Ok, here is how I work this thing. I use to do a los of craft sculptures of different materials so I have always loved the idea of designing and creating your own things. After some year of art in collage I ended up in architecture school (here come in the CAD drawings).
Learned this trick of fabricating from some guys in Japan that built custom r/c cars but most of the ideas come from the master JO YOON HO from craftlab.net he designs and builds custom rock crawlers, check this link out
http://craftlab.net/epage/eworkshop%20racing.htm He works his prototypes by hand before using the CNC. I love his work.
We exchanged some e-mails and I found out about some of his tools and decided to go for it.
Main tools:
- A table vise. something like this
http://cgi.ebay.com/ROTATING-SWIVEL-JEWELERS-TOOL-HOBBY-CLAMP-ON-TABLE-VISE_W0QQitemZ320089675951QQihZ011QQcategoryZ88440QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
- A jeweler saw like this
http://cgi.ebay.com/5-Saw-Frame-Jewelers-Silversmith-Tools-Jewelery_W0QQitemZ140093133034QQihZ004QQcategoryZ10323QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem the deeper the saw the better ( better to cuting bigger parts like the chassis).
- The blades (you will be replacing a lot of them). They come in many different sizes the smaller the smoother the cut but the more blades you will need and the more patient you well need to be. I bought a set that included different sizes to try them, like this
http://cgi.ebay.com/144-Saw-Blades-Jewelers-Metalworking-Cutting-Frame-Tool_W0QQitemZ280089444659QQihZ018QQcategoryZ10323QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
- A kit of files like this
http://cgi.ebay.com/Nicholson-Files-File-8-Piece-Machinist-File-Kit_W0QQitemZ180091012961QQihZ008QQcategoryZ20762QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem The smaller the better.
- A drill or better yet a drill press.
- A counter sink bit.
This is mainly it, you will learn with some errors but that is part of it. I bought some fiberglass and carbon fiber sheets a little thicker than the ones in my original RC10 and a sheet of aluminum 1/8” think or 0.1250 decimal or 3.1750 mm. It is a lithe heavy because of the thickness but very strong. I think I would have gone with something thinner and add some bracing on top of the chassis.
The bent in front was after cutting it. Clamp it to the vise making sure it is 90 deg. And muscle it, compare it to the original RC10 chassis and done.
The saw will cut anything. I have cut fiberglass, carbon fiber, aluminum, stainless steel and plastic and it cut very nice.
I measure the original part to correctly place the holes for the parts in the CAD program and design the parts around the holes locations. Print them out and put some carpet double tape to past them in the material and after that fallow the lines with the saw.
Use gloves and a mask if you can especially if cutting carbon fiber or fiber glass.
It was really simple you can make some precise hand drawings and cut them to.
Don’t be afraid, get some tool and materials (the tools are not that expensive) and go for it.
Sorry for any confusing explanations (with the messiness) or miss spelled words.
Hope this helps and gets some people working.
