roversgonemad
Member
After much deliberating on which Tritle kit to build, I am finally gluing some pieces together. The Dare/Brodak kit is excellent. The laser cutting is sharp and the wood is decent quality. Not contest weight, but light enough to know it's not bass wood, and hard enough to be workable without constantly breaking things. I don't have a huge table, so I am contemplating cutting the plans so I don't always have plans hanging off the table.
Since the instructions start with the wings, that's where I will start as well. I started by making some tracings from the plans, for all the pieces that get formed. Wing tips are a formed piece, and since they go from leading edge to trailing edge, tapered parts are included in the laser cut parts for the wing tips. I used DTFB with the paper removed for the templates. I glued the narrow ends together, for about 1/2 inch, and soaked the assembly in hot water in a piece of PVC pipe. After about 15 minutes, I remove the part and spray the outside of each of the strips with glass cleaner. I have found this combination of water and ammonia makes the wood very pliable. I hold the wood on the template with masking tape and then microwave the assembly for 15 seconds, and repeat this 5 or 6 times until the wood is dry. After the strips are removed from the template I spread Titebond II between the strips, using a piece of paper to get the glue all the way down the end that was originally glued together. I use pins placed in the build surface to help hold the pieces as they dry. The formed strips are a lot lighter, and tougher, than cut pieces laid flat and cut to form the tip shape.
Since the instructions start with the wings, that's where I will start as well. I started by making some tracings from the plans, for all the pieces that get formed. Wing tips are a formed piece, and since they go from leading edge to trailing edge, tapered parts are included in the laser cut parts for the wing tips. I used DTFB with the paper removed for the templates. I glued the narrow ends together, for about 1/2 inch, and soaked the assembly in hot water in a piece of PVC pipe. After about 15 minutes, I remove the part and spray the outside of each of the strips with glass cleaner. I have found this combination of water and ammonia makes the wood very pliable. I hold the wood on the template with masking tape and then microwave the assembly for 15 seconds, and repeat this 5 or 6 times until the wood is dry. After the strips are removed from the template I spread Titebond II between the strips, using a piece of paper to get the glue all the way down the end that was originally glued together. I use pins placed in the build surface to help hold the pieces as they dry. The formed strips are a lot lighter, and tougher, than cut pieces laid flat and cut to form the tip shape.