bracesport DLG

bracesport

Legendary member
So 2021, what to do, what to do?

My BAMF fuse was damaged and repaired before I got it, and I did some damage to the boom on a bad landing (also repaired), so maybe I can build a new fuse for it!

I found a pool cue that can form the boom taper, and then I can 3D print the moulds for the fuse..

The pool cue fits my 15mm CF braided sleeve so that should work well.

The purple section will also fit to the pool cue and be part of the main moulding (one piece with the boom.

The orange section will be moulded separately and the inserted and glued into the purple section to complete the fuse - the flat part of the orange section will house the servos.

The grey section is another separate moulding to form the nose cone.

Making a test print of the purple section to check the fit to my BAMF wing and also to the taper of the pool cue.

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bracesport

Legendary member
I printed a small section of the purple fuse and it fits the taper of the pool cue perfectly.

Next I need to check the dihedral and the leading edge profile of the wing onto the mould - all going well I then print the mould parts fully.

The dihedral section will have a male former that will push the ‘V’ shape in while moulding - there are also two side scollops that will need male formers - these scollops are for the aileron rods to exit the fuse.

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Wildthing

Legendary member
I printed a small section of the purple fuse and it fits the taper of the pool cue perfectly.

Next I need to check the dihedral and the leading edge profile of the wing onto the mould - all going well I then print the mould parts fully.

The dihedral section will have a male former that will push the ‘V’ shape in while moulding - there are also two side scollops that will need male formers - these scollops are for the aileron rods to exit the fuse.

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I was actually going to send you a message and see if everything was ok over there, you have been so quiet :)
 

bracesport

Legendary member
I printed the main fuse mould to fit the pool cue - so far so good! I am printing the sleeve that will fit over this part of the mould as a former to make/press in the wing dihedral and side scoops (for the aileron rods). The transition from the cue to the tail of the fuse pod will need some filling before moulding. I also found some plastic sleeves that I am hoping with shrink wrap the assembly during moulding.

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Wildthing

Legendary member
I printed the main fuse mould to fit the pool cue - so far so good! I am printing the sleeve that will fit over this part of the mould as a former to make/press in the wing dihedral and side scoops (for the aileron rods). The transition from the cue to the tail of the fuse pod will need some filling before moulding. I also found some plastic sleeves that I am hoping with shrink wrap the assembly during moulding.

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Cool idea but isn't that going to be real heavy?
 

bracesport

Legendary member
Some more progress this morning

The print for the outer former printed well overnight (it has a 0.6mm clearance from the inner mould - first order of business was to wrap the pool cue in cling film tape and shrink wrap the fuse - I decided to make each piece separately with a 20mm overlap to join them post moulding - next I fitted the braided CF sleeves to both parts and did a test fit of the outer former - fits like a glove - I wet out both parts with Wests Epoxy (using about 15g in total) - after rubbing in the epoxy by loosening and tightening the braided sleeve on went the outer shrink wrap and former for the fuse and more cling wrap tape for the boom.

So far so good.

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bracesport

Legendary member
on a roll! :)

Printed the front section of the fuse with its matching male former - I will make this one in fibre glass I think - this should reduce any issues with RF signals and carbon fibre - next I will print the nose cone cover.

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bracesport

Legendary member
AWESOME !

I have to say I am blown away with the result over night - parts de-moulded perfectly so this is a pretty good process so far - super lightweight - obviously there needs to be some surface sanding given the process, but that will be a minor chore - I glued the two pieces together with thickened epoxy so I will let that cure for a day.

The minor niggle I have with the braided sleeve is that there is a bit of flex in the boom as the carbon fibres are diagonal - it is worse through the thicker section of the boom as the diagonal increases with the larger diameter - I will go back and add some carbon tow to the pool cue and pull the boom back over it to stiffen it up - it is not a horrific amount of flex, but I will try and improve it a bit - lesson learned!

I will also add a bit of internal reinforcement to the fuse section when I add the 'T' nuts to mount the wing - when the nose section is added it will really help to make the fuse a strong box section.

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Wildthing

Legendary member
AWESOME !

I have to say I am blown away with the result over night - parts de-moulded perfectly so this is a pretty good process so far - super lightweight - obviously there needs to be some surface sanding given the process, but that will be a minor chore - I glued the two pieces together with thickened epoxy so I will let that cure for a day.

The minor niggle I have with the braided sleeve is that there is a bit of flex in the boom as the carbon fibres are diagonal - it is worse through the thicker section of the boom as the diagonal increases with the larger diameter - I will go back and add some carbon tow to the pool cue and pull the boom back over it to stiffen it up - it is not a horrific amount of flex, but I will try and improve it a bit - lesson learned!

I will also add a bit of internal reinforcement to the fuse section when I add the 'T' nuts to mount the wing - when the nose section is added it will really help to make the fuse a strong box section.

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That looks cool :).

Do you think you could add the carbon tow into the initial process ?
 

bracesport

Legendary member
@Wildthing - with the benefit of hind site, yes - I should have 3M glued the tow to the pool cue wrap, then added the braided sleeve to do it in one go - I will just do it back to front as a second step over the cue, and re-sleeve the boom over it - it will not have to be perfect as it is internal. :)
 

Wildthing

Legendary member
@Wildthing - with the benefit of hind site, yes - I should have 3M glued the tow to the pool cue wrap, then added the braided sleeve to do it in one go - I will just do it back to front as a second step over the cue, and re-sleeve the boom over it - it will not have to be perfect as it is internal. :)
Now we know better for next time :ROFLMAO::ROFLMAO: