The 'What did you do in your workshop tonight?' thread

[BalsaDust]

That happened when I restored the old drill press I have. Pulled the motor apart and pretty sure i destroyed an entire colony of dirt dobbers.

 

[Snoopy1]

Well made a little more progress one of the more difficult parts of the build is to sheet the bottom section with one piece and get all the cutouts correct. Still a long way to go rudders, motor box and cowl, and all the controls.

 

[Snoopy1]

Been busy restoring a 40" wood lathe for a dear friend. Had been rusting away in an open barn for over 25 years not to mention it is one from the "old" Sears and Roebuck catalog. I about myself when I opened up the old 3/4 HP motor to have a barn spider the size of the palm of my hand crawl out!!!. Much less the wasp nests and bug nests that called it home. Really thought it was done for but it cleaned up well and the windings and bearings are in great shape. Nothing that elbow grease and oil could not fix. Runs like a champ now. I added on/off switch's and a light. Made the belt drive ratio easy to change by mounting the motor underneath the table and spring loading the motor mount. Also finally got a new table top made for my old 6 foot folding table.View attachment 107219 View attachment 107220 View attachment 107221

It is always satisfying to bring some thing back from the dead. The old stuff was built so well and robust, none of the crap we buy today will stand up to time like some of the old machinery.

 

[Snoopy1]

Busy sorting through the balsa pile of wood to make two elevons and a elevator. Have to glue the leading edges on and the wing tips, going to make them flat and out of light ply. Tough and easy to cover. Planning to fly this plane like I stole it.

 

[dhal22]

Busy sorting through the balsa pile of wood to make two elevons and a elevator. Have to glue the leading edges on and the wing tips, going to make them flat and out of light ply. Tough and easy to cover. Planning to fly this plane like I stole it.

I love balsa, have several boxes of it.

 

[Snoopy1]

I love balsa, have several boxes of it.

It’s getting really hard to get balsa around me. We use to have three store that sold balsa now unfortunately nun.

 

[Alky6]

It’s getting really hard to get balsa around me. We use to have three store that sold balsa now unfortunately nun.

I just ordered a bunch today from National balsa. I understand why kits cost so much now. Yikes! Almost would have been cheaper to buy the Cadence kit with everything laser cut versus the plans and me buying the wood and cutting myself. But, I wouldn’t be able to the planned mods, so, as you all get it here, it’s all about the build!

 

[Snoopy1]

I just ordered a bunch today from National balsa. I understand why kits cost so much now. Yikes! Almost would have been cheaper to buy the Cadence kit with everything laser cut versus the plans and me buying the wood and cutting myself. But, I wouldn’t be able to the planned mods, so, as you all get it here, it’s all about the build!

Balsa is very expensive. Built a ViperST awhile back and by buying it in pieces the cost more than 2 times the cost of an ARF. Scratch build is very expensive. Kits a lot better but not great cost wise. The cheapest is an ARF but do not get to build it all you end up doing assembling a number of parts and a week later you are done. The problem is that I love building and designing planes So we just have to pay.

 

[dhal22]

I just ordered a bunch today from National balsa. I understand why kits cost so much now. Yikes! Almost would have been cheaper to buy the Cadence kit with everything laser cut versus the plans and me buying the wood and cutting myself. But, I wouldn’t be able to the planned mods, so, as you all get it here, it’s all about the build!

I ordered once from National Balsa and never again. Very poor wood throughout the order. I miss Lonestar and order from Balsa USA now. I still sarcastically use balsa blocks from National as doorstops.

This is a very cheap hobby relatively speaking. I don't think balsa is expensive.

 

[Snoopy1]

I ordered once from National Balsa and never again. Very poor wood throughout the order. I miss Lonestar and order from Balsa USA now. I still sarcastically use balsa blocks from National as doorstops.

This is a very cheap hobby relatively speaking. I don't think balsa is expensive.

Have to agree with you just looked up the price of o a sheet of balsa 3/32 -3-36 it was $1.72 right now that same sheet cost me $4.11 so yes there is big price difference.