Hinge sloting tool

[BigO]

I have been playing with a Du-bro Kwik-Hinge Slotter
so far I dont care much for it I pretty much make a mess with it I dont see anyway it will work with a ca hing Makes to big a slot
I saw a video on the AeroBroach hing slotting tool and wondering if anyone uses it
What do you use?

[Henry Sistrunk]

This works great for me.http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...p?&I=LXK263&P=
Henry

[gramps2161]

That's the one I use Henry it works great. Used to cut em all by hand with a knife what a pain.
I practiced with the hinge cutter and amazing the time, and how much neater the slots come out. Plus the 2 blades one for the nylon hinges and one for CA hinges.
Can't beat it one of those tools that after you use it you wonder how you survived with out one.

[kyleservicetech]

Originally Posted by Henry Sistrunk

This works great for me.http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...p?&I=LXK263&P=
Henry

Yup, same one I have.

It really works nice when putting in those CA hinges in those ARF's, when the pre-cut slots are way to tight. A quick few seconds with this hinge cutter, and all is good.

[road king 97]

I have the tool for marking the center of the trailing edges but i have never tried the sloting machine and have been cutting mine by hand. I might have to buy one and give it a try iam never to old for trying a new tool. joe

[Stevephoon]

At the Toledo Show I bought some hinge slotting blades from AeroBroach.
http://aerobroach.com/

They are more expensive on his web site than what I paid at the show, but they seem to work well. I have only tried test hinges so far. CA type in balsa. Up until now I've just cut my own. Sometimes pretty badly. I'm hoping these will help!

BigO, is there a specific question I can answer about the aerobroach blades? I have not used it yet on a plane, but it will be used on the next one I build.

Steve

[dahawk]

Timely subject. I need to cut slots for my Formosa II. Was just going to hobby knife them and use CA hinges. What's the big advantage of using a special tool ? Maintaining CL on both edges ?
Hawk

[Stevephoon]

With foam using CA hinges, I'm not sure it's needed. A regular hobby knife should do. I've had issues with keeping the cuts straight in balsa and opening them up enough so the hinge will go in. (And also the CA!) That's why I'm trying the Aerobroach blades.

Steve

[road king 97]

Originally Posted by Stevephoon

With foam using CA hinges, I'm not sure it's needed. A regular hobby knife should do. I've had issues with keeping the cuts straight in balsa and opening them up enough so the hinge will go in. (And also the CA!) That's why I'm trying the Aerobroach blades.

Steve

I thnk i would trust the Aerobroach blades over a power tool because i have more control over it. For a big plane like he shows on his video tho i would always use dubro round hinge points over thos flat hinges he used ,just drill a round hole . They make hinge points in smaller versions but when it comes to thin foam edges or balsa ones the blades would come in handy . joe

[Bill G]

Originally Posted by BigO

I have been playing with a Du-bro Kwik-Hinge Slotter
so far I dont care much for it I pretty much make a mess with it I don't see anyway it will work with a ca hing Makes too big a slot
I saw a video on the AeroBroach hing slotting tool and wondering if anyone uses it
What do you use?

Same thoughts on the Dubro slotter. It quickly became a useless, dust collecting tool. Even when the frame is aligned perfectly to the header face, there is some slop and error, as well as blocking your view from seeing if the blade is cutting the slot on perfect center. I can get better results using an exacto, centering the slot on the header surface by eye. You really need to see exactly how and where the blade is cutting.

Another advantage of cutting with an exacto blade, is that I can first test fit a Dubro flat pin hinge, where the slot is a bit undersized and the hinge will have a tight fit. I can then see which direction I want to adjust the slot location by a few thousandths, to perfectly center the control surface. Since the slot is undersized, I can then widen the slot a few thousandths, choosing which side to shave material from to adjust the hinge location for perfect control surface centering on the header.

I think this is just one of those apps where a fixture looks promising, but at the end of the day does not have any advantages to manually performing the task.

[Henry Sistrunk]

Originally Posted by Henry Sistrunk

This works great for me.http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...p?&I=LXK263&P=
Henry

Control of the tool was a problem for me using this tool freehand, So I made a table to mount the tool on. To adjust the cutting height I use different thickness sheets of balsa. I made a liteply trigger to hold the switch on and off. Been using this fof probably15 years, NEVER on foam. I can provide photos.
Henry

[riverrat]

Originally Posted by Henry Sistrunk

This works great for me.http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...p?&I=LXK263&P=
Henry

Mr.Henry

Really like mine.
I also have & use
the template.

Regards
Jimmy

[Henry Sistrunk]

Well Jimmy, I guess 2 great minds work alike.
Henry

[gramps2161]

I like that template idea. Like I mentioned I practiced with it on scrape wood free hand till I figured out how to hold and guide it in for a good cut.

Henry if you can post a pic like to see your setup.

[Henry Sistrunk]

Here are photos of my hinge slotting table mounted tool. You just turn it on, line up your slot marks, and push your surface into the blade as deep as you want, usually to the full depth.
Henry

[gramps2161]

Thanks Henry for the pic's I like!

