1. Hey guyz. Welcome to the All New Phlatforum!



    Sign Up and take a look around. There are so many awesome new features.

    The Phlatforum is a place we can all hang out and

    have fun sharing our RC adventures!

  2. Dismiss Notice

Anyone consider the possibilty of setting up a hotwire?

Discussion in 'Phlatprinter 3 Attachments' started by dhc8guru, Aug 5, 2011.

  1. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    237
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Location:
    San Antonio
    So I am considering the possibility of setting up a bow hotwire on the PPIII. Bridging the bow over the gantry and making a fixture to the bow to the YZ. I want to take advantage of the CNC USB software capabilities of cutting airfoils.
     
  2. TigerPilot

    TigerPilot Well-Known Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    1,578
    Trophy Points:
    48
    Using the PP the way you describe it you'll be able to cut only constant cord foils. Full blown wing cutting cnc's are 4 axis machines.

    Funny you should mention it today. I was just at my locale Lowes to buy some 2" blue foam to cut it with a bow on the PP but alas, there is no foam like this in SoCal. Too warm here and they don't have it on their inventory.
     
  3. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    6,311
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    NJ
    We made on, but have not gotten back to it yet. The idea was to use it as a skinning tool. So we could cut different thickness of foam.
    We showcased it on a PhlatLAB a while back September? but I did a quick look and could not find it.
    I have to run out right now but I will look to see if I can get all the files together.
    Mark and Trish
     
  4. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    237
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Location:
    San Antonio
    I just want to slice constant cord wings. I think the PP would do an excellent job at it. I guess I need to get creative attaching a wire bow to the machine head.
     
  5. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    6,311
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    NJ
    Here's a screen shot of the one I have in the works.
    It could be done much simpler I am sure, but it may give you an idea.

    Hope this Helps
    Mark and Trish Attached files [​IMG]
     
  6. jkarnacki

    jkarnacki Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    140
    Trophy Points:
    16
    I would soooooooo buy a hotwire attachment. I just finished cutting out a mini skywalker for fpv but I'm stuck with a flat plate wing :-D

    Haven't posted here in awhile, but I lurk every once in a while. Glad to see you're still keeping busy Mark and Trish!

    - Jeff
     
  7. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    6,311
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    NJ
    Guys here are a few places to get the thicker foam in CA
    viewtopic.php?f=84&t=2992&start=0
    Hope it helps

    I may cut a couple of these out for you guys to try out as a prototypes. :good: It looks like jkarnacki and dhc8guru are interested. If you guys want to help out with the testing PM me your address and I will send them out as soon as cut them.
    Thanks
    Mark and Trish
     
  8. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    237
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Location:
    San Antonio
    Mark, looks like your model runs parallel to the gantry? What I am thinking of is one that runs perpendicular to the rollers. A Bow that reaches over the gantry with the wire coming in through the rear opening. That way you would only need the Y and Z axis to cut the foam. The pressure rollers would probably need to be removed when cutting cores.
    What I was thinking of is a at the top of the pole you show in your model is clamp to attach to a bow cutter. In my case I have a Foam Factory Hotwire bow, so a round clamp of some sort to hold the frame and maybe somekind of bracing on the lower side of the machine head, something simple like a rod.
    Profili software interfaces with the CNC USB software to make wing cores.
     
  9. kram242

    kram242 Administrator Staff Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    6,311
    Trophy Points:
    13
    Location:
    NJ
    dhc8guru, The concept sounds promising but to be honest I am having a hard time completely visualizing what you are laying out. Is there a way you could draw up a simple rough diagram for us? I would be glad to help on the design aspect.
    BTW scraighamilton asked me if I would like some help with the bow above so I gave him the most recent tabbed prototype version I had been working on.( I would post it but its unfinished and I really don't want to confuse the situation) His sharpie attachment was super cool so I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with! :good:
    Thanks
    Mark and Trish
     
  10. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    237
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Location:
    San Antonio
    I will try to make a drawing of what I am thinking of doing. Maybe a better explanation would be one side of the bow is behind the machine, the wire comes in through the rear opening meeting up with the other side of the bow on the front side of the machine. The bow is perpendicular to the rollers.
     
  11. TigerPilot

    TigerPilot Well-Known Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    1,578
    Trophy Points:
    48
    I understood what you mean, dhc8guru, and I can visualize it but I have a problem with figuring out what you did with the pressure roller and the handle. Are they in the up position and the material underneath them and the hot wire runs underneath them too?
     
  12. jkarnacki

    jkarnacki Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    140
    Trophy Points:
    16
    One upside to keeping the bow parallel to the rollers is that it would keep even pressure over the part of foam being cut.

    If we were to mount the bow perpendicular to the rollers, instead of removing the rollers we could just put some 1/4" MDF sheets on the front and back of the table to give the foam a solid surface to sit on up and away from the rollers. Hope that makes sense :-D

    - Jeff
     
  13. dhc8guru

    dhc8guru Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    237
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Location:
    San Antonio
    You can leave the pressure rollers on and use it to hold down the foam(on one end). You would just have to put the wire on after the hot wire bow is installed on the head. Even if you run the bow parallel to the rollers, the rollers get in the way unless the bow fixture is designed to reach out beyond the pressure rollers. But then doing that introduces other issues to sort out. Running the wire parallel to the rollers means the Z and X axis are being used to perform the cut.This means that you are moving the foam to perform the cut whereas the set up I am thinking of would mean the foam stays in place and the Z/Y axis are performing the cut. Also (for example) if your cutting a tapered wing, you can place the foam at any exact angle so you can get the wire cut timing right and once its in place, its not going to move.
    One other bonus of the perpendicular set up is the length of the foam needing to be cut is only limited to the width of the bow. Which in my case with the Foam Factory bow is 4 feet.
     
  14. jkarnacki

    jkarnacki Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    140
    Trophy Points:
    16
    Okay, you win :D

    Hurry up Mark I want to get my hands on one of these. My planes need some real wings!

    - Jeff
     
  15. swarfer

    swarfer Moderator Staff Member

    Offline
    Messages:
    808
    Trophy Points:
    28
    Location:
    Grahamstown, South Africa
    well, you'll have to make your own bow, and mount it how you like, but at least you can now generate Gcode for it... :lurking:
     

Share This Page