Machsupport Forum
General CNC Chat => Show"N"Tell ( What you have made with your CNC machine.) => Topic started by: tahustvedt on March 09, 2008, 10:55:16 AM
-
I milled these blades from oak. They are for a 1:6 scale P-40 scale model. I designed them in Discreet Plasma and made the G-code with Vectric Cut3D. The diametre is 530 mm and the theoretical pitch is 370 mm (370 mm forward movement for each turn) and they will be mounted between two aluminium plates. This pitch should give over 100 km/h top speed. I have flown the plane for a while using a commercial propeller but the blades take forever to arrive when I ned replacements.
(http://www.enrarot.net/images/p-40-160.jpg)
(http://www.enrarot.net/images/p-40-161.jpg)
(http://www.enrarot.net/images/p-40-162.jpg)
Video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=zJRikuQmjnI
-
Hi, Great blades!
What will you coat these with to protect them from moisture, and did you do much sanding or did the router put that smooth
of a finish on them?
Thanks ,
Glenn
-
I sanded them smooth after milling because the mesh was a little rough, and the surface is usually a little "furry" inplaces where the wood grain is softer. After milling the mesh grid structure was actually visible in the wood. Hehe. I have since smoothed the mesh out a lot so my next blades will not require much sanding. I usually coat wooden parts with a few layers of epoxy resin and sand between the layers, and then paint.
I tried the propeller on thursday. It worked great.
-
got any pics of the plane with the blades on?
-
Just this one. I might go flying again tomorrow so I can take a better pic then.
(http://www.enrarot.net/images/p-40-164.jpg)
Here's a video of the plane with the old prop, not the home made one: http://youtube.com/watch?v=97n7IoQ1ASo
-
Nice looking plane.
-
Hallo Tahustvedt
I almost do not daring to ask but do you want to share the dxf or g-code for this blades and a brief description how you did synchronise/align the top and the bottum side of the blade (how did you place it on the machine so the top and the bottum cumming exactly in place).
Greetings:
Willem
-
terrific blades !! did you model these from scratch or ? I am interested in developing blades similar....for wind turbines. I would appreciate feedback on Vcarve tool path development.
Mark
-
tahustvedt,
Hate i missed this one. Good Job.
Brett
-
Not being up on the terms, does the 'mesh' mean this was done with some sort of scanning then reproduction ? I would imagine this would be very tricky to do writing directly in G code. Would you form the root of the blade whilst it was still in a block of wood form then clamp the root in your 4th axis and let it do it's stuff from there. I've seen a few mentions of digitising probes and point clouds do these get converted from point clouds to g-code for reproduction or can they be cut directly from the point cloud ? Hmmm more mystery's than knowledge on my behalf at the moment.
-
does the 'mesh' mean this was done with some sort of scanning then reproduction ?
I designed them in Discreet Plasma and made the G-code with Vectric Cut3D
Discreet's Plasma software is/was a 3D application. Vectic's Cut3D will take these models (A.K.A. "meshes") that were created in Plasma, and create G-code to manufacture them.
You could indeed "scan" some blades and make replicas that way. You could also use a digitizing probe and again make replicas. If you model them yourself, the design options are limitless.
Would you form the root of the blade whilst it was still in a block of wood form then clamp the root in your 4th axis
A 4th axis is not required, and was not used, as you can see from his video.
-
The video wasn't working for me yesterday but works good today. I can see now it's all done from a flat piece of wood. The finished articles are pretty splendid. The blades don't appear to have a twist in them as a lot do and thus that's why I was thinking a 4th axis would be needed but I suppose even with a twist is can still be done with the same method (3 axis) only would probably require a bit more sanding on the leading edges. Is it called plasma due to it primarily being used for plasma cutters? Interesting to see how you'd make one of these with a plasma cutter. Good stuff.
-
Is it called plasma due to it primarily being used for plasma cutters? Interesting to see how you'd make one of these with a plasma cutter. Good stuff.
No, Discreet named their products after things that are hot, Flame, Inferno, Plasma..... I did some poking around, and Plasma was released quite a few years ago, before Discreet was bought by Autodesk, and apparently no longer exists. It was primarily a 3D modeler for web graphics, I think.
-
What would I look for now then ? Is it still part of the Autodesk stable ? I've already got Inventor and that's pretty good for 3d stuff. So if I'm reading your post right you make a drawing in autodesk and it'll be saved as a IAM or IPT or something like that and CUT3D can import this and convert it to GCode. That's pretty impressive stuff. I've seen a pic in a model mag where some fellow had CNC'd a turbine blade for a jet engine I don't know how many axis he used but the mind boggle as the complexity of it.
-
Is it still part of the Autodesk stable
No, I don't think so.
you make a drawing in autodesk and it'll be saved as a IAM or IPT or something like that and CUT3D can import this and convert it to GCode
Yep, that's pretty much it, in a nutshell. Have a look at the features here...http://www.vectric.com/WebSite/Vectric/cut3d/c3d_features.htm
Turbines would likely be done with a 5 axis, due to their complex curvature.
-
What would I look for now then ? I've already got Inventor and that's pretty good for 3d stuff.
If you can't do what you want with Inventor, there are plenty of 3D modelers out there, from really cheap to really expensive. Perhaps Rhino might work better for what you want to do?
-
Thanks to you both. I'm a little premature as I haven't actually got my machine up and running yet (due to some fellow going on hols with the half built base locked in his tool locker grrrr). Still it gives me time to look at the different software packages without feeling rushed as I know once it's up and whirring I'll be wanting to cut stuff and in my experience once you've used a package once or twice and it did the trick it's difficult to force yourself to learn another one which may turn out a lot better. I haven't got a use for a turbine wheel but would sure love to machine one just to have it sit on my side board looking nice.
-
Wow some impressive stuff on those websites. I think the V carve software will prove a little too expensive for me as I'm only a home fiddler rather than a serious CNC professional but still good to see what can be done if ever I turn pro.
-
Here's a video we shot today of the plane flying with the home made propeller. View it in high quality mode for the best experience, I forgot to zoom the camera in before I handed it to my friend: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ95gR9yQM4
The plane has a wingspan of 185 cm and weighs 6 kg.
-
That's a nice plane. Nice view of the country, too!
-
Good Job, thats great! :)
Brett
-
Great job of balancing the props! At those rpm's, they must be PERFECT! They
sure look great on that plane, too!
Keep up the great work, let's see what else you have cnc'd
Thanks for sharing, :) Glenn
-
Hallo Tahustvedt
I almost do not daring to ask but do you want to share the dxf or g-code for this blades and a brief description how you did synchronise/align the top and the bottum side of the blade (how did you place it on the machine so the top and the bottum cumming exactly in place).
Greetings:
Willem
I too would like to know if you would be willing to share the dxf or the stp file of these blades, or share some information where I could look to create my own. I am new to CNC but I am anxious to learn. Charlie