Forum

Night Watch

Well Nerys, if Caroline says she can't use my tools then I get her some she can use, earlier in the year our son needed some welding doing on his Mercedes after a pothole ripped his front suspension out, problem was I only had industrial equipment that was too big to take to the car. So on the understanding that I teach her to weld she bought us a portable gasless mig welder. She can now lay a fair weld with mig, a usable weld with my old stick welder and is now learning to braze and gas weld with my oxy acetylene kit. I may even become redundant in my own workshop as she can already use my combination mill/lathe and pillar drill. She now wants a lightweight r as mine is just too heavy for her modelling, I'll have to ask santa. Cheers Colin.

4 years ago by Colin H

Forum

EeZeBilts From Keil Kraft

Could think of a lot of uses for your CNC r too - but would have to be a bit more powerful/stronger build even for Jelutong and the like. Trouble is nothing like that available here - cheapest we've seen was about R25k......... The larger ones running to millions.

5 years ago by redpmg

Response

Re: 40'' Seaplane Tender, new build T

Hi Peter, always used nylon, Teflon or brass bushes in my IC boats and they lasted for years but these shafts were cheap so I bought a few. Seems the main problem is the shafts are stainless and seem very soft, (and as mentioned, not straight) and once they get to a high speed they are whipping and going out of shape, (I've managed to straighten the worst one and it runs much better). Thought about bunging a nylon bush in the center of the tube to stop that but I'll wait and see how they go once filled with oil and have a load on. Bearings appear to be a stepped 8mm and 4mm inner so I'll see what NMB has (either ball or needle roller). As you mentioned the rollers would be better, (my friend used them in his Hydro about 35 yrs ago and swore by them,- they were bearings used in dental drills) If they are no good as is I might make the shafts from silver steel ($10/m length - just priced it) and chuck some decent bearings in. Haven't tried a file on the bearing yet, that will give an idea of the bearing quality.

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Forum

CAD with Designspark Mechanical.

The basic principles are quite simple really, Everything is worked out on a co ordinate system, you could say fancy map reading or navigation. A map is divided into squares, each square being part of a numbered grid, same on a nautical chart. so to get from A to B, you navigate accross the chart, so point A may be square 21/06, 21 squares along and 6 up. Point B is say 18/32 so 18 along and 32 up. (asleep yet?) to get from A to B you will plot a route through the grid from one reference to another. Similarly, our CNC r, laser cutter 3Dprinter plotter etc works on the same principle, we have 3 axes, X Y and Z X being left to right, Y back and forth and Z up and down. Cad software converts a drawing, or draws as a set of co ordinates, so for a 2 dimensional square, the co ordinates could be, say, X0 Yo, bottom left corner, and X10 Y10 the top right. X5 Y5 would be the center of the square. To add a 3rd dimension, the Z axis gets involved, so on a 3D print, the first layer would be z 0.15, second Z 0,3 etc. I am using Designspark Mechanical to illustrate, the photos are, hopefully self explanatory... Next time will prepare the object for 3D printing.

5 years ago by Nickthesteam

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

Easiest way to prevent parts falling out is use the same method as Billings Boats. At reasonable points you leave about 1.5mm gap in the cutline . Simple to cut through afterwards and will work for both CNC Laser & R cutting. Not really required for larger parts - unless you are into commercial kit manufacture - just the parts likely to fall through the cutting bed or sucked away by the dust extractor.

5 years ago by redpmg

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

"...I suppose depending on the cutting head you will be able to cut thin sheet plastic?...." The basic machine is just a precise 3-D positioning device. You then tie anything you want onto the end, depending on the job you want to do. A r or a laser will cut wood, a milling bit will cut metal, a knife will cut vinyl or paper. A plastic extrusion head will let you build up plastic shapes, a pen would let you write letters, and I suppose a paint brush would let you create watercolours... For every material there is a workholding requirement, and a set-up and run optimisation process to undertake, but the principle is simple.

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

It is easier than you would think. I only got into 3D printing 2 years ago, once you see how it works the rest is easy. Main difference between a CNC r and a 3D printer is that a 3D printer adds material to make an object and a CNC r removes material.

5 years ago by Nickthesteam

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

Bit of an update on my CNC r. All up and running now and I am well chuffed with the results. I abandoned the Arduino based controller and opted instead for a Duet 2 WiFi board, a 32 bit controller with on board drivers. The machine can be loaded with a job directly from my computer/laptop/mobile phone and progress monitored from same. I have also added a 7 inch Paneldue touch screen display for when my daughter is hogging all the internet bandwidth. It has been going for a couple of weeks now and I haven't stopped making stuff, all for other folks! I need to find some DXF files for model boats now. I have a set of plans for a Lysander aircraft that my mate wants me to cut out for him, so far my efforts to convert PDF into useable vectors have come to nought.

5 years ago by Nickthesteam

Forum

Hintsand tips - Decals made easy

"....It's a lot easier and cheaper then buying a vinyl cutter and learning how to use it. It might not cost much more than a pack of decal paper...." I can't report on the 'learning how to use it' part, since I haven't started, but having a CNC machine means that you can add all sorts of tools onto the cutting end. At the moment I just use a small r to cut balsa - I would use a bigger one or a laser to cut ply - and I have just bought a 'swiveling knife' set to cut vinyl. Cost of a mount and 15 blades - £4.37. Should let me cut any size or shape character out of vinyl (or anything else) sheet...

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

Hints and Tips.

