Blog

Deck line in place!

The Deck line is now drawn all along the hull! My last three kits were by Dumas Models! There instructions were very well written! Having built my last three tugs. By Dumas of course! Has given me more knowledge. On what to do with a more advanced kit! In this Billing Boats kit. You better know your way around the build! Or have a lot on questions! Next I have to steam her Bow and Stern. Supports which are of 2mm thick ply! Having tried to steam her supports. I have found that the ply delaminates! Which is a problem! But, I have surplus wood at the ready! See, it's the bow and stern area. That use ply! So, what I'm going to do is. Use 1/4 inch dowel Square of course! Cut about 1/4" pieces times X! To go around her Bow and stern area! This will also solve. The delamination problem I encounted!

5 years ago by figtree7nts

Forum

CNC boat kits...?

Having successfully used the machine to make the workholding support for the , I started on the final leg - getting the machine to actually produce parts for a model boat. It's just going to be used for EeZeBilt balsa parts initially, until I understand a bit more about cutting tools and feed rates. I'm not using a 'professional' spindle motor (which can cost well north of £100), but just an old model boat motor with a cheap Chinese chuck and milling head. You can see a couple of examples in the pictures below. The first material I tried to cut was cardboard. I wanted something really weak, because the cutting tools are very narrow, and I did not know how much sideways force they would take. Turned out fine, though. Further pictures show the first attempt at cutting balsa sheet, a whole sheet of 1/8 balsa being cut, and a couple of parts which have just been cut. Points to make: 1 - you need a high RPM from the cutting motor if you want a fast feed speed. Boat motors work, but a high speed brushless would be better. As it is the edges of the balsa are a bit ragged... 2 - Probably the best way to keep all the parts in the balsa sheet is not to use tabs, but just to cut 90% of the way through. I left about 5 thou on the balsa part, which meant it stayed in place but could easily be pushed out... 3 - you need a soft surface under the balsa sheet in case you do cut deeper by mistake. I thought of felt but that gets caught up in the blade too easily. You could use another balsa sheet, but I used a bit of Correx. Depron would be fine... So there we are. I have now cut a complete kit out of balsa and will start to make it up. I can recommend this machine if you want to just sit and have a beer while all the hard work of cutting parts is done for you...!

5 years ago by DodgyGeezer