Favorite Shop Tips

Favorite Shop Tips

Here are a few of our favorite tips for building, staying organized and making the most out of everyday items. What are some of your go-to tips and tricks? Share them in the comments section!

 

SMOOTH OPERATOR

Model Airplane News - RC Airplane News | Favorite Shop Tips

Razor saws are handy for cutting various materials, but their teeth sometimes “snag” the material, especially during long cuts on hardwood. Here’s an old woodworking trick that works equally well for modeling. Rub a slightly damp bar of soap on both sides of the saw blade. The soap acts as a lubricant and helps the razor saw cut smoothly without catching its teeth on the cut edge. Don’t use too much, though; if the soap builds up on the wood it can affect glue joints.

 

MEASURING UP

Model Airplane News - RC Airplane News | Favorite Shop Tips
Model Airplane News - RC Airplane News | Favorite Shop Tips

Did you ever find it difficult to take inside measurements in confined areas, such as the inside of a fuselage or between wing ribs? You can make a simple measuring gauge using two pieces of telescoping brass or aluminum tubes. Cut suitable lengths of ¼- inch-o.d. and 9/32-inch-o.d. tubes, and insert the small-diameter tube inside the larger one and then collapse the mechanism. Place the gauge in the area to be measured, and pull the tubes apart until they touch both sides. Mark and withdraw the gauge, and measure its length. You now have the inside measurement that you need.

 

 

TIE UP LOOSE ENDS

Model Airplane News - RC Airplane News | Favorite Shop Tips

Your control over an airplane is only as secure as the plane’s servo-extension connections. Try this tip to make sure that yours don’t come loose during an aggressive aerobatic maneuver or a bumpy landing. Simply take the leads and cross them over into a half-knot, then plug them together. Any tension on the leads will draw the knot tighter and make it next to impossible for the connection to come undone. And if you ever need to disconnect them, you won’t have to mess with tape or glue joints.

 

 

FAR-REACHING

Model Airplane News - RC Airplane News | Favorite Shop Tips

Sometimes you need to drill a hole in a place that your drill bit can’t quite reach. A way to extend the bit’s length is to use a fiberglass arrow shaft or brass tubing as an extension. A couple of drops of thin CA will securely hold the drill bit in the shaft. Using different-size fiberglass and brass tubes will accommodate bits of different sizes. Just be sure to plug the open end of the tube with a dowel so that you don’t crush the tube when it’s chucked in the drill, and don’t press hard on the drill when using the extension.

 

1 Comment

  1. Nice tips. Thanks

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