$15 NZ is not too bad for a pair of Sullivan (US) 3ft pushrods (2 inners 2 s plus 2 threaded rods 2 clevises, 2 clips and 2 keepers) makes it so much easier to make a set (or you can buy them as singles,- different lengths, sizes, $$ available) No worries about finding suitable tube for s etc, then still having to buy clevises etc (or make Z bends) Not sure of the cost in UK etc,- perhaps they whack you with a bigger $ extraction stick up over ?

5 years ago by jbkiwi

Response

Re: WTC/Sub Driver.

Go for it Peter 👍😊 As my German friends might say (with a wry smile😉) 'Es wird schon schief gehen!' Literally 'It will go wrong already!' 😮 Meaning in a curious wry sorta way 'Do it, you can't go wrong!' But when you have it finished and working you'll need to get- A waterproof video camera, preferably remote control and low-light capable, Telemetry and video capable feedback modules and display unit, Optional VR headset to see what the sub is 'seeing' in real time ... 😉 It's much like buying a computer, then you need- Display, Printer, R / LAN hub, Optional WLAN Optional external drives for back ups / mass storage ... You have been warned 😊 But it's a lotta fun👍 Both the challenges of the build / outfitting and the sailing Cheers, Doug 😎

5 years ago by RNinMunich

Forum

Fairmile c class maiden voyage

I am using a Flysky 10 channel Mode 2 Tx, set up for 'elevon' control on the screws. The centre is controlled with the LH throttle lever. On the last day out, got around 50 mins of battery life running the centre screw continuously and the s around 30% of time. Powertrain is: 2 x ZIPPY Compact 2200mAh 3S 35C Lipo Pack each powers one shaft and one also powers the centre. shafts : 2 x Turnigy AquaStar 2842-2800KV Water Cooled Brushless Outrunner Motor 2 x HobbyKing 50A Boat ESC 4A UBEC Centre Shaft : 1 x 550 Brushed motor 1 x Quickrun 1080 ESC All shafts have 35mm brass screws Model is about 35" OL length and performs well. She planes just like the original Brave Borderer.

5 years ago by Rowen

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

How much dust is there when cutting balsa ? MDF is problematic as its made using formaldehyde and the dust is really damaging to the lungs. Laser cutting is not a problem with MDF as it burns. but has pollution problems and requires a scrubber on the exhaust . Most of the sites selling CNC rs seem to advise you to have a cover to minimise dust! Was thinking of changing to a desk top laser for engraving and using a r for cutting but very wary of dust associated problems.

5 years ago by redpmg

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

My plan is to trace PDF files into DSM and output as DXF, or work up my own drawings. I have DXF to G code so I guess I could deal with your files. When finished, my OX will be used for all sorts, cutting aluminium is a must, Daughter has demanded name plaques for her horses stable, she reckons her horsey pals will pay for nice carved name plaques so who am I to argue! ply and balsa cutting will be essential and possibly light brass sheet, hence my first choice of the 900 Watt DeWalt r. I may well end up with an arsenal of spindles/rs and eventually a laser head. I am using the CNC shield for now but the intention is to use a Rumba board, a versatile Arduino mega 2560 based board with loads of output options more commonly used on 3D printers, I have upgraded 2 of my printers with them already. Like 3D printers, the options for modifying/tweaking are endless. I will be fitting endstops, but I may use TMC 2130 drivers, which do not need endstops, as soon as they detect a substancial increase in current they switch off. My Mk3 Prusa has them, certainly reduces the ammount of wiring! I have a notion to draw up some plans for a series of warship boats at rc able size, ie, 47ft Whaler, Skimming Dish FML Cheverton Launch etc, interesting boats but rarely seen actually on the water as working models. I have a milling machine so a plentiful supply of milling cutters is available for a range of jobs.

5 years ago by Nickthesteam

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

You seem to be doing pretty much the same thing as I am! I picked an eShapeoko whose mechanical kits are a fair bit cheaper, which meant I could afford the longer rails initially, but apart from that we are pretty much identical! Oh, and I'm using a different breakout board... You will be adding limit switches? I find them essential for decent control, but also found it a bit tricky to get data on the best way to connect them to an Arduino. Does Ox provide an advised circuit and pinouts? I see you are using DesignSpark. I don't think this accepts .DXF files, which are the standard 2-D interchange format. It will output them, but not import, which seems crazy to me! Which is a shame, because I could send you any of the model boat plans on the EeZeBilt or Marinecraft sites as a .DXF... Most of the EeZebilts can be made on the cutting area you have, and all the Marinecraft. You don't need a powerful r to cut balsa - a model boat motor is sufficient, with a cheap Chinese cutter for a couple of quid. The great thing about that is that there is essentially no cutting noise, just the quiet hum of the motor. A 4" wide plank with balsa edges will hold a sheet nice and firmly. What materials are you thinking of cutting? I am experimenting with cutting ply, and find that old dental burrs (which I got free from my dentist!) will go through 1/8" deal like butter powered by a Graupner Speed 400.

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

Hi, I am in the process of building an Openbuilds Ox machine. So far I have built the gantry and Z axis. The drivers for the Nema 23 motors should arrive on Saturday so I can spend the bank holiday weekend fiddling about with the electrics. I will use a Dewalt 900Watt r for the spindle so there will be enough power to cut aluminium sheet. I have been using 3D printers tobuild a minesweeper with great success so a CNC r will add to mt arsenal...

5 years ago by Nickthesteam