Marc Zeitlin Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 It's not theory, most companies use these methods in this or other way, ask Marc how they make molds at Scaled. Machines are also more precisely and faster than humans.But Scaled doesn't make a mold for everything, and there's no question that making the molds for a single part is WAY more expensive than using moldless construction. We've got a bunch of folks here that have been considering building molds for COZY parts, since there are a number of COZY builders at Scaled, but even for us, it makes little sense financially and timewise. ... one of the HBA members said that the price for CNC machined tool (mold) is about 200$ per square foot ...Hah. If we could get carbon tools for $200/ft^2, we'd jump at it. Try 3 - 6 times as much for a good tool. You can build a one-time foam tool for less - maybe $200 ft^2, but you'll get one or two parts out of it - maybe three if you're really lucky. Quote Marc J. Zeitlin Burnside Aerospace marc_zeitlin@alum.mit.edu www.cozybuilders.org copyright © 2024 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mak790 Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Hah. If we could get carbon tools for $200/ft^2, we'd jump at it. Try 3 - 6 times as much for a good tool. You can build a one-time foam tool for less - maybe $200 ft^2, but you'll get one or two parts out of it - maybe three if you're really lucky. If I remeber correctly that price was for cheap tooling, destined rather for room temperature wet layup. But there is no difference 200, 600 or 1200$ like you said, it's just too expensive for an individual project, unless you have "free" access to materials, etc. Seb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMann Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 unless you have "free" access to materials, etc. ........... you guys definetely get better free stuff than I do. Quote T Mann - Loooong-EZ/20B Infinity R/G Chpts 18 Velocity/RG N951TM Mann's Airplane Factory We add rocket's to everything! 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 9, 10, 14, 19, 20 Done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack Morrison Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 And a lot more help than I get. Jack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TMann Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 And a lot more help than I get. Oh please ........ you have clones and I'll be betting they done get minimum wage! Quote T Mann - Loooong-EZ/20B Infinity R/G Chpts 18 Velocity/RG N951TM Mann's Airplane Factory We add rocket's to everything! 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. 9, 10, 14, 19, 20 Done Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edge 513 Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Oh please ........ you have clones and I'll be betting they done get minimum wage! No TMann, that was Waiter with the clones...even Jack wouldnt tell me what he's got, and I even worked in his shop for two 3 day stints with him. That rascal Jack keeps all the juicy secrets to himself...and he just emailed me the other day and said the whole airplane is blocked out and most of it final primer sealed and ready to fly. Dang, he must be Bionic. Quote Self confessed Wingnut. Now think about it...wouldn't you rather LIVE your life, rather than watch someone else's, on Reality T.V.? Get up off that couch!!! =) Progress; Fuselage on all three, with outside and inside nearly complete. 8 inch extended nose. FHC done. Canard finished. ERacer wings done with blended winglets. IO540 starting rebuild. Mounting Spar. Starting strake ribs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Super-eze Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Bob Setzer, What is the status of that berkut style fuselage plug? Did it ever become a mold and if so can someone purchase parts? Were the strakes part of the fuselage? Quote Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Setzer Posted June 13, 2009 Share Posted June 13, 2009 Bob Setzer, What is the status of that berkut style fuselage plug? Did it ever become a mold and if so can someone purchase parts? Were the strakes part of the fuselage? KeithUp to now I have not made the strakes. I have made a 4 axis CNC hotwire cuttigs machine to do those, as with the wings and canard. To date I have the spar tooling, canopy frame tooling and have pulled the speed brake, front inspection cover and canard cover from the fuselage plug. The fuselage plug has been modified to remove the canard cover area and the rear and middle turtle deck for the fuselage have been installed on the plug. I was hoping to have the fuselage tooling made by Oshkosh. Looks like September. All the above tooling is epoxy that has beem heat cured to 205 degrees. All parts are going to be cured to 160 degrees. It has always been my vision to make parts available. I would like to thank ColinB for your thread. But if there is someone on this thread that fells that if I start fielding questions on this subject