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beeza · 3 November 2009, 09:07 PM

Hi Steve.

I will try and answer your questions the best I can bearing in mind that I am by no means an expert.

1. To drill the holes at roughly the same angle as the rigging.

I always drill the holes before assembly. I put both wings on a sheet of paper trailing edge down and at the correct distance apart. I then draw a line where each rigging line goes. Transcribe the angles onto a bit of thick card and cut the angle, you can now use this as a guide for your pin vice. If you find it a little awkward, eyeballing is usually close enough. Remember to drill as small a hole as possible, just big enough for the size rigging line you are using. On most 1/32 scale models 0.15mm mono is a good size so a 0.2mm drill bit is appropriate, 0.3mm is easier to use and still does not require any touch-up.

2. Something for the drill to grip.

Yes, the drill bits are very tiny and do break easily so a pin vice is essential. I have the top wing completely finished before I drill the holes in the undersurface. The bottom wing has it's upper surface complete but nothing done to the underside. I drill a very small pilot hole at right angles to the wing in the exact position where the rigging will be fixed, then I drill at the desired angle using the pilot hole as a guide for the drill bit. I have never had any slippage and there is no need for any touch-up afterwards.

3. Bob's Buckles.

I have not used Bobs Buckles but from what I have seen what you say is correct. Being a tiny eyelet would allow you to drill at right angles to the wing, insert the eyelet and the rigging would angle itself correctly.

4. Two lines from the one hole.

This does cause a problem, like you say, two lines going in opposite directions if exiting at right angles would look a bit odd. I drill adjacent holes as close together as possible at the required angles, once the lines are in place they appear to be coming from the one hole. Eyelets overcome this problem very easily by allowing you to fix multiple lines and running them in any direction.
On the rare occasion where I have had to fix a line at 90 degrees then "bending" it to gain the correct angle has in no way weakened or stressed the rigging, it provides as strong a joint as angled holes.

5. Drill bit insertion.

After a bit of practice you will find that the bits don't break very often. The picture of my DH-2 shows a lot of rigging which meant a lot of holes, I broke one drill bit due to the pin vice slipping between my fingers, lack of attention I guess.
Insert the drill bit so the jaws of the pin vice grips the shank of the drill, DON'T grip the flutes of the bit, doing this will surely break the bit as soon as a little force is applied. With most of the holes I drill the jaws of the vice are as close to the flutes as possible.

6. How deep.

After a bit of practice you can "feel" how deep you need to go, you don't require a lot of "purchase" on the mono to obtain a good grip but remember, do not over tension the line, only a small amount of weight is required. After applying the CA to the rigging in the top wing I leave it for about an hour before adding any weight, this is to be sure the glue has set firmly. The only time I have had one let go is when I coloured the line with marker pen, glued it in position, then after an hour applied tension and it let go, the glue stuck to the marker ink which stayed in the hole and the line pulled out, so lesson No.1, scrape off any marker ink where the glue is going.

I hope I have answered your questions for you. I have had a great deal of success rigging my aircraft in the method described, it is reasonably easy and very strong, it is amazing how very weak wings and struts become rock solid after the rigging is applied. The tail booms and tail section of my DH-2 are a classic example of rigging adding enormous rigidity to a very weak structure.

Other members will have different ideas on rigging, like I said, we are all different and we all do things the way that we feel most comfortable, but no matter how you do it, just have fun and enjoy the experience.

THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG WAY - JUST YOUR WAY

Cheers

Des.

3 November 2009, 09:07 PM	#6 (permalink)
beeza Forum Ace Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 548	Hi Steve. I will try and answer your questions the best I can bearing in mind that I am by no means an expert. 1. To drill the holes at roughly the same angle as the rigging. I always drill the holes before assembly. I put both wings on a sheet of paper trailing edge down and at the correct distance apart. I then draw a line where each rigging line goes. Transcribe the angles onto a bit of thick card and cut the angle, you can now use this as a guide for your pin vice. If you find it a little awkward, eyeballing is usually close enough. Remember to drill as small a hole as possible, just big enough for the size rigging line you are using. On most 1/32 scale models 0.15mm mono is a good size so a 0.2mm drill bit is appropriate, 0.3mm is easier to use and still does not require any touch-up. 2. Something for the drill to grip. Yes, the drill bits are very tiny and do break easily so a pin vice is essential. I have the top wing completely finished before I drill the holes in the undersurface. The bottom wing has it's upper surface complete but nothing done to the underside. I drill a very small pilot hole at right angles to the wing in the exact position where the rigging will be fixed, then I drill at the desired angle using the pilot hole as a guide for the drill bit. I have never had any slippage and there is no need for any touch-up afterwards. 3. Bob's Buckles. I have not used Bobs Buckles but from what I have seen what you say is correct. Being a tiny eyelet would allow you to drill at right angles to the wing, insert the eyelet and the rigging would angle itself correctly. 4. Two lines from the one hole. This does cause a problem, like you say, two lines going in opposite directions if exiting at right angles would look a bit odd. I drill adjacent holes as close together as possible at the required angles, once the lines are in place they appear to be coming from the one hole. Eyelets overcome this problem very easily by allowing you to fix multiple lines and running them in any direction. On the rare occasion where I have had to fix a line at 90 degrees then "bending" it to gain the correct angle has in no way weakened or stressed the rigging, it provides as strong a joint as angled holes. 5. Drill bit insertion. After a bit of practice you will find that the bits don't break very often. The picture of my DH-2 shows a lot of rigging which meant a lot of holes, I broke one drill bit due to the pin vice slipping between my fingers, lack of attention I guess. Insert the drill bit so the jaws of the pin vice grips the shank of the drill, DON'T grip the flutes of the bit, doing this will surely break the bit as soon as a little force is applied. With most of the holes I drill the jaws of the vice are as close to the flutes as possible. 6. How deep. After a bit of practice you can "feel" how deep you need to go, you don't require a lot of "purchase" on the mono to obtain a good grip but remember, do not over tension the line, only a small amount of weight is required. After applying the CA to the rigging in the top wing I leave it for about an hour before adding any weight, this is to be sure the glue has set firmly. The only time I have had one let go is when I coloured the line with marker pen, glued it in position, then after an hour applied tension and it let go, the glue stuck to the marker ink which stayed in the hole and the line pulled out, so lesson No.1, scrape off any marker ink where the glue is going. I hope I have answered your questions for you. I have had a great deal of success rigging my aircraft in the method described, it is reasonably easy and very strong, it is amazing how very weak wings and struts become rock solid after the rigging is applied. The tail booms and tail section of my DH-2 are a classic example of rigging adding enormous rigidity to a very weak structure. Other members will have different ideas on rigging, like I said, we are all different and we all do things the way that we feel most comfortable, but no matter how you do it, just have fun and enjoy the experience. THERE IS NO RIGHT OR WRONG WAY - JUST YOUR WAY Cheers Des.