Building A Boomilever

[juicemanman]

I used balsa. It's cheap and not very dense.

[Balsa Man]

One more thing: What wood sheets should I buy for the base? I'm going to get them right now so I need them quick

Recommendation- a piece of balsa 1" x 1"; most places you can get in 12 or 24" long- you want the very lightest of what they have Cut 1/2" off one end- with a saw, so the sides (where you cut, and the original end are nice and parallel). That gives you a nice end-grain block, 1 x 1 x 1/2 thick. Bolt hole goes in the 1 x 1 face(s). Now for "skin" layers, what you really want is 1/64th inch sheet- high density balsa (like 10 or 11 grams for a 3" x 36" sheet. Unlikely your hobby store will have. An alternative - Ace Hardware usually has- 1/64th birch plywood. Because its manufactured, your balsa needs to be just a bit less than 1/2" thick.

[iwonder]

You've mentioned this birch plywood a few times... I haven't seen any, but does it really have two plys to it? That's pretty scary stuff...

[UQOnyx]

Whew, Finished the whole boomilever. I just finished making the base. Looks pretty good!

[Balsa Man]

You've mentioned this birch plywood a few times... I haven't seen any, but does it really have two plys to it? That's pretty scary stuff...

Two or three- haven't deconstructed a piece to tell. A little heavier than 1/64th hi density balsa, but not a lot, but more easily obtained (Hobbytown and Ace Hardware- at least around here)

[Balsa Man]

Whew, Finished the whole boomilever. I just finished making the base. Looks pretty good!

Cool, looking forward to hearing how it does.

[UQOnyx]

Going to revive an oldish topic again... What glues should I use for what joints? I am using almost all gorilla glue (don't kill me haha!) because it is the most reliable. I usually apply very very little and drop a dab of thin CA on it because I found that it accelerates the curing. For the Distal End and the base, I just leave it so it doesn't interfere with the curing (maybe the CA weakens it or something ) Should I just use CA for bracing and creating the box joints"

[iwonder]

If you're careful you can use medium viscosity('gap-filling' in some places) CA and get away with it. If you're not too confident, go with gorilla glue on the distal end and base.

[UQOnyx]

It might be something else, but I have noticed that if I apply CA glue to something that already has CA glue dried, it doesn't bond. Is that true or is it just something else?

[iwonder]

Nope, that's just what happens... Most of the time I end up sanding the old CA off.