to provide an adequate hinge, or should I tape them ? Will they hold up for about at least a year without tape ?


Jim

 

[RAM]

You will see in a lot of FT videos they squeeze some hot glue into the hinge and then scrape it out. This helps durability of the hinge. Tape works too and doesn't add much weight.

 

[GBJim]

You will see in a lot of FT videos they squeeze some hot glue into the hinge and then scrape it out. This helps durability of the hinge. Tape works too and doesn't add much weight.

Would Scotch tape be wide enough ? I am really trying to avoid the use of tape if the paper has a history of being adequate ?


Jim

 

[brettp2004]

If you are in a humid climate, they will peel away after a little use. I doubt you'd get a year out of the hinge. You can either hot glue and scrap it out, or cut the control surface off completely and make a tape hinge. I would suggest using a wider tape because scotch tape can still eventually pull the paper off. If you are going to tape them, tape both sides so there is a sliver of tape to tape contact. That will be very durable.

 

[nerdnic]

I hot glue hinge on my planes. Even at 120mph I've never had a failure.

 

[GBJim]

I hot glue hinge on my planes. Even at 120mph I've never had a failure.

You hot glue what kind of hinge to your planes ?

 

[Bricks]

I will cut the paper away from the foam where I install hinges I use self stick dry wall tape that looks like a mesh and use Foam Tac or other type of foam glue. For me If I don`t remove the paper first it will peel up where the hinge is placed.

 

[TEAJR66]

Check out the build video for the FT Storch. http://flitetest.com/show# at 22:50 You will see the hot glue hinge technique.

 

[Paul-H]

Hi

I find the thicker Clear Gorilla Repair Tape to be an excellent choice for reinforcing paper hinges, very flexible and very strong.

This one http://uk.gorillaglue.com/gorilla-clear-repair

Paul

 

[RAM]

This is a tape weave hinge if you want to try it. The hot glue hinge is a lot easier.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e078oP-gNM

The tape weave could always be used to repair a broken hinge after the fact.
I would go with the hot glue hinge first. Take a look at Nerdnic's videos. His planes are under extreme stress with no failures.

 

[JasmineJasmine]

When storing paintings, I normally hinge-tape them to foam board - just regular foam board, which seems to work just fine. in fact, I've never used (or even seen) acid-free foam board. I put a piece of tracing paper vs glassine over the painting for protection. This would be the only barrier you would need to keep your painting from smudging. Then, placing another piece of foam board over the front is a good way to create a more durable protective sandwich. Usually I skip the foam board over the top unless I feel that I have a real masterpiece on my hands! Then, if I frame them, I either leave them hinge-taped to the foam board, which serves well as a backing board, or I use a different board for the backing board. One reason to use a different backing board is that foam board sometimes warps over time and since it is rigid, the warp can't be smoothed out. I don't even know what the board I use is called, but it is similar to mat board only about twice as thick. That being said, I do use regular foam board backing occasionally and haven't really had any problems - including works that have been framed with foam board backing that have been hanging for over 30 years. I guess I am just not sure what bad things are supposed to happen with regular foam board compared to acid-free. But one personal preference I have is that I don't permanently attach my paintings to the backing board - I only hinge-tape them. That way I can always remove and replace the backing board at any time if needed.