hows this for a wing rib?
 

YouTube Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmXj...e_gdata_player
Should we start kitting our own airplanes and plans?

Cool but I can hand cut a rib almost that fast. Cutting a kit would take days.

Now use this, and you might have something!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MAd...endscreen&NR=1

First real test on slow setting and slow power. It will cut at 10 times that speed.

Is it your laser cutter? If so sign me up for a kit!:D

Looks like you had some double lines resulting in the double cut. Also may want to crank up the speed.

"Double cutting" is common with laser cutters.

If the material is thick you make multiple passes burning partway through, move somewhere else then come back after its had a chance to cool. This is to prevent catching the material on fire.

Even if needing to go at the speed shown in the video... that would turn out ribs twice as fast as I have seen any human cut them on a band-saw or scroll-saw.
OK.. stacking ribs on a band-saw might be faster if all the ribs are identical (but they won't be as accurate because the blade will flex)
And the computer controlled laser cutter doesn't get tired and will never make an error (that isn't repeated due to being in the cutting program)

That cutter is just a cool labor saver.
As the laser cutter prices come down... they may bring back "scratch building"
Cheapest I have seen so far is still almost $3k.
When they get below $1k I might get one.

Questions about the laser.
 

The laser in the video belongs to me. It cost me $675.00 plus shipping of $125.00 so the total cost was $800.00 U.S. I plan on kitting several airplanes with it. The video was done in hour two of actual use on the laser. It was running about 20% on speed and 40% on power. I am still learning a lot. Balsa is expensive to experament around with so I have mostly cut cardboard and card stock. I have since cut 5 ribs at once at twice the speed in the video. And for the guy that says he can cut them by hand faster needs to remember that I can also be doing something else while it cuts. Like gluing, or covering ect.

I should be able to cut out all the parts for an airplane in about 15 minutes.

Imagine downloading a drawing, loading it into your computer and cutting out the all the balsa parts in less time then it would take you to go to the hobby shop and back. Imagine parts that fit so well that everything just snaps together. Almost no sanding. Imagine scratch building a plane in about the time it takes to go and buy an arf and return home and putting it together at a fraction of the cost.:)

Now I gotta look up where to get that laser cutter... :p

Beats the crap out of my scroll saw!!!

double cut lines
 

May be that you did not close the path on the drawing. From the track of the laser cutting several parts of one rib that appears to be the case. When you do that, the cutter (laser or router) treats each part as an object and cuts all the way around the object - as if it were a box itself.

Fascinating stuff, though I think Spousal Unit would glare at me Very Hard for blowing $800 to replace the pack of #11 knife blades I buy maybe once a year.

Still, once the Chinese come up with a cheap copy of this cutter...

I use DesignCAD to draw my model plans these days. Suspect like all computer programs and their ilk that are heavily touted to work easily at wondrous speeds, adapting to a laser cutter like this may, in reality, take a little bit longer to achieve the speed shown in the second video.

D

Lets see, $800.00 for the cutter, another $100.00 or so for a good CAD software design program, another $200.00 or so for a decent printer that reflects the images accurately and clearly (if one prefers to hard copy a duplicate pattern).......up to $1100.00 so far...without spending anything for construction materials.

The technology is very interesting and with the advent of 3d laser printers (cutters) starting to make into the hobby scene, prices will surely come down someday. Until then, the cost for good ARF kits (for $1100.00 one could purchase 8 to 10 ARF's) still seems the way to go.

The future is ALWAYS expensive. But if you were to produce short kits and complete kits, this is a very reasonably priced tool, even now. Lots of people have that much invested in a single plane.

I give up guessing. Where does the laser for $675 come from?

Hi hayofstacks,
You won't regret getting a laser. The trouble being once all your buddies find out your cutting they will come knocking. If I might give you a few pointers. As mentioned your getting a double cut. Most likely you have two lines in the file one over the top of the other. Take the time to make your file cut ready and your quality will go up.

Also spend all the time you need to make sure your cutter is in focus no matter where the cutter is located on the table. Warped material that is not sitting flat will be out of focus as the laser is making it's cutting pass.

Make sure your optics are always clean before cutting. Contaminates on you focal lens and mirrors can damage them as well as give you an inferior cut.

I could not tell from the video but is there air being blown from the cutting nozzle? You want about 10 psi of shop air blowing right where the laser is cutting. This improves cutting quality as well as keeps the optics clean.

If at all possible, make your cutter into a down draft table. By having the exhaust fan pulling the material flat helps keep everything in focus as well as prevents the material from moving during the cutting process as it takes the contaminated air away.

Run lots of samples.

Later,
Jim
Jtechlaser

I really enjoyed seeing the laser and reading these posts. I have a CNC router, and would like to someday mount a laser, if possible.

I agree with all the benefits people have mentioned here; The parts (plywood and foam so far, plan to work with aluminum sheet also) are very precise and uniform, and during the time the machine is running, I'm off doing something else.

I use Autocad for design work, and it's very useful when I write programs.

Hope to learn more here.

Tom

Jim, when I get mine you and I will have to have lunch.
\Guy

No Problem Guy, it would be my pleasure.

Jim

Where to get the laser
 

I got this laser from e-bay search for "co2 laser 40w" cut and paste or click on the link below.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/40W-CO2-LASE...item25784e4784

There are many laser cutter engravers on e-bay. I chose this one for the price with shipping, it was in the USA, the seller had good feedback.