solentlife

Being in a poorly services model area .... often I find I need a part but have to wait the post or slow-boat.

One of those recently - the stabiliser fins on tail boom. The horizontal fin had lost one side after a blade strike.
So using the remaining half - I drew up a full replacement and traced onto the clear disc that comes with CD packs. Cut out and fitted. Perfect temp replacement.

I must admit I do have a laser cutter which makes these jobs easy !

Nigel

pizzano

Awesome....!
I should hope something as simple and inexpensive as a tail rotor fin could be replicated on 3D laser machine like yours.......and even be considered a permanent replacement. Heck, you should be able to duplicate most of the parts like horiz. stab boom fins, landing skids, battery mounting plates and anti rotation brackets.
Given time, practice, refinement and the proper materials, it would be great to hear that you've got main gear, auto rotation gear and belt drive gears down pat as well......maybe even frame and chassis plates...

Now that would be worth the price and time for a 3d laser printer.

solentlife

I'm actually trying to source plastic sheet suitable for many of our models. But like many items - Latvia is poorly served.

CF sheet as used in frames etc. is prohibitively expensive here and tbh - its better to buy a bare-bones heli of ebay etc.

Nigel

pizzano

I hear ya Nigel.......carbon fiber material, even here in the States, is many times the cost of ready made parts.....even bought in bulk, which is not practicle for DIY projects like ours.

DHC Beaver

Maybe a 3d printer is your answer,Nigel.As you already have the laser cutter,I assume your familiar with cad,so it would be a small step to design and print your own parts.
They're getting cheaper all the time,I build my i3 Aurora for less than $800us.
It does require a bit of tinkering if you're going the reprap route,but it's something to think about.

solentlife

I'm still out in banana land when it comes to CAD .... my Laser Cutter works direct of jpg and CorelDraw ... they import into MoshiDraw .... so I just over-draw the vector lines and hide the original image ... transfer to cutting utility .... done.

3D printer .... maybe a long way down the road yet ....

I'm looking at learning more laser work ... look at router system as well ... larger cutting bed etc.

Nigel

Panther

I am in banana land but what has this got to do with anything?
I'm totally lost with this post.??

Turbojoe

I still have my daughters 3D printer. I've been slightly consumed with using TinkerCad and making several one of parts for myself. It's amazing just how many R/C plane/heli parts are out there for download in the Thingiverse and on many other sites. You almost don't have to use a CAD program anymore unless you need something just plain weird. Depending on the size of the item printed it will take much longer to create than a laser but at UNDER $200.00 USD for a good 3D printer. Cost for 3D printing wins hands down over laser for me. 3D won't cut wood of course but you can't make wooden parts appear out of thin air with a laser "cutter".........

Joe

Panther

buddy of mine bought a Banggood laser cutter and had nothing but trouble trying to get it going. Sort of worked sometimes. The main board was faulty but Banggood wouldnt come to the party so he sold it on gumtree. He bought an expensive one then and all good.

Turbojoe

That's why I never buy ANYTHING from "BANG YOU GOOD" anymore. You TRULY get what you pay for but you NEVER get your money worth.......

We bought our printer on sale before Christmas on Amazon last year. It's a Creality Ender 3D for UNDER $200.00. Aside from replacing some cheap rollers it has been trouble free. Even for a Luddite like me. I leveled the printer bed about two months ago and haven't fiddled with it since. I could add and print a file right now with zero failures.

Joe