|
oekmont
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 550,
Visits: 27K
|
Oh no, don't cut away the flanges. Why would you. The flanges should fit perfectly against each other.
The canopie is open to the back and to the bottom, right?
If so, do you even need a two piece mold? the canopie should be flexible enough, even with a slight curved undercut. How to get the plug out might be a different story.
|
|
|
|
|
quinn
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 155,
Visits: 992
|
+xOh no, don't cut away the flanges. Why would you. The flanges should fit perfectly against each other. The canopie is open to the back and to the bottom, right? If so, do you even need a two piece mold? the canopie should be flexible enough, even with a slight curved undercut. How to get the plug out might be a different story. I'm talking about the finished carbon fiber halves that would need the flanges removed to join them. Mold halves still have flanges like normal. Each half is layed up separately. Carbon fiber is layed into mold half and partly onto the flange, so I have 2 cured carbon fiber halves with flanges on them that get machines off to join them into the finished part. The thought of a single peice mold crossed my mind. I think it ALMOST works, but not quite. Maybe the canopy would be flexible enough to get out of the mold, but I don't think the plug would come out when first making the mold. My canopy design is a bit different from the pic I posted. It wraps back further and pinches in a little. The idea of laying up 2 separate finished halves and then joining would be to make the lay up and bagging process much easier, also a much cleaner straight joint line down the middle instead of relying on cutting fabric with a straight edge and not having it fray and get distorted while laying up. Just an idea, maybe not a good one. I have basically no experience with composites at this point so it seems simpler to get a good result this way. I'm pretty confident with setting up the jig and machining each finished carbon fiber half to fit together perfectly. Either way it will be a split mold with flanges so once I get those done, I can experiment with a few methods and see what works best. Maybe even start with fiberglass to get the technique down and not waste expensive material
|
|
|
|
|
oekmont
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 550,
Visits: 27K
|
I would advice against joining two parts. This is much harder than just make a one piece part. and if you are looking for the last grams, this is the best way to regain them. And it would not be easier. Btw, talking about the last grams: I always asked myself why nobody saves the whole canopie.
|
|
|
|
|
Steve Broad
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 408,
Visits: 4.1K
|
+xI would advice against joining two parts. This is much harder than just make a one piece part. and if you are looking for the last grams, this is the best way to regain them. And it would not be easier. Btw, talking about the last grams: I always asked myself why nobody saves the whole canopie. I guess aesthetics :-) And probably also aerodynamics. Something that light will be easily affected by air currents. Besides, you need somewhere to put your logos :-)
|
|
|
|
|
quinn
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 155,
Visits: 992
|
+x+x+xI would advice against joining two parts. This is much harder than just make a one piece part. and if you are looking for the last grams, this is the best way to regain them. And it would not be easier. Btw, talking about the last grams: I always asked myself why nobody saves the whole canopie. I guess aesthetics :-) And probably also aerodynamics. Something that light will be easily affected by air currents. Mostly orientation. Not sure if you guys are familiar with 3d flying, but without a canopy it's much easier to lose orientation of the model and crash. I do fly without a canopy sometimes, but yeah, orientation as well as aesthetics. With speed flying, definitely aerodynamics. These helis can break 200mph. Mine is setup for 3d but will still easily break 120mph
|
|
|
|
|
Steve Broad
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 408,
Visits: 4.1K
|
+x+x+x+xI would advice against joining two parts. This is much harder than just make a one piece part. and if you are looking for the last grams, this is the best way to regain them. And it would not be easier. Btw, talking about the last grams: I always asked myself why nobody saves the whole canopie. I guess aesthetics :-) And probably also aerodynamics. Something that light will be easily affected by air currents. Mostly orientation. Not sure if you guys are familiar with 3d flying, but without a canopy it's much easier to lose orientation of the model and crash. I do fly without a canopy sometimes, but yeah, orientation as well as aesthetics. With speed flying, definitely aerodynamics. These helis can break 200mph. Mine is setup for 3d but will still easily break 120mph Easier to see?
|
|
|
|
|
quinn
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 155,
Visits: 992
|
+x+x+x+x+xI would advice against joining two parts. This is much harder than just make a one piece part. and if you are looking for the last grams, this is the best way to regain them. And it would not be easier. Btw, talking about the last grams: I always asked myself why nobody saves the whole canopie. I guess aesthetics :-) And probably also aerodynamics. Something that light will be easily affected by air currents. Mostly orientation. Not sure if you guys are familiar with 3d flying, but without a canopy it's much easier to lose orientation of the model and crash. I do fly without a canopy sometimes, but yeah, orientation as well as aesthetics. With speed flying, definitely aerodynamics. These helis can break 200mph. Mine is setup for 3d but will still easily break 120mph Easier to see? Yeah, specifically what direction it's facing. With 3d flight there's a lot of flipping, rolling, piroetting. With just the frame in the air it can become hard to tell if it facing towards you, away, etc. It just becomes a black silhouette. The canopy gives it a more defined shape that looks different in different orientations.
|
|
|
|
|
quinn
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 155,
Visits: 992
|
Here's an example of a 3d style flight if you guys are curious. One of my flights that I recorded. Sorry for the crappy quality, it was a phone strapped to my head  https://youtu.be/1eCf6MCemDM
|
|
|
|
|
Hanaldo
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 2.5K,
Visits: 28K
|
I'm with Oekmont - joining two separate halves isn't ideal. I dont see why this cant be laid up as one piece, but perhaps I'm missing something from the pictures. You are infusing it correct? So if youre worried about the opening being too tight to fit your hands in to layup, just lay up each half separately before bolting the mould together? It can be fiddly but it's far from hard.
|
|
|
|
|
quinn
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Posts: 155,
Visits: 992
|
+xI'm with Oekmont - joining two separate halves isn't ideal. I dont see why this cant be laid up as one piece, but perhaps I'm missing something from the pictures. You are infusing it correct? So if youre worried about the opening being too tight to fit your hands in to layup, just lay up each half separately before bolting the mould together? It can be fiddly but it's far from hard. I'll try doing it all at once. It's only about 10 bucks worth of fabric for each try so no big deal if it doesn't work out first try. To me it just seems like it's gonna be difficult to get the fabric cut and placed nicely at the seam without it getting frayed and distorted. also I'm trying to imagine how to get the peel ply, breather, bag, etc. all nicely in place inside the somewhat confined space without distorting the seam of the fabric. Maybe not as hard as I'm picturing, just have to see how it goes
|
|
|
|