Ragged Foamboard edges, IRON them!

tyoho

Member
Great Video Kilroy07
I did an article a while back Iron your edges article and have been meaning to do an update.
one thing I do on the round corners is to make some small cuts in the paper so it doesn't bunch up as much when you roll it over.
I think a seamstress would call them "darts" and woodworker would call them "kerfs"

You are right about using the edge of the table to the tailing edges. I do my trailing edges pretty sharp at a shallow angle and it is easy to get messy if you don't have a straight edge to guide you.
If you do the trailing edge on a mini scout wing or anything with scallops it might look a bit raggedy because of the foam melting into a hard plastic and squirting out. Some sandpaper wrapped around a dowel will clean that up and ends up looking nice.

Also if you skin your planes with laser printed paper the iron will smear the colors a bit and you will need to clean your iron frequently to avoid messing up the print job. I need to experiment with parchment paper between the iron and the printed paper to see if that helps.

DON'T use your Mom's, wife's or significant other's iron, specially on the brown papered foam or printed skin.
You can get a cheap clothes iron at Walmart for under $8 and it works fine. (A lot cheaper than a divorce)
 

kilroy07

Legendary member
Thanks!
I knew I had seen examples of the technique somewhere either here on the forums or in an article... thanks for the link to yours!

As well as laser printed paper, I've learned that the colored packing tape also HATES to be ironed...
The parchment idea is a great idea... might have to give that a go.
 

Gazoo

Well-known member
I also use a clothes iron. Just don't use the steam function. These edges were rounded with a standard clothes iron.
Cub_2.JPG
 

Gazoo

Well-known member
Thanks. The Brown is just airbrushed acrylic paint mixed with de-natured alcohol. The Orange is packing tape. The black pinstripes are black Sharpie marker. The rear window is black poster board.

The black Sharpie marker makes the colors kind of pop.
 

tyoho

Member
Thanks. The Brown is just airbrushed acrylic paint mixed with de-natured alcohol. The Orange is packing tape. The black pinstripes are black Sharpie marker. The rear window is black poster board.

The black Sharpie marker makes the colors kind of pop.
Wow! super clean.
Is that a SBK?
 

jross

Well-known member
If you use coloured packing tape to finish your planes or regular packing tape during the build, a laminating iron works well for that too. I've used it on foam too. Gotta make sure you clean it up well. Nothing worse than going to laminate and covering everything in foam goo. Been there, done that. Doh!!
 

jtuttle11

Junior Member
Let me start off by saying this was NOT my idea, I do not know where I saw the idea first, but it has become my favorite new skill with foamboard planes.

The "problem" is I have a laser cutter... (I know, I know... sucks to be me) anyway, my pieces come out with a bit of the foam shrunken back from where the heat from the laser cut it.
Not only is this unsightly and probably affects the flight charastics a bit (at least it's one more thing I can blame my crashes on) but it's dangerous as well... I've gotten some nasty paper cuts (sometimes two in parallel!)

So, I gave using a covering iron to clean up the edges a try... and let me tell you, it has changed everything...

You can take an edge that looks like this;
View attachment 128028

And turn it into an edge that looks like this!
View attachment 128029

I suggest you give it a try if you haven't before and really want to dress up (and strengthen*) your builds.
*Yup, I've found that not only are the edges much more resilient to dings, but the process makes the parts MUCH stiffer as well (especially good on tail/control surfaces!)

Here's a quick video on the process;
Outstanding Idea.
 

keepitup

Active member
Let me start off by saying this was NOT my idea, I do not know where I saw the idea first, but it has become my favorite new skill with foamboard planes.

The "problem" is I have a laser cutter... (I know, I know... sucks to be me) anyway, my pieces come out with a bit of the foam shrunken back from where the heat from the laser cut it.
Not only is this unsightly and probably affects the flight charastics a bit (at least it's one more thing I can blame my crashes on) but it's dangerous as well... I've gotten some nasty paper cuts (sometimes two in parallel!)

So, I gave using a covering iron to clean up the edges a try... and let me tell you, it has changed everything...

You can take an edge that looks like this;
View attachment 128028

And turn it into an edge that looks like this!
View attachment 128029

I suggest you give it a try if you haven't before and really want to dress up (and strengthen*) your builds.
*Yup, I've found that not only are the edges much more resilient to dings, but the process makes the parts MUCH stiffer as well (especially good on tail/control surfaces!)

Here's a quick video on the process;
I noticed on the corsair build video the gent used masking tape on the parts he was ironing then removed it.