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e-E-Sky Honey Bee- Lama- Belt CP- E-Smart > Special Tools?

PaveHawk Mech
New Heliman
Location: Shorewood IL - USA

Has anyone made any special tools they would like to share with the rest of us? Such as for blade balancing, flight control rigging, pin pullers.

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on thos

08-22-2008 03:23 AM

Gregor99
Elite Veteran
Location: Western Wa

I use to use a drill bit and two cans of olives as a blade balancer. I wasn't completely confident in it so I recently picked up HeliMax balancer. The Helimax is VERY nice and makes the process much easier. But guess what? My olive can balanced blades were spot on, go figure.

I use an Align pitch gauge and Align ball link pliers. They were available at the LHS when I needed them. Plus the waving of the pitch gauge over the heli to bless it does seem to make it run more like a Trex.

I also recently picked up two IR temp gauges and a scale from Harbor Frieght. The little IR gauge is small and fits easily in your pocket or toolbox. Its easier to get to focus on a tight spot like the top of the motor. The larger one has a laser sight, much wider temp range and tends to be little more accurate. But its bulkier and the target area you are getting a reading from needs to be a little larger.

The gram scale is just OK. I returned it once, but then bought it again. Really on the fence with that one. It is very small and only goes up to 500 grams. Accuracy is down to .1 grams. So it works well for most all heli parts. But you can't put the whole heli on it. And its not accurate enough of really small stuff like using weight to balance tail blades. But it was cheap so I'll keep it.

Last really odd item I recently added was The Greaser. It injects grease into your bearings, past the tiny gaps in the shields. It works and works quite well. I was having tons of bearing failures with liquid lube so I wanted to try something different.

More info here.

http://peteshobbies.com/prcp/Greaser/grindex.htm

Canton MO backyard flying club
West Coast Chapter

08-23-2008 12:37 AM

PaveHawk Mech
New Heliman
Location: Shorewood IL - USA

Gregor99,
Can you upload a picture of the blade balance method using the two cans of olives? I have thought about using a protractor for blade angles but I think the actual pitch gauge is worth spending the money on as well as the the special pullers. I have been using a pair of pliers and forcips to remove the links.
The IR temp gauges are an awesome idea, I had thought about using the wife's meat thermometer (metal probe with digital readout) to check the motor temp.
I have a digital kitchen scale that only reads in 1/4gram incriments with makes it pretty much useless unless I add a bunch of mechanical pencil lead to get it close to high reading and see which goes over the top.
The Greaser is a very original idea and a money saver in the long run. I am guessing the bearings do not have a lock ring for the dust shields.
Thank you for the tips.

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on thos

08-23-2008 04:18 PM

Gregor99

Elite Veteran - Location: Western Wa -

My main camera failed so I'll have to find a different camera. But its pretty simple. Find fint a drill bit that fits snuggly in the blade grip hole. Put the bit in the hole of each grip so the leading edge is facing up. Use a small zip tie diagionally across the blade grips and ends of the bit to hold the two blades together. Place it on two cans, with the end of the bit on one can and other end of the bit on the other. Make sure the end of the bit with the grooves is contacting the can edge on one of outer edges of the groves. Of course set your blade CG first before you start this process.

This is the same method you'd use with an Align blade balancer. The Align part is inexpensive, but its 3mm (standard Trex blade grip bolt). I started balancing with the Esky wood blades which use 2.5mm bolts so it wouldn't work. In fact, I wasn't able to find ANY balancer that supported the 2.5mm. The latest version of the HeliMax balancer now includes an adapater for 2.5mm.

Canton MO backyard flying club
West Coast Chapter

08-23-2008 05:28 PM

tryan02
rrProfessor
Location: Canton, Missouri

Canton MO backyard flying club
Club President
Team No funds left.

08-23-2008 05:34 PM

HOMEPAGE

PaveHawk Mech
New Heliman
Location: Shorewood IL - USA

Guys thank you so much for information. I'll do this with my new blades from now on!

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on thos

08-23-2008 06:04 PM

PaveHawk Mech
New Heliman
Location: Shorewood IL - USA

works like champ

I balance my new blades and it worked great. thank you again for the tips.
Rob

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on thos

09-01-2008 05:42 AM

fenderstrat
Elite Veteran
Location: Aston,Pa

do you have a HBK?if you do pick up at least 1 5.5mm nut driver,thin walled to fit in the blade grip,the LHS should have one for cars that works perfect(thats what I got).you'll need it for the spindle bolts,as the HBK spindles are made of recycled beer cans,and bend if you fart near them.I used 2 sets of needle nose for a long time and when I got the nut driver it was like"what the hell have I been doing?".yes if you want a great flying heli invest in a pitch guage,its mandatory,nothing fancy any one will do,although if you plan on doing 3D get the align one,it really helps

and as for a blade balancer,I've been using a piece of string since day one,one day I took some blades to a deli where I work and used a really accurate scale to check,and guess what?they were dead on.so,for small heli's any of the cheapie methods is fine

PerformancePlusRC field rep
COMPASS helis field rep
Mini Titan/SE
HBK2
Futaba FASST

09-01-2008 07:00 PM

tryan02
rrProfessor
Location: Canton, Missouri

Eflite makes a pitch gauge that will grow with you for $13.

Canton MO backyard flying club
Club President
Team No funds left.

09-01-2008 07:17 PM

HOMEPAGE

pruner
Heliman
Location: tucson arizona

photo

Tryan...very cool photo!!!

09-05-2008 01:04 PM

PaveHawk Mech
New Heliman
Location: Shorewood IL - USA

Thanks

I am grateful for all of the suggestions. I have a HB mk 2 and a blade cp pro. Very small heli's, parts are inexpensive. The first flight after I balanced the blades on the cp I had it in somewhat controled flight and wouldn't you know it, I dropped it to the pavement. I chipped the blades enough to cause it to go out of balance. Any tips on blade repair?

I know it is probably already posted somewhere in the forum and I will search for it next.

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on thos

09-08-2008 02:27 AM

tryan02
rrProfessor
Location: Canton, Missouri

CA glue of course sandpaper and I use monokote trimkote sheets.

cut covering back far enough to repair blades glue cracks or splinters back in place sand excess glue smooth then cut self adhesive trimkote to fit and rebalance blades they will be good as new.

If its just a scuff you can sand it smooth then cut the other side sand it to same size and shape then cover and fly.

here is a photo of a well worn set of blades.

considered just taking the covering all off but never did.

Canton MO backyard flying club
Club President
Team No funds left.

09-08-2008 02:52 AM

HOMEPAGE

PaveHawk Mech
New Heliman
Location: Shorewood IL - USA

Blade Repair

I've been really busy and have not had the chance to do any helicopter stuff at all. I am going to repair the blades and fly this weekend. Thank you for the tip on repairing the blades. I have another question.
Since the covering is in good shape (except on the bottom at the tip end)is it feesable to just do the CA repair as described, sand and trim some electrical tape about a 1/4 of an inch wide and wrap over the damaged area, rebalance and track? I am concerned about the amount added weight to the blades.

"We sleep safe in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on thos

09-18-2008 03:09 AM

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e-E-Sky Honey Bee- Lama- Belt CP- E-Smart > Special Tools?

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