Ok I apologize for this incredibly n00bish question, but I am soon going to be constructing the walls of my Pikestuff engine house and I am wondering how you ladies and gents ensure that your corner pieces meet at a perfect 90 degree angle? I’ve thought about something like a perfectly square block of wood or a stack of books for the walls to be braced against, but those options seem to have limitations in terms of securing the walls so I can leave them to dry and not be around.
What do you folks use to complete these typs of jobs? I know Mircomark or some other company (it slips my mind) sells a tool that is used for this purpose, but my budget is limited right now and I cannot afford to purchase that (I will be in the near future for sure though). So any tips on simple and cheap methods would be greatly appreciated!
my cheap and easy method is to get a metal cooking sheet or baking pan that has raised edges and some magents. Test fit your piece with against the corner of the pan, glue and use the magents to hold the piece until the glue dries. Other method is use cookie sheet with magnets all around what ever I am glueing.
A nice block of wood with the corner shaved off would work. The reason that the corner would be shaved off is so the glue on the inside of the building corner does not stick to the wood block. You could also use books with wax paper between the books and the building to protect the books. This would also work with the wood block.
To hold it in place while drying, books could be used to support the walls from the outside as well. Sort of like a sandwich.
I use liquid plastic cement from a bottle, not the stuff from a tube. So I line up the walls and put a small amount near the bottom of the corner joint first and hold it in place for a few minutes. (It sets up that fast) Then I line up the top of the corner and apply some glue there and hold it. Once that is done, I would set up some sort of fixture (books, blocks, or something), apply more glue on the entire corner just to make sure I got everything, then put the fixture in place and let it dry and harden over night.
Even with doing all of that, sometimes the corners are not exact, but very close. The building roof and / or a base usually takes care of the final alignment.
Many ways. You can square a block of wood, and then use other blocks at the squared corner to hold your items in place. Wax paper might help between the blocks and the item to be glued to prevent the glues from sticking all items together.
A teflon-coated cake tin sounds good.
I use the orange plastic miter box that hobby stores sell. I just abut one of its corners against the items, and provide weights so that nothing shifts. I have many uses for the Fast Tracks heavy block points filing jigs, and this is one of them.
A while back someone showed how he used a saw blade and magnets to hold things in place. (Hopefully he reads this and post his photo’s again) Having a vast assortment of saw blades, I went out and bought some magnets at Walmart in the Art’s and Craft’s Dept. for about $3.00 a pack. It worked great on my recently constructed wood grain bin.
The magnets came in various shapes and sizes and I cut some of them with big scissors to fit inside of the structures. If you cut any of the magnets, check them with a square to make sure they are indeed square. Also if you want a thicker magnet, just stick a few together.
It was a great helpful hint, so thanks to whoever posted it originally.[tup]
When you guys talk about using the magnets with cooking sheets or saw blades ect, are you talking about having the metal on the one side and the magnet holding the plastic to the metal on the other side? If so, I don’t knwo if any of you have used a Pikestuff kit but their pastic is MUCH thicker than most styrene (It was a… to use nice language for the children on the site… a pain in the butt to cut out the windows, doors and big bay doors). Would this magnet method work on it?
And yes pictures are always incredibly helpful if anyone has some
There was an article recently where the author used a lego block, or portion thereof, as an inside corner brace/alignment block to get things into 90 degree alignment. Apparently the blocks are made with some degree of precision to allow this.
So your cost would be next to nothing to try, assuming you can wrestle a block away from one of your kids, steal one from the kid at the local sand box, or worst case use one from your personal collection.
Lego blocks and weights (canned goods work) are a good low-cost solution as long as you are careful to keep glue from contacting the blocks. Baking pans and cookie sheets usually have a little angle to them that makes a wall harder to square up.
Even if your budget is limited, money spent on good tools (as opposed to gadgets) is a good investment. I’m still using squares and pin vises bought in the 1970s when I was making entry-level wages. Good tools make good models a lot easier.
Oh wow I really like this idea! I used to work at a hardware store so I am sure they can hook me up with an old saw blade. As for the corner piece… Where would I find something like that? Is that like a corner piece for a metal stud in a house?
Hello No its not a stud. It is solid about 3/4 thick 4’’ tall and each side is about 4’’ wide. My dad was a tool and die maker for years and made it a long time ago. Its a bit overboard for models but works. A loco machine shop might have a piece of scrap you can have. Any thing that is square and magnetite will work. Get few magnets that are strong and med and light power they work great for holding different things while they dry. So far I have had no problem with glue sticking to the block or blade. Hope this helps Frank
Frank, Really like that machined piece you have there. I imagine it would be hard for many to locate something like that. Scraps from a welding or machine shop would work. Even a short cutoff of cold rolled heavy angle should do the trick. The shop would need to cut or machine the piece to square.
Glass, piece of marble/ granite tile or even MDF would work for a base instead of the saw blade. I’ve been "bit’ many times from even old dull blades, not to mention that the tooth width can interfere w/ pieces extending off the blade.
I mainly use hardwood blocks of maple, ash or beech. Of coarse using wood blocking doesn’t allow any use of magnets, you’re stuck to using clamps or holding the corner 'til it sets. As mentioned, champhered corner and/or piece of folded wax paper helps stop gluing to the wood. Don’t use grease, oil or wax as it will affect any future gluing of the corner, say for square corner reinforcing etc.
Great idea, Where do you find the best selection of those med to strong magnets?
Hello I got some from the dollar store I have seen them at the hardware store also. I have some that are metal they are strong and work well with thicker stock or plastic The rest or made of some thing else not sure what but they seem to be weaker then the metal one. Frig magnets would be light they are thin and work well with fragile things. I know is not the safest setup but I needed something quick and this is what I had on hand. Hope this helps Frank
If you have a Harbor Freight near by…go there and buy a 90 degree clamp…you can get a coupon from Readers digest or Parade magazine…20% off single item purchase…
it has adjustable clamps that are set at the proper angle