it will take away from the thread just post a small note and I will start a new thread In a couple of months to bring things up to speed. I thought this was in line with the thread. Best to all Thanks Keith Bob Setzer Vari Eze N82210 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColinB Posted June 13, 2009 Author Share Posted June 13, 2009 Its ok Bob you can post away im just as interested in your project as anyone else infact i have no intentions of repeating your work if you are able to sell a berkut fuse, it means i can concentrate on other areas like wings and canard ect just to answer a few questions on rohacell, one of the previous posters was correct, you cant hotwire it, you can however cnc machine it, i do this on a daily basis its certainly not as cheap as floation foam, however i do have quite a few boards of it already so im covered there so really for me in the time it would take me to make the templates and build a hotwire i could already have them cut, and while it certainly wasnt in the EZ philosophy when rutan designed it, or even for you at home, for me personally this is actually an easy and cheaper option (read free) because i already have the tools and material to cover the build of my aircraft and if im honest its also the method im most familiar with also as sometimes is the case there is out of date materials, maybe no good for making the parts from, but to make a mould out of? perfectly acceptable and again, reducing my costs so there is no unlimited budget, infact its no different to most other builders possibly even less, im just in a fortunate position to be able to do this project in this way also just as a side note, i do actually have some CNC machines of my own in my garage, i have 2 CNC mills a bridgeport and a hurco (the bridgeport is for metal work and the hurco is for the dusty stuff), and a large CNC lathe also for the composite side i have a homebuilt autoclave i built from a propane cylinder, 1m in length and aprox 300mm dia and uses domestic cooker fan and element the CNC machines btw were old machines i bought cheap with broken controls and retrofitted with EMC2 controllers (linuxcnc.org) and i use Delcam powermill (borrow the key from work) to program the toolpaths and at work i have free use of large 3mx1.5m 5 axis mill and several VMC's and i can use the big autoclave as long as i pay for the electricity, also when a large order for material goes in i can add onto that for my own stuff and get the material at the bulk price i hope this helps to understand why i want to approach the project in this way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVI Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Its ok Bob you can post away im just as interested in your project as anyone else infact i have no intentions of repeating your work if you are able to sell a berkut fuse, it means i can concentrate on other areas like wings and canard ect just to answer a few questions on rohacell, one of the previous posters was correct, you cant hotwire it, you can however cnc machine it, i do this on a daily basis its certainly not as cheap as floation foam, however i do have quite a few boards of it already so im covered there so really for me in the time it would take me to make the templates and build a hotwire i could already have them cut, and while it certainly wasnt in the EZ philosophy when rutan designed it, or even for you at home, for me personally this is actually an easy and cheaper option (read free) because i already have the tools and material to cover the build of my aircraft and if im honest its also the method im most familiar with also as sometimes is the case there is out of date materials, maybe no good for making the parts from, but to make a mould out of? perfectly acceptable and again, reducing my costs so there is no unlimited budget, infact its no different to most other builders possibly even less, im just in a fortunate position to be able to do this project in this way also just as a side note, i do actually have some CNC machines of my own in my garage, i have 2 CNC mills a bridgeport and a hurco (the bridgeport is for metal work and the hurco is for the dusty stuff), and a large CNC lathe also for the composite side i have a homebuilt autoclave i built from a propane cylinder, 1m in length and aprox 300mm dia and uses domestic cooker fan and element the CNC machines btw were old machines i bought cheap with broken controls and retrofitted with EMC2 controllers (linuxcnc.org) and i use Delcam powermill (borrow the key from work) to program the toolpaths and at work i have free use of large 3mx1.5m 5 axis mill and several VMC's and i can use the big autoclave as long as i pay for the electricity, also when a large order for material goes in i can add onto that for my own stuff and get the material at the bulk price i hope this helps to understand why i want to approach the project in this way ColinB, It's been almost six years .... any progress to report? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.