ERC TimSav - Cheap DIY CNC Foamboard Cutter

[CMS_1961]

David,

If there was a "Flitetest Award" for Engineering and Ingenuity you certainly deserve it!!! Another great job on this design!! Simple yet awesome. I know you just built on the TimSav ERC design, but anyone that is looking to cut foam aircraft parts and/or wing cores simple and cheap--I think this will do it or could adapt to do it.

Thank You for sharing!!

Chalie

P.S. I am retired Air Force, so I would be more than willing and able to write the award if they had one!!

 

[dkj4linux]

Gosh, Chalie... I'm truly honored that you think that. That's far more meaningful to me than any ol' award...

I thought it pretty obvious when somebody out on the ERC TimSav FB page linked this video from "How To Mechatronics". I simply saw two TimSav's standing on edge next to one another... and I already had one sitting unused and gathering dust. And with MPCNC, we've all become adept at "slaving" motors together with a series connection... so duplicating the Mechatronics machine's 2-axis functionality was a snap. I'm bowing out when someone decides they want to "un-slave" the towers, making them independent of one another, so they can cut some fancy tapers and wing cores, however...

Again, thanks for the kind words and thoughts. -- David

 

[dkj4linux]

More fun with TimSavX2 hot-wire foam cutter...

Tux... one of my favorite characters! Hot-wired on TimSavX2 hot-wire foam cutter. Feedrate is 1000 mm/min and ~100mm of 30 AWG Nichrome wire (~6.5 ohms/ft) with 1.5 amps passing through it... temp (from charts) is in the 600 - 800 degF range.

What fun! -- David

 

[dutchmonkey]

Well i got Z 4.0 assembled and cutting test cuts look good will see how it goes with a full sheet.

 

[Mortis]

Well, I ordered the lite kit. Don't really have any idea what I've gotten myself into... never done any CNC work, but have had plenty of electronic and Arduino experience. A little worried I'm going to end up with all of these parts and won't get it to work right. But, I've gone through most of the videos and it's pretty clear how to build the machine. I'll be cutting DTFB but Edward references A1 in the videos. What size should the extrusion rails be be cut for DTFB, 2040 - 1000mm, 2020 - 800mm?

 

[dutchmonkey]

Well, I ordered the lite kit. Don't really have any idea what I've gotten myself into... never done any CNC work, but have had plenty of electronic and Arduino experience. A little worried I'm going to end up with all of these parts and won't get it to work right. But, I've gone through most of the videos and it's pretty clear how to build the machine. I'll be cutting DTFB but Edward references A1 in the videos. What size should the extrusion rails be be cut for DTFB, 2040 - 1000mm, 2020 - 800mm?

Yes 2040 1000mm i think you can go down to 2020 750mm double check the parts list in the first post

 

[dutchmonkey]

Here are a couple of images of the Z 4.0 in Action. I also changed the upper and lower Y brakets to space the v bearings farther apart. I tried to add a triangle brace to help stiffen the X axis it helps but not enough. I am only using one sbr12uu bearing and its not the smoothest it catches every so often and the whole x axis flexes back and forth. I am going to add a second bearing to see if it alleviates this. The last image is @MiniacRC P-40 that i will skin with the stud skin

 

[MiniacRC]

@dutchmonkey NICE! That setup looks great, and I'm super excited to see how @Rasterize 's skin look on the bird! I've done his SAAF version so far and love it!

 

[dutchmonkey]

@dutchmonkey NICE! That setup looks great, and I'm super excited to see how @Rasterize 's skin look on the bird! I've done his SAAF version so far and love it! View attachment 160366 View attachment 160367

that looks good i love the way these look with skins i may just build some static models just for display

 

[Guy S.]

Here are a couple of images of the Z 4.0 in Action. I also changed the upper and lower Y brakets to space the v bearings farther apart. I tried to add a triangle brace to help stiffen the X axis it helps but not enough. I am only using one sbr12uu bearing and its not the smoothest it catches every so often and the whole x axis flexes back and forth. I am going to add a second bearing to see if it alleviates this. The last image is @MiniacRC P-40 that i will skin with the stud skin

So now you should design a motor and guide plate that can rotate 45* side to side, to cut the bevels. 🙂

 

[dutchmonkey]

So now you should design a motor and guide plate that can rotate 45* side to side, to cut the bevels. 🙂

Game On

currently i am using a hot wire setup to cut my bevels so much easier then a blade

 

[newguy2012]

Question- how long is the X axis 2020 extrusion? 760 mm?

 

[Guy S.]

Question- how long is the X axis 2020 extrusion? 760 mm?

for 2020, cut to 760mm, 2040 remained as 1meter. this spec is for A1 size foamboard

 

[newguy2012]

Thanks!

Who has good photos of the cablechain and how it mounts up?

 

[The Hangar]

So I’m gonna go for this! Are the four highlighted parts the only parts I need to order separately or do I also need to get the electronic components like the motor and stuff? I’m going to go back and look through the thread and see if I can find some answers and a list of parts that someone used. I got a 3D printer today so I’ll be able to print the parts needed for it.

 

[dkj4linux]

So I’m gonna go for this! Are the four highlighted parts the only parts I need to order separately or do I also need to get the electronic components like the motor and stuff? I’m going to go back and look through the thread and see if I can find some answers and a list of parts that someone used. I got a 3D printer today so I’ll be able to print the parts needed for it.

I'm really not sure what you are looking at... "gonna go for this", "four highlited parts", etc. Are you talking of ordering a TimSav kit? If so, order his LITE kit from here. I'm not sure when he'll have another batch of machines going out... but I think I remember him saying he's targeting the first part of April.

The kit includes everything but the extrusions and the printed parts... all the electronics, motors, nuts/bolts/washers, etc ... everything. You'll separately order V-slot (not T-slot!) 2020 and 2040 extrusions, one of each, 1 meter long... Ebay, Openbuilds, etc, any of several online sources. For the printed parts, download all the files from his Thingiverse page... and unzip the various files to find the complete BOM, assembly instructions, STL's, etc.

 

[The Hangar]

I'm really not sure what you are looking at... "gonna go for this", "four highlited parts", etc. Are you talking of ordering a TimSav kit? If so, order his LITE kit from here. I'm not sure when he'll have another batch of machines going out... but I think I remember him saying he's targeting the first part of April.

The kit includes everything but the extrusions and the printed parts... all the electronics, motors, nuts/bolts/washers, etc ... everything. You'll separately order V-slot (not T-slot!) 2020 and 2040 extrusions, one of each, 1 meter long... Ebay, Openbuilds, etc, any of several online sources. For the printed parts, download all the files from his Thingiverse page... and unzip the various files to find the complete BOM, assembly instructions, STL's, etc.

Yes, I meant to say I'm ordering the TimSav kit. Thanks - I'll get those other parts on order!

 

[Lance Nordby]

Pretty cool machine Edward. I have a couple of questions.

Is it possible to use dxf files with the TimSav?

Are kits available at this time?

 

[Lance Nordby]

I went ahead and ordered one. I hope Edward still has one left.

 

[Matagami Designs]

Pretty cool machine Edward. I have a couple of questions.

Is it possible to use dxf files with the TimSav?

Are kits available at this time?

You can definitely use a DXF to generate gcode that works on TIMSAV. Join the Timsav facebook group if you havent already.