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Re: Aftershock ... rc glider
First thing was setting up to make a plug of the fuse. The plug will be used to make a mold to make the composite fuse.
So I cut a left and right half out of mdf. These will be aligned and glued together.
Then I will soak the plug in think epoxy, and hit it with a heat gun. For those that do not know, this causes the MDF to soak up the epoxy. Then I re-coat it and heat it, a few times to get a good layer of epoxy soaked in. This gives a hard surface that can be sanded down real smooth. Most people will then paint it with a 2k car paint and sand and polish that. I will see how good I can get the finish with epoxy soaked mdf prior to determining if I need to paint it.
Here is the first half cut. I clamped down a melamine board (shelf from home depot), sprayed it and my mdf with spray glue, enough to hold it, not enough that it's permanently attached. lol.
Then I set up to cut down to that board. This allows me to cut one half at a time and then pull them up and glue them together. I guess I could have done something 2 sided and flipped it, but that seems like more trouble than anything.
The other photo is the two halves together along with a fuse for a 40" w/s version I just cut and soaked in epoxy, and one we cut several years back. I have made some changes to how the horizontal stab will connect, so had to change them up.
Re: Aftershock ... rc glider
Nice indeed I have learned something about making a plug thank you gives me a lot of Ideas.:D
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Re: Aftershock ... rc glider
Sanding on the fuse started. Added some filler where needed.
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Re: Aftershock ... rc glider
Cut vertical tail molds. Need to make a part to make sure the tail on the fuse is sanded to match. Thinking I might need to do these as plugs instead in order to get the sharp corners ... will see how it goes.
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Re: Aftershock ... rc glider
Cut and working on sanding the horizontal tail.
Cut it out,
Marked with marker to mark the low spots in the machining marks.
Half sanded..
Down to 3000 grit, getting there.
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Re: Aftershock ... rc glider
Vertical tail piece get's same treatment.
Re: Aftershock ... rc glider
Hello Arbo,
Great job on the design and machining. I use to design my own thermal duration gliders and compete at the local and regional contests. I designed my own fuselage, carved my own plugs and vacuum bagged my own wings. When "Moldies" became more common and affordable, I stopped making my own gliders. I have not competed since 2007 but I still have all my planes and plan to get a few of my old DLG's going. I so wish I had access to a CNC machine then. Did you ever try using Jelutong for the plug material instead of epoxy coated MDF? What airfoil do you have on the wing?
Marc
Re: Aftershock ... rc glider
Had never heard of Jelutong, what would the advantages be? Is a, hmm, rg15 I believe, it's been a long time since it was designed. lol.
Thanks.
Re: Aftershock ... rc glider
Jelutong,
Is a fine grained wood that is great for carving and working by hand. I use to use it for the Fuselage plug. Its what was recommended to my by other RC sailplane builders at the time. I then coated it with feather fill for the final sanding.
Most of my slope racers and a few of my thermal duration gliders were RG15, but that was years ago and I would imagine there are better choices now. However its a great airfoil so why change. I will watch this thread to see how it progresses.
Marc
Re: Aftershock ... rc glider
Ah.
No, years later, some of the same airfoils are still around and kicking. Rg14 and 15 are quite popular. Oh, you know, what, it's neither of those, it's a rk40. Just remembered that.
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Re: Aftershock ... rc glider
Should be able to get started cutting wing molds in corian tomorrow. 3d models of cuts below.
For alignment in all the parts, I drilled in with .25 bn mill, will use .25 ball bearings, set in on one side, and out on the other. That will be for all molds I make.
Wings will just have them glued in on one side since that is mold instead of plug.