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CNC Hot Wire Cutter 4 Axis for Cutting Foam Wings

Discussion in 'Other Builds' started by Rusticalmond, Aug 27, 2015.

  1. Rusticalmond

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    Rusticalmond published a new build:

    Read more about this build...
     
  2. Mark Carew

    Mark Carew OpenBuilds Team
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    It will be great to see a CNC hotwire Build on the forums. Looking forward to your build @Rusticalmond :thumbsup:
     
  3. AJWgear

    AJWgear New
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    Hello,
    I few years ago I was given a tour of the MIT student build area. They had 2 wire cutters for making wing foils. The PCs were programmed with standard wing shapes. In another area they would apply carbon fiber to make the wings stronger. Note the weights that apply the tension to aid warping of the wire, the wire was not strung tight like a harp. (Higher resolution pictures available.
    harpwire. DSCN0168.jpg DSCN0169.jpg DSCN0170.jpg DSCN0171.jpg DSCN0172.jpg DSCN0173.jpg
     
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  4. Rusticalmond

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    Ok, Whre do you get the thick blue foam? They delivered 4 tuck loads of it down the road from my house to be used in building a school. But I don't seem to be able to buy it.
     
  5. Rick 2.0

    Rick 2.0 OpenBuilds Team
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    Honestly, if they're building with it just down the road I'd head on down to the job shack first thing in the morning with a box of donuts for the job superintendent to discuss off-cuts and discards. Beyond that you could try any roofing or large construction supply company.
     
  6. Rusticalmond

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    Electronics Parts Package has been ordered. Things should arrive by next Friday, Sept 4th.
     
  7. Mark Carew

    Mark Carew OpenBuilds Team
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    They sell it at a universal supply company around here from 1/2" - 1" - 2" They also have it at Lowes
    @AJWgear Cool pics look like a fun tour at MIT I like the different wings style examples they have on the wall.
     
  8. Rusticalmond

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    Blue and Pink Foam is easy to find at Homedepot and Lowes, but they only have it in 1 inch sheets. I found some pink foam 2inch square sections at Lowe's. 4" , 6" and 8" thick sections is the problem. Stacking multiple sections together is also an option especially with proto typing a wing.

    My electronics kit should all be here by next Friday.
     
  9. Rusticalmond

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    Thanks much for all the suggestions. I could use all the help I can get cause I never done anything like this before and don't have any local CNC buddies around. We had a guy in the flying club that did have a laser cutter for doing wood wings but I don't think he built his set up. I build custom phone systems at work but this is all new field for me.
     
  10. Mark Carew

    Mark Carew OpenBuilds Team
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    You do now :)
    That's whats great about this community of builders. We all love this stuff so we are willing to help and learn from one another.
    I am interested in this design as I have been wanting to build a CNC hot wire but have not up to this point so I will be following along to see how you make out.
    BTW Take a look at this software (DevFoam) I found it the other day and I think it looks great
    http://www.foamcuttingsoftware.com/eng/default.asp
    Then there is the standard Profili ( I think they may be made by the same guy and I think DevFoam is newer)
    http://www.profili2.com/eng/default.asp
     
  11. Rusticalmond

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    Thanks for the above links. I have already been looking at those. I used to play with CompuFoil for wing design and printing templates out a long time ago back in the day. I do need to look into more of the software to operate the G-Code. The cutting software driver needs to be able to look at 2 points wing root profile next to fuselage and wing profile at the tip. I am not sure if Mac3 does this. I have seen in tutorials that Foamworks does and is much cheaper.

    Mac3 and FoamWork

    http://foamwork.net/
     
  12. Mark Carew

    Mark Carew OpenBuilds Team
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  13. rcKeith

    rcKeith New
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    Hi
    I've been running my 4 axis hot cutter for a couple of years now and use Profili2 Pro and DevFus Foam. Just put a video up on using Profili2 Pro to cut wings.
    My website has loads of details on my build http://www.rckeith.co.uk May help you out.
     
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  14. Rusticalmond

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    Mac3 and Tapered Wings???

    Not sure if this is a feature request, but haven't been able to find a solution, so I think it is.

    I'm trying to run a large 4-axis hot-wire foam cutter using Mach. To cut a tapered part -- e.g., a conical column, with a circular base and a square top, or a tapered airplane wing -- you need to set up two profiles and have each end of the wire cut a different path. I have a couple of tools that will create G-Code to do this, such as Profili (an airfoil program). They use X as the left path and A as the right path. However, I can't find a way to make Mach3 display the A axis toolpath seperately from the X axis, so it's impossible to preview if it's going to cut this path properly.

    Anybody have a solution or workaround for this?

    How are you generating and validating tool paths?

    Thanks,
    Sean

    Answer
    Mach3 ill run the code but the display can not display the path [​IMG] The problem is that it is a very specilized application that we didn't code the display for ..

