Which frame to use?

Hey everyone,

I am about to order parts for my first quadcopter. I am attracted to the simplicity of FT's quad frame, but the wooden booms worry me. I am building the copter for someone with much less experience than myself, so is the wooden frame robust enough? Should I instead purchase a different frame from hobbyking?

Jake
 

Tritium

Amateur Extra Class K5TWM
The wooden frame will break somewhat easily (saving more expensive parts in many cases) BUT it is also VERY easy and CHEAP to repair and no waits for the slow boat from China for frame parts. Personally I fly homemade wood, DJI clone and Armattan CNC aluminum frames.

Thurmond
 
Ya that's a good point. The poplar for the booms is really cheap from local stores. I'll probably go with that then.

Thanks!
Jake
 

sirtoby666

helli freak
Wooden booms are fantastic they absorb vibrations very well and thats good both for the flight controller and camera, if your gonna put one on.
 

Cyberdactyl

Misfit Multirotor Monkey
I been dealing with 1/2 x 1/2 poplar wood booms now for awhile.

If you keep the standard poplar or fir stick from a home DIY store 8 inches (~200mm) or less, from its support point, you'll find the boom to be quite strong in a crash. Around 14" (355mm) passably strong. My wood quad's booms are 16" from their support point and can crack or break from a fairly moderate crash. But mine are 'overly' lengthy, as I have them extending out past my motors for prop protection. Which saved me many a prop when climbing the learning curve out of the pit of noob.

A technique that helps greatly is do not drill into them for mounting, or for any reason. Clamp or pinch. It also helps to use the technique popularized by David Windestål with his tricopter, and that is to allow at least some movement in a crash. When designing, have about an 1/8" to 3/16" of an inch gap on either side of the clamping points, it will allow some energy to dissipate by friction in the mount.