I made a jig for cutting multiple Squirrel sticks so kits of parts may be quickly made up.  I also made cardboard patterns from cereal box material for cutting out multiple tissue parts.

 

I made drawings of the tissue parts that I used to make the cardboard patterns.

The stick cutting jig was made on a table saw from a piece of 3/4″ pine, 1 3/4″ wide and 13″ long.  A channel 1/4″ deep and 1 1/4″ wide was cut down the center of one face with multiple sweeps of the blade.  A 1/4″ x 1/2″ x 1 1/4″ stop block was glued in at one end.  Slots 1/4″ deep were cut at a right angle across the rails, with the inside face of the cut a distance from the stop block equal to the length of each stick required.  These cuts are at 1/2″, 2 1/16″, 2 1/2″, 3″, 6″and 12″.  The jig block could also be made by gluing together three 13″ pieces, one 1/2″ x 1 3/4″ for the bed and two 1/4″ x 1/4″ for the side rails.

 

Ten lengths of 1/8″ strip wood may be put in the channel, with their ends butted against the stop block, and a razor or razor saw may be used to cut ten pieces to the same length at once.  Twenty pieces of 1/16″ wide wood may be cut.  Five pieces of 1/8″ x 1/4″ may be put in to cut the fuselage sticks.  Six of 1/8″ and six of 1/16″ can be cut at the same time.  By putting in 3 layers of 1/16″ wood, even more pieces may be cut at once.

 

A razor blade may be used to cut the sticks.  The 1/16″ square and 1/16″ x 1/8″ sticks were cut from 1/16″ sheet using the strippers shown at the upper right of the pictures.  See the article on building the Denny Dart II H for the use of a stripper.  You can see the piles of different parts.  All the wood parts for a dozen Squirrels are quickly made.

 

A cardboard templates was made for each tissue part.  A sharp, new razor blade and the cardboard pattern are used to cut out 6 tissue parts at a time.  It didn’t take long to make a dozen sets of all three tissue parts.

 

The tailplane tapers in the fuselage sticks are cut one at a time.  The end of the stick is marked 1/8″ from the edge.  Another mark is made 2 3/8″ from the end.

 

A cut is made just outside these marks with a razor saw.  It may also be done with a razor blade and straightedge.  Lean the saw or blade slightly over the stick to prevent cutting into the final part.

 

Put it on top of a flat block to space it up slightly from the table top.  It is backed up with another piece of wood and sanded to get a flat, square face.  Rough it in with 100 grit sandpaper and finish with 150 grit.  Press the taper face to the top of the work table to check that it is square.

 

All the parts for 12 Squirrels are in this box, except the glue.

Gary