rtfm
Well-Known Member
Hi,
I've been quiet on this forum for some time, but now that production of the FleaBike has begun, it's probably time to start a thread, and post some photos.
Originally inspired by Fritz' "Ranger" concept, I decided to put mouse to computer screen and produce my own sit-on Flying Flea. This involved buying a cnc Router. My first choice was the "Lowrider2", a full-sheet machine. However, after a few disasters, and ongoing issues, I decided to cut my losses, and invest in an OpenBuilds WorkBee cnc Router. What a great decision that was. Not the cheapest solution around, but not exactly expensive, either. The taxman was kind to me this year, so I blew nearly all of it on the new machine. A couple of weeks of assembly, plenty of mistakes and oversights, some stupid errors, and finally, a working cnc Router.
I had spent protracted months designing the plane. The idea was to cut the entire fuselage out of 19mm Hoop Pine plywood - in this country, Hoop Pine plywood adheres to the AU/NZ standards which are the highest in the world. A single sheet of the stuff costs a cool $350. But it is beautiful.
The design philosophy is as follows:
(1) Cut a 1.5mm plywood template for the entire side of the fuselage. Once cut, this weighs a ridiculously small amount.
(2) Cut individual pieces of the fuselage, with the main grain running parallel to the main stress vectors out of 19mm Hoop Pine ply
(3) Using the template as (can you believe) a template, align the fuselage pieces to this template and ensure that everything fits.
(4) Bond the individual pieces to each other and to the underlying template.
(5) To the outside of this frame, bond a 3mm ply sheet.
(6) Side 1 done
Here's what the fuselage will look like:
The pieces being cut on the router...
I've been quiet on this forum for some time, but now that production of the FleaBike has begun, it's probably time to start a thread, and post some photos.
Originally inspired by Fritz' "Ranger" concept, I decided to put mouse to computer screen and produce my own sit-on Flying Flea. This involved buying a cnc Router. My first choice was the "Lowrider2", a full-sheet machine. However, after a few disasters, and ongoing issues, I decided to cut my losses, and invest in an OpenBuilds WorkBee cnc Router. What a great decision that was. Not the cheapest solution around, but not exactly expensive, either. The taxman was kind to me this year, so I blew nearly all of it on the new machine. A couple of weeks of assembly, plenty of mistakes and oversights, some stupid errors, and finally, a working cnc Router.
I had spent protracted months designing the plane. The idea was to cut the entire fuselage out of 19mm Hoop Pine plywood - in this country, Hoop Pine plywood adheres to the AU/NZ standards which are the highest in the world. A single sheet of the stuff costs a cool $350. But it is beautiful.
The design philosophy is as follows:
(1) Cut a 1.5mm plywood template for the entire side of the fuselage. Once cut, this weighs a ridiculously small amount.
(2) Cut individual pieces of the fuselage, with the main grain running parallel to the main stress vectors out of 19mm Hoop Pine ply
(3) Using the template as (can you believe) a template, align the fuselage pieces to this template and ensure that everything fits.
(4) Bond the individual pieces to each other and to the underlying template.
(5) To the outside of this frame, bond a 3mm ply sheet.
(6) Side 1 done
Here's what the fuselage will look like:
The pieces being cut on the router...
