Wooden skewers, plywood, control horn, push rod, foam board thickness???
- Thread starter maniero9
- Start date
Hai-Lee
Old and Bold RC PILOT
The BBQ skewers are normally the standard 3mm bamboo skewers that you would use at a BBQ.
Most plywood is 3mm light plywood but the grade is not that important.
Control horns are normally 1.5mm ply but then any material and similar thickness is equally as good
Pushrods are around 1.5mm but again anything that is similar and not too flexible is OK. I often just use straightened paperclips.
The foamboard is 3/16 of an inch (around 4.5mm) but 5mm is metric FB standard and works just as well though a little heavier
Find out what is available in your area and then we can advise you or provide you ways to get the build done and flying.
Have fun!
Most plywood is 3mm light plywood but the grade is not that important.
Control horns are normally 1.5mm ply but then any material and similar thickness is equally as good
Pushrods are around 1.5mm but again anything that is similar and not too flexible is OK. I often just use straightened paperclips.
The foamboard is 3/16 of an inch (around 4.5mm) but 5mm is metric FB standard and works just as well though a little heavier
Find out what is available in your area and then we can advise you or provide you ways to get the build done and flying.
Have fun!
kdobson83
Well-known member
Do you have access to a 3d printer? I 3d print all my parts except for the control rods. I 3d print smaller parts for my builds too like the wing tip stabilizers on the arrow or the entire center pod for the arrow.
I'd assume over there in Greece you have utility marker flags? Like the small flags they use to mark utility lines before digging for construction? These work great for pushrods and smaller build landing gear. You can find em on Amazon if your local hardware store doesn't carry em.
I'd assume over there in Greece you have utility marker flags? Like the small flags they use to mark utility lines before digging for construction? These work great for pushrods and smaller build landing gear. You can find em on Amazon if your local hardware store doesn't carry em.
No, it's ok if the BBQ skewers are 3 mm. It's not meant to be a tight fit on those holes; it's meant more to be like a guidance hole to keep it from shifting drastically during flight, and allow the power pod to be pulled out and reused in another plane (although, realistically, most of us don't swap the power pods between planes).
maniero9
New member
@kdobson83 I do not have a 3d printer and I am trying with minimum cost to build decent RC airplanes. Your proposal is very good and sometime I will give it a try. I found at a local hardware store steel rods with various thicknesses and probably I will use 1-1,5mm for pushrods. The most difficult material to find here in Greece is 1,5mm and 3mm plywood. Everyone has from 4mm and above.
@sprzout Thanks for the clarifications. When the build will be at this point, I will post some pics.
@sprzout Thanks for the clarifications. When the build will be at this point, I will post some pics.
Hai-Lee
Old and Bold RC PILOT
The easiest to find pushrod wire is from old bicycle wheels. Actually the traditional clevises still use the same thread as is found on bicycle spokes.
The plywood can be substituted with any material of similar properties. If you have building sites in Greece there is a grade of 3mm plywood that is used for covering walls internally and some has false woodgrain appearance. Offcuts from a building site will last you for a large number of models!
Have fun!
No worries at all - I thought they needed to be nearly flush at first too, until I watched Josh build the MIG-3 and he mentioned that it wasn't there to hold the power pod tightly, just there for guidance. Sometimes, just watching through the videos or certain sections of the videos, a couple of times, will give insight as to how to position things, or what it should look like.
