Gluing on planks

[rudybob]

A problem I am having is gluing. By the time I get to one end of placing glue on the bulkheads the end I started on has dried more than I would like. I have been using Gorilla Wood Glue and a little bit of CA. Does anyone have any suggestions? Perhaps I need a glue that doesn't dry as fast

[Bob Cleek]

Slower glue or faster fingers? 

 

Seriously, thouigh, a bit of either or both would probably lessen the problem. The only other thing to do is work one bulkhead at a time, rather than trying to put glue on them all at once.

[rudybob]

5 minutes ago, Bob Cleek said:

 

 

The only other thing to do is work one bulkhead at a time, rather than trying to put glue on them all at once.

I didn't think of one at a time. I did several at a time. They are close but it's worth a try. 

[tlevine]

By only applying glue to a few bulkheads at a time, you almost eliminate the need for clamps.  Hold it in place with your fingers for a few minutes and you are good to go.  Apply the glue to the bulkhead with either a toothpick or a #11 Exacto blade.

[barkeater]

Are you heat bending your planks. If not then that might be your solution. I don't use cyanoacrylate just white (carpenters glue). CA I'd bet is causing your quick drying time. 

Richard

[rudybob]

2 hours ago, barkeater said:

Are you heat bending your planks. If not then that might be your solution. I don't use cyanoacrylate just white (carpenters glue). CA I'd bet is causing your quick drying time. 

Richard

Yes I am bending the planks. I rarely use CA. I was trying to do to many planks at once

[rudybob]

2 hours ago, tlevine said:

By only applying glue to a few bulkheads at a time, you almost eliminate the need for clamps.  Hold it in place with your fingers for a few minutes and you are good to go.  Apply the glue to the bulkhead with either a toothpick or a #11 Exacto blade.

I been using a toothpick but haven't been happy with them. I will try the #11.

[Jaager]

My experience with yellow PVA  (Titebond II) is that it has as long of an open time as I need.

 

Theory only:   If the POB molds are plywood, would priming the open edge with an insertion of PVA  and letting it dry long before the planking stage, to fill the gaps provide a better bonding surface?

 

For standard POB, I don't see that racing thru the planking stage is practical.

 

POF or POB with Pine or Basswood fillers the whole way,  if the planking is clamped using brass pins with hitch clocks can be done as quickly as tolerated.  Pins in plywood end grain is mostly a wasted effort.  Drilling the holes to match the proper pattern adds a significant time factor though.  It replaces a racing engine with a lawnmower engine.  The pins nipped and filed or pulled and replaced with Bamboo trunnels, adds a different look. Many more of them are needed for the finished look than required for just holding down a plank.   The resulting look is a modelers convention.  Except for the largest scales, pins and trunnels that are the proper scale diameter are all but impossible.

 

[Bob Cleek]

7 hours ago, rudybob said:

I didn't think of one at a time. I did several at a time. They are close but it's worth a try. 

I'll mention further that if you have a small clothes iron or electric plank bender, or even a hair drier, you can apply heat to the outside of the plank (taking care not to scorch it) while holding it in place. The heat will substantially accelerate the drying time of the PVA.

[rudybob]

7 hours ago, Bob Cleek said:

I'll mention further that if you have a small clothes iron or electric plank bender, or even a hair drier, you can apply heat to the outside of the plank (taking care not to scorch it) while holding it in place. The heat will substantially accelerate the drying time of the PVA.

I have used the iron and the hair dryer to bend my planks but not to dry glue. This is the first I have read that. I will try it

[rudybob]

11 hours ago, Jaager said:

 

 

POF or POB with Pine or Basswood fillers the whole way, 

 

POF , POB ?

[Jaager]

For POF,  Pine is a low cost wood to use for frames that will be hidden.  It works as well as is needed.

I dislike Basswood and its tendency to be fuzzy and for the fibers to roll make it a poor choice for frames from my perspective.

 

For POB, either Pine or Basswood will do.  For reasons that seem good but really are not,  Balsa is favored by many.  It is certainly soft and seems like it would be easy to remove what is not wanted.  But Balsa is ugly to work.  It does not plane, rasp, file, or sand nicely.  It is fibrous and wants to tear.  A sharp edge will want to dig in and stop a cut.

 

Most POB modelers who do fill all of the gaps between molds use a horizontal orientation for the filling wood.   A disk sander makes it easy to get a tight fit between molds.  The down side is that the shaping is done in situ.  Major wood removal is done on the whole hull. 

I recommend  the filling be done with the wood mimicking actual frames in orientation.  The inside can be left fat enough for Bamboo skewers to be used to join and orient a stack of layers.

The mold shapes can be used as the pattern and a disk sander can be used for shaping the individual slices.  Then joined using the Bamboo and final shaped .  Then slud into the gap between their molds.  A throw away end piece can be used to make up the difference in thickness for the mold with the pattern on the other side.  The holes for the Bamboo dowels make orientation easy, so the identical pattern can be on both ends.  If the sum of the layer thicknesses come up a bit short, poster board can be used to shim the difference.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Jaager

[rudybob]

2 hours ago, rudybob said:

POF , POB ?

I got it now Plank on Bulkhead, Plank on Frame

[ERS Rich]

Hello Rudy,

 

Not sure how long the plank being installed is.

 

Working with short planks is easiest.  My preference is a plank that spans four bulkheads.  And Titebond wood glue with Locktite superglue.

 

Apply Titebond with a toothpick along one edge, set the plank aside, then a dot of super glue on each bulkhead.  Place the plank and push the edge with Titebond against its neighbor.  Apply pressure at each bulkhead until the superglue sets.  The superglue will fix the plank in place, while the Titebond dries.  
 

Use a scrap plank to scape any squeeze out.
 

Checkout my Constitution Hull build log for more planking examples- link in my signature below.

 

Cheers

 

[ERS Rich]

Checkout this build post: