Monkey Business

[Patrick Chadwick]

I didn't know that about the Merlins, but, trying hard to remain serious, I read somewhere in a book on material strengths and adhesives, referring specifically to gliders, that in WW2 there was trouble with glued joints in wood because the components were being finished very smooth before assembly. This was a well-meaning error, on the assumption " the smoother the surface the closer the joint the better the bond". Wrong assumption. Microscopic examination revealed that the smoothing results in tiny fibre hairs on the wood surface that take up the glue and tear off (relatively) easily under load. A straight cut (or a clean break) bonds better. Not trusting my memory to be perfect, I shall dig it out and correct the above if I am wrong.