Slope Soaring homage to 'thenated0g'

[bracesport]

Now to the fuse!

I can confirm the cling wrap worked well - better than the Vac bag I think - the nose worked a treat with the wire tie holding the sausage closed while the epoxy set - I think it only requires a small amount of sanding an filling to tidy it up!

Knowing what I know now I think I could have done a better job overall - not having enough braid was the first issue requiring two goes at it - the fuse volume at the thickest point was a tad bid which meant the braid was tough to fit - all fixable on a v2!

 

[bracesport]

@thenated0g - I use Wests epoxy so today I ordered some of their 409 filler - seems perfect for tidying up my fuse!

 

[bracesport]

Today I did a quick trial with the shrink film on the PLA 3D printed parts - seems to stick OK to the PLA - sadly when I did the top side I deformed the PLA with too much heat - the open edges of the LE and TE warped - to try and correct this I have adjusted the CAD to close the open edges to create a box section - let's see what happens with test #2!

 

[kilroy07]

Today I did a quick trial with the shrink film on the PLA 3D printed parts - seems to stick OK to the PLA - sadly when I did the top side I deformed the PLA with too much heat - the open edges of the LE and TE warped - to try and correct this I have adjusted the CAD to close the open edges to create a box section - let's see what happens with test #2!

View attachment 142496

You using an iron or heat gun? Maybe some 3m 777 on the frame then shrink it with a gun. Less direct heat? 🤔

 

[Userofmuchtape&glue]

Looking great Bracesport. Now I've got a printer I'd like to try some more designs using printed parts

 

[thenated0g]

That sounds similar to cabosil epoxy filler, should work. May be a little harder to sand than my pink stuff or bondo.

 

[bracesport]

@thenated0g - it’s is the most easily sanded option from West’s - I find Bondo is not so great for feathering, so we will see how this goes! 😆

 

[bracesport]

@kilroy07 - I think I over did it with the tip of the iron on the unsupported edge of the PLA - I hope it was first time rookie mistakes - I will try a few techniques and lower the heat a bit! 😜

 

[bracesport]

@kilroy07 - I have been doing a ton of research and think for the 3D printed wings with shrink film the best approach might be to tack the film with the iron and use a heat gun to shrink the film (as you said too) - this should ensure less direct heat into the PLA - will test the theory next week when back at home base! 😆

 

[kilroy07]

@kilroy07 - I have been doing a ton of research and think for the 3D printed wings with shrink film the best approach might be to tack the film with the iron and use a heat gun to shrink the film (as you said too) - this should ensure less direct heat into the PLA - will test the theory next week when back at home base! 😆

Cool, I am really interested in hearing how that works out!

Yea, I’m out of town too.... it’s sucks seeing all the work and flying everyone is getting done.....
But I’ll be home next week.

Speaking of that, my current printer is just an updated ender 3 (Bowden), but next week I will put together a larger model with direct drive. I’ve been having a lot of trouble getting good results with retraction trying to print those single wall prints for 3D planes. Lot more stringing with the higher temps.

 

[bracesport]

@kilroy07 - I’m in Dusseldorf this week for a tradeshow - so tiring - I am yet to print petg at all let alone single wall - I print 0.6mm at the moment on my ‘Upbox’ - runs almost 24/7 for work so skipping in the plane bits is not easy!

Can’t wait to get home as spring is coming and there are projects afoot! 😆

 

[buzzbomb]

I was searching for some 'Ridge Rat' videos, and found this 'Ridge Runt' from the same era - 'speedsterDen' is a smooth dude and his youtube channel is packed with great sloping videos!

Thank you for turning me onto this thread. I'm reading through from page 1 and it's great! THAT guy has some skills. He really knows the wind. Those loops over the hill had me mesmerized. I was just going to check it out, and I ended up watching the whole vid. That was a great find!

 

[bracesport]

@buzzbomb - it is certainly part of the attraction to slope soaring possibilities!

 

[bracesport]

although under the weather I needed to pop into work to catch up on the team, and well, yinno, why not fire up the 3D printer for the next test parts for the wing!

there are ten sections to each wing so I think the 3D printed parts will about to 120g per wing - the LE and TE sections have been made into box sections which I hope will assist in the fitting and shrinking of the skin - looks good so far!

there is also a 1deg angle built into the CF tube mounts for 1 deg diahedral!

(images reduced to 1000px)

 

[bracesport]

@thenated0g - I cut the blanks for the feathers in 2mm balsa - next I need to prepare the carbon tow and FG skins.

 

[bracesport]

I decided to print a larger section of the wing to test the 'monocote' - in the last test I trimmed the end sections too tight and during shrinking they let go - this time I will overlap the top and bottom sections to stick to each other this section weighs 36g and constitutes nearly 30% of the wing size - the PLA is very heat sensitive but I am not ready to give up just yet!

 

[bracesport]

@thenated0g - I had no idea what I was doing but I added some random tow to the feathers and but them in the Vacuum bag and added some weight given my Vacuum bag pump is a toy - I am hoping there is enough tow to do the business!

 

[buzzbomb]

@thenated0g - I had no idea what I was doing but I added some random tow to the feathers and but them in the Vacuum bag and added some weight given my Vacuum bag pump is a toy - I am hoping there is enough tow to do the business!

View attachment 143930 View attachment 143931 View attachment 143932

Perhaps cinder blocks and sand bags?

 

[bracesport]

so this is trickier than I imagined - the 'Monocote' sticks Ok to the frame PLA when starting out, and sticking the ends together worked much better, but the shrinking deforms the end wing formers as there is no equal force holding the ends out - there seems to be wrinkles that form with the 'Monocote' dragging when heated - not a great result from this test - I need to sleep on it!

could also be my 'Monocoat' is too heavy for the job - could be the operator - too many could be's!

 

[buzzbomb]

Monokote stretches and cures with heat. Your 3d print can't handle the heat. You need a different 3d printed material, or something other than the current monokote. I think that's where you're at.