[BigO]

Henry Im not sure I need a power tool But I need to cut a slot for a ca hing 1/8" balsa sheet
Im going to get me a Herr Cloud Ranger The instructions say to cut slots for a ca hinge in 1/8" balsa sheet --The tail surfaces are 1/8" balsa sheet--

Same thang Steve Will it work better than a hobby knife on 1/8" sheet

Thanks

[road king 97]

The hobby knife is prone to the same thing the power tool is ,getting off on a angle and breaking out the side of the balsa . Its sound like iam into cutting myself but i hold my fingers on the flat part top and bottom where i know the blade is going to go through and if it gets to close to breaking out either side i can feel it with my fingers before it does and redirect the knife. joe

[Henry Sistrunk]

For a thin surface like that I make the hinges out of the covering material I am using.
Henry

[Stevephoon]

Originally Posted by BigO

Henry Im not sure I need a power tool But I need to cut a slot for a ca hing 1/8" balsa sheet
Im going to get me a Herr Cloud Ranger The instructions say to cut slots for a ca hinge in 1/8" balsa sheet --The tail surfaces are 1/8" balsa sheet--

Same thang Steve Will it work better than a hobby knife on 1/8" sheet

Thanks

I've just used the Aerobroach CA blade to make a test hinge out of some scraps of 1/8 balsa. I used 1/2 of a full sized CA hinge. This is one that the covering was peeling off of from a previous attempt with a hobby knife. The Aerobroach blade itself would cut too wide of a hinge slot if I pushed the entire blade thru. So I pushed and rocked until the tip came out and then cut from the back side. This would mean that you would need to cut the hinge slots before gluing all of the pieces together, so you can still get to the back side. The cuts came out straight and true. I took my time and it came out nice. The tool does a nice job of cutting enough of the material away so the hinge material fits just right. It takes some force to get it to cut thru, so you would need to be careful if cutting into a completed aileron or elevator that was made entirely out of 1/8 balsa. I think cutting the slots early would be the thing to do.

Also Henry's suggestion of just using covering hinges on small models is a good one. I use that type as well.

Steve

[fhhuber]

The classic "Monokote Hinge" works well on 3/16 inch and thinner control surfaces.
(can work on 1/4 inch thick but only on "slower" aircraft such as a common .40 glow power trainer)

Bevel the front of the control surface 45 deg.
Use scotch tape or similar to tape the control surface to the fixed surface, "folded" back on top of the fixed surface with a common playing card in between.

Apply a 1 inch wide Monokote (Ultracote, other iron on covering) strip, 1/2 on the fixed surface and half on the control surface (removing the scotch tape as you get close to it)

When the "bottom" of the hinge is done, flip the control surface so it is deflected down at appx 45 Deg. You should see a line of the covering from the other side.

Apply another 1 inch strip similarly to the first. It should JUST bond to the first strip in the hinge line.

Finish covering. Do not apply another layer to the hinge line! (that appx 1/64 inch wide line where the top and bottom covering bonded to each other)

This type hinge can survive for 20 years... depending on the covering used to make it. (old Monokote was better than the new formulation)
Solartex/Worldtex is the strongest version of this, but also heaviest.

If an appx 1/8 inch to 3/16 inch thick balsa control surface is stiff enough for the airspeed the hinge is strong enough.

[BigO]

Thanks everybody for the help and for taking time to take pic's
Im going to try Henry's suggestion first and dig all the 1/8" balsa that ive been hinging on out of the trash and make the "Monokote Hinge" it always helps to do a test run

[Wildflyer]

When you get used to the Great Planes power cutter, it is a remarkable tool. I have successfully cut a full depth hinge slot in 1/16 sheet, using the same technique that Road King 97 does. I didn't do it the first time, but with practice, it wasn't bad. I also use it as a cut off saw for larger sticks sometimes. Once I had to use it as a detail trim saw on a $4,000,000 home. I was a high end finish carpenter.

Whenever I cut a hinge slot in anything over 3/16" I then pinch the slot together and run a small drill down the depth of the hinge. This gives me a groove for the CA to go all the way down to the bottom of the hinge, then it will wick sideways to bond the entire surface, of course drip CA on both sides.

I started doing this because I had some hinges CA flash off so quick it sealed the top of the hinge but didn't go an 1/8" down, they pulled out easily.

If you have some MicaFilm scraps, I have another way to make a unbreakable hinge.

I laminate a strip of Micaflim between two strips of balsa or bass wood, 1/2 the thickness of your surface, I cut or sand a back angle on the strips before glueing. Do this for both sides of the hinge with a small gap between (I use a pin as a spacer).
You can then glue this hinged strip to your flying surfaces. You can NOT rip Micafilm, yet it is thinner than Monokote.

I tried to cut a full length groove in the edge with a knife and insert the Micafilm into it, this idea was less than successful, especially the second side. So I gave up on that idea, maybe you could do it.

[drummaker]

Originally Posted by fhhuber

The classic "Monokote Hinge" works well on 3/16 inch and thinner control surfaces.
(can work on 1/4 inch thick but only on "slower" aircraft such as a common .40 glow power trainer)

Bevel the front of the control surface 45 deg.
Use scotch tape or similar to tape the control surface to the fixed surface, "folded" back on top of the fixed surface with a common playing card in between.

Apply a 1 inch wide Monokote (Ultracote, other iron on covering) strip, 1/2 on the fixed surface and half on the control surface (removing the scotch tape as you get close to it)

When the "bottom" of the hinge is done, flip the control surface so it is deflected down at appx 45 Deg. You should see a line of the covering from the other side.

Apply another 1 inch strip similarly to the first. It should JUST bond to the first strip in the hinge line.

Finish covering. Do not apply another layer to the hinge line! (that appx 1/64 inch wide line where the top and bottom covering bonded to each other)

This type hinge can survive for 20 years... depending on the covering used to make it. (old Monokote was better than the new formulation)
Solartex/Worldtex is the strongest version of this, but also heaviest.

If an appx 1/8 inch to 3/16 inch thick balsa control surface is stiff enough for the airspeed the hinge is strong enough.

Here is another option. Although I don't know if it will ever fly, I recently used a glue called Foam Tack on a dollar tree foamie I am building. spelling might be wrong. I bought it from Headsup hobby. I just squerted a little between the pre spaced parts and let it set up. It is VERY flexable and seems to work great.

food for thought. If you mess it up you can just scrape it off and no structural damage done, like happens with CA hinges if you screw them up.