    Thanks
    Brian

    Found on Ma3 3 Support Forums
    http://www.machsupport.com/forum/index.php/topic,6887.0.html
     
  15. rcKeith

    rcKeith New
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    Mach 3 will show the root path OK but if you try to view the tip by moving the display around with the mouse it looks strange. Profili2 Pro and DevFus foam have a 3D simulation which shows the paths taken. Which I use to make sure everything is going as I expect. You can see it in the video I posted above. Profili and DevFus Foam will give you warnings if the paths aren't possible. If you have very tapered wings then your machine might not have enough travel to make the paths so Profile and DeFus Foam have an option to rotate the wing. The only problem is that you then need to cut the root and tips afterwards to the correct angle. I usually use Sketchup or DraftSight to work this out. and draw a line on the foam block and before I take the wing out line it up under the hot wire and use some simple G-code to make a straight cut down and with the wire turned on. Tapered wings are more challenging but worth it in the end. My flying wing I built flies fantastic and I fly this more than any of the other 13 planes I have. Hope that helps
    upload_2015-8-29_6-57-39.png

    upload_2015-8-29_6-57-0.png

    upload_2015-8-29_7-9-36.png
     
  16. Rusticalmond

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    Great point I did not consider the extra travel needed to do a swept wing. My 1st plane is going to be a flying wing remake of something I used to have that had taken bad beating over the year. I think the wing span is like 20" so should not require to much extra travel on the one side. It is something to take in consideration when building my machine. around 30" wing spans will be big enough for me. Mostly park fliers and small float planes, am I going to build.

    I have not herd anyone talk about CompuFoil. It was a big deal back in the day to print out wing templates. They have a 3d version now. Does anyone still use this program?
     
  17. Rusticalmond

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    So according to the pictures you provided it seems I need around 32 inches of travel for the swept wing portion?
     
  18. Rusticalmond

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    The above wing example you gave seems to be about the exact wing that I am wanting to cut. As it was traced from an old small wing of mine.
     
  19. rcKeith

    rcKeith New
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    My machine has 32 " between the X and A axis and this I can alter that by changing the hot wire length. When I was making the fuselage pieces on my Hurricane for the canopy section I had to have them very close because of the slope. I only have 16 inches of travel on the X and A axis which if the foam block is rotated is enough, If you build a really big machine then the hot wire can become an issue as it will needs lots more power and can drag and vibrate on the foam which doesn't give the best results. Not a major problem because this can usually be fixed with some lightweight filler. My best result are always with very thin ni-chrome wire.

    Keith
     
  20. Rusticalmond

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    Keith My name is Scotty

    I have already purchased a 50 foot spoil of Ni_chrome wire so I should be good on that. I will be using the C-Beam Modular system for the rails.
    http://openbuildspartstore.com/c-beam-linear-actuator-bundle/

    Today I am rebuilding an old gaming PC to run on XP. I found a electrical box that is 18x18x6inches deep. Thinking about getting the computer out of the old full tower case and dropping it in the electrical box with the CNC gear. That way I only have one computer box for everything. It seems it be a tight fit and I might need a bigger box. I Will have my CNC electronics in next week.
     
  21. Rusticalmond

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    This is the Old Gaming PC that is being taken out right now to run the CNC cutter.
     

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  22. Rusticalmond

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    PC.jpg

    Old gaming PC Rig pulled out of a full tower to integrate into my CNC controller box.
     
  23. Rusticalmond

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    Oh if you guys don't already know about the Aero Fred Page, look it up. Lots of great free plans to look at and use of model aircraft.

    http://aerofred.com/
     
  24. Mark Carew

    Mark Carew OpenBuilds Team
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  25. Rusticalmond

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    Yes, I am also on that page as well.
     
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  26. Rusticalmond

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    Hammond sells some nice electrical boxes to put all your cnc stuff in. Good prices. You can get them with door hinge/screw cover/knockout or no knockout. Can also cross reference with Mouser if you are not able to purchase them locally. I am going to lay my stuff out 1st on my Ply Board then figure out what size box I need. I want my PC and CNC stuff to all be in the same box. If I go 6" deep on the box I will have to change my PC Fan out to a standing vertical mounted fan. But I can get boxes 8" deep no problem.

    https://www.hammfg.com/electrical/products/commercial

    http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...=/ha2pyFadujPRkSekCM0CFTSYwlN491nEcMFyjOgWjo=
     
  27. Mark Carew

    Mark Carew OpenBuilds Team
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    Hey these are great resources thank you sir :thumbsup:
    Mark
     
  28. Rusticalmond

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    Electric-kit.jpg

    Got most of my electronics today. Just about everything but a manual. As expected. Also got a nice electrical box for 75.00 24x24x8
     
  29. Rusticalmond

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  30. Rusticalmond

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    I have a question about this video.



    He seems to hook everything up backwards from everyone else and says its working. I don't think this is correct wiring for my board.


    From my understanding my 5V power supply should feed + to Pul+ Dir+ on each driver board and power the bread board on - and + side.
    The Pins P2 and P3 on the breakout board should be hooked up to Pul - and Dir -. So this is also set up in the Mac3 software as P2 and P3 being X Axis Pulse and Direction control. On the breakout board + Volts on VOD should be hooked up to Enbl +

    According to the above video he has pulse + and direction + hooked up to P2 and P3 on the break out board and Pulse - and Direction - on the driver board hooked up to a pin at the end of the break out board called Ground. P1 and P2 do put out +5V when connected to ground at the end of the breakout board.

    Perhaps he is setting his software up differently?

    Could someone verify correct wiring for me?
    Micro step driver board is DM542A
    DB25-1205 is the bread board from www.longs-motors.

    wiring1.jpg

    wiring3.jpg

    wiring2.jpg
     
    #30 Rusticalmond, Sep 2, 2015
    Last edited: Sep 3, 2015

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