Suggestion for hiding connecting tube joints?

[tmcca]

I was wondering how to hide tube joints. Thanks

 

[neil_w]

Wood Filler or Bondo Spot and Glazing Putty are two common choices (along with a healthy dose of sanding). A coat of filler primer after finishes it off nicely (more sanding of course).

 

[terryg]

Pinstripes

 

[MidOH]

I just wipe the epoxy that squirts out.

 

[MarsLander]

I was wondering how to hide tube joints. Thanks

What are the tubes made of...different techniques for different materials.

 

[boatgeek]

A change in paint color right at the break really helps.

 

[Back_at_it]

Typically the epoxy that squeeze's out is enough to fill any gaps in the tubing. I'll typically wipe away the excess leaving just a small layer above the height of the tube. Afterwards it is pretty easy to sand flat. Any small imperfections can be filled with wood filler or spot putty. Nice thing about this method is that the epoxy soaks into the fibers of the tube making them stiff so they are easy to sand. The tubes aren't flexing and becoming all fuzzy while you're sanding.

Even works well when you do a royal hack job like I did when I rebuilt my IO. Only way I had to cut this tube was with a chop saw that left a ragged edge. This pic is after sanding the epoxy down. At this point, no filler had been applied.

 

[John Brohm]

When I join two tubes I'll leave a slight gap between the tubes at the joint, say 1/32" or so. If they're thin-walled tubes, then as Neil says, Bondo filler will usually blend the surface joint. If I'm dealing with thick-walled tubes, then filler may not be enough for a deep gap - with ejection pressure and flexing, that filler can crack. In this situation, I'll fill the deep gap with an epoxy/microballoons mix, leaving the joint slightly concave. Once cured, the surface gap is then filled and sanded smooth.

My practice to include that little space between tubes comes about because I've found that no two tubes are exactly round, or out-of-round the same way. So they invariably don't perfectly match up at the joint. That little 1/32" gap provides just enough room to make the surface blend. The following photos illustrate the point - two thick-walled tubes being joined, the surface joint filled, and then primed.

 

[ksaves2]

Wood Filler or Bondo Spot and Glazing Putty are two common choices (along with a healthy dose of sanding). A coat of filler primer after finishes it off nicely (more sanding of course).

Agree, ditto, ditto and ditto. Accept, if one is going to fiberglass with epoxy/cloth, of course that adds weight but if one is going to be using "bigger" motors doesn't matter. Don't fill the spirals although that's common sense. I did wood filler with putty and got some nice finishes. Kurt

 

[David Schwantz]

Add screw heads on both sides and make it faux separation joint.

 

[nickt.mrc]

I was wondering how to hide tube joints. Thanks

I'm in the U.K., so I don't know if this product is available where you are, but I use Revell Plasto which is a product used by both sculptors and RC model aircraft makers for smoothing over small imperfections. It's an air drying solvent based putty, which you squeeze on in a string of blobs and then scrape in with an old credit card to remove the surplus. It sets hard very quickly and can be sanded a couple of hours after use. It's far easier to shape and sand smooth than epoxy. Any unwanted material can be wiped off using acetone based nail varnish remover, before it sets fully. It takes primer well, I tend to use the grey automotive primers because I like black tubes. The putty is mid grey in colour.

I was wondering how to hide tube joints. Thanks

 

[Lotronex]

A trick I think I saw this on @hcmbanjo 's blog. For low/mid power tubes, once the tubes are glued to the coupler, put a drop of thin CA in the joint, then burnish it using the side of a Sharpie. Repeat all the way around the tubes. This makes sure the ends of the tube are solidly adhered to the coupler and don't flare out where they meet. After that you can do Bondo or wood filler etc.

 

[RocketRev]

Once I was told the best way to hide tube joints was to put a picture of a woman (as the dad in the wedding scene in MP's Holy Grail would say) "with HUGE.....tracks of Land"

Then nobody will see the tube joint at all!

Quite embarrassed to put that in print, but it is hilarious in the movie.
Brad