Yann Even Fab Academy 2016

Make Something Big

Make "Something Big..." is our assignment this week:

I decided to make a plane wing, I always loved model making, as soon I saw the ShopBot I had a mind to build flying machine.
Here's the list of softwares I used :


And the files :

I began to draw the outline with Inkscape, as they always say: What is beautiful flies well!

Then I added the ribs


Not so bad, I liked the design, I drew a profile inspired by my favorite: the clark Y 15, however I increased a bit the thickness.
Finally I had this result: I didn't like it.


As the assigments of week 5, I have to use parametric design, but drawing this kind of profile is not easy with Antimony...
I tried SolidwWorks with our instructor but after a few hours we had change of mind. I downloaded a specific software named Tracfoil.
Very easy to approach, TracFoil allows parametric values and includes foils library.



Much better ...
I thought cutting pieces with the ShopBot but the Lab doesn't own small drills ... I'll cutt the foils with the the laser, so I choose medium 3 mm.


TracFoil only export DXF files so I used SolidWorks to create vector 2D files readable by Inkscape.



And the wing outline with the ShopBot:



Shopbot is a very impressive machine, here's the different steps of the process:
  • First the warm up: the spindle must run 10 min for free before cutting.
  • During this time I set the correct settings in Vcarve, I had to redraw some lines.
  • Then I screwed the 5mm plywood on the sacrificial board.
  • I installed the right mill and set up the speed, I choose a 1/4" down-cut, 11000 r/min spindle speed and 10 mm/s translation speed.
  • Plywood is 4.82 mm, I set the cutting depht to 5.2 MM.
  • I set the X-Y origin on the left corner and the Z with the sensor.
  • I also added tenons.
  • I ran a 3D offset and finally cut the board.







    I forgot to take pictures, I was so excited to begin the assembly. By chance, Lorenzo took some.







    Shopbot is a really impressive machine, I love it even if bugs exists :
  • At start up, if US keyboard is not selected the machine become crazy
  • Spindle speed often indicates 12007 RPM, (Why ?) this data should be corrected
  • Shopbot lost the good data values twice during the fabacademy, this is dangerous, I created a folder with the good values on Desktop.

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