Guys, what adhesive are you using to get the balsa hull sheets to stick to the ribs when skinning? Is there a technique where you just glue a rib at a time and let each set before moving to the next? I'm curious how you get your balsa sheets to not want to straighten out when gluing and ruining the lovely curves of the hull profile?
Contact cement. Cut your balsa panel to shape, coat the backside with contact cement and let dry, coat ribs and top/bottom of the hull and let dry too. Once they're both dry to the touch (10-15min) carefully position the balsa where you want it to go and press it on. Done. Just make sure you line it up right the first time because once you make contact it's really hard to remove or adjust.
There’s actually a lot to sheeting to get a skin that takes nice holes. Good soft balsa. There are a couple tricks to selecting good balsa. Two layers of silkspan inside that are cross grained. I have started to use gorilla tape on my ribs and glue the sheeting to that. Makes unsheeting very easy. But you need a clean hull.
So something like this https://www.homedepot.com/p/DAP-Weldwood-3-fl-oz-Original-Contact-Cement-00107/100195615? Also are talking about putting the cement over all the balsa sheet, or just where it contacts the ribs? Thanks guys
I paint the ribs/subdeck/hull where they would contact the balsa sheet, and paint the entire backside of the silkspanned balsa with contact cement. I'm not the most precise person, knowing me I'd paint where the ribs should be on the balsa and I'd be off by 1/2" and the balsa would fall off in the lake.
If you go crazy loading it up, it could. But a nice light coating, just enough to make sure you've covered it all, and you should be fine. I've passed drop test fine every time I've had to.
Last year I put the tape on for Wades in March. Ended up getting canceled. The tape was on for 5-6 sorties in MN and all of Nats. Then it made it through the Ice Breaker. I pulled the sheeting off but left the tape on for Wades in the fall. I don’t think the tape to the hull is an issue. If anything it would be the sheeting to the tape that could fall off. But it didn’t.
I tried out the duct tape method for attaching balsa during my winter resheet. I didn't notice any more sheeting issues than normal so I promptly forgot about the duct tape. Since then, both predreads have gotten absolutely shredded. SMS Schleswig-Holstein in particular got her starboard bow demolished, plus several rams on the starboard midships section that refused to reseal neatly. With nats just a couple weeks away, I decided to replace the worst section of sheeting. I would have done the whole thing, but I didn't have enough balsa. I started cutting away the old balsa, and I was surprised at how cleanly it detached. With just ten minutes of work, the ship's side was stripped clean and ready for fresh tape and balsa. Compared to the many hours I spent over the winter scraping and sanding to remove old balsa and glue, this is a night-and-day difference. Since this photo was taken, it took me another five minutes to put fresh tape down, then only a short while longer to install the new balsa. I know it's not a complete resheet but that's still under an hour to replace almost 1/3 of the ship's sheeting. I would have replaced more if I'd had enough balsa. Whoever came up with this duct tape sheeting idea was brilliant. I will never sheet another ship without a duct tape layer underneath to protect the ribs. Anyway, painting tomorrow and then its time to reassemble everything and give her the old bench test.
One resource I have found says to thin the cement to 50/50. Do find that is necessary or do you just slap it on straight?
For attaching silkspan to balsa typically thin contact cement, once that dries then coat ribs and the entire inside of balsa (really on the silkspan) with unthinned contact cement. Once balsa is attached to hull, put silkspan over the seems between balsa pieces and at bottom of wood. I have material for a video recorded, I’ll try to put it together in the next few months
So you dont put silk span over the entire outside of the balsa wood just on the seems? On the inside of the balsa wood gets a full covering of silk span?
