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Alu DIY

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revhed
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Alu DIY

Postby revhed » Wed Oct 28, 2015 9:34 pm

Maybe good ideas for D I Y guys.
MANY years ago I used square alu for a fuse, found at local hardware store for cheap.
1 was not thick enough, bent between TE F wing and LE STRUT.
So found another square alu that fit perfectly inside the other, has not bent after MANY years.
P3020007.JPG
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The nice thing is also that there is a line on the center of all the sides to help with on center hole drilling.
See here alu square doubled fuse on TT,BiDi
P1010004.JPG
So now with alu STRUTS available from a couple of comerical manufactorers for not so much, using one in combination with doubled wall alu fuse and easy to make wings one can have a t bar with wings for much less!
The Manta alu STRUT that is being used to build for a friend is,
90 cm X 11.7 cm X 15mm
weighs 1.8K
2 X M8 tapped fuse and board plate holes.
We will use 8mm thick about 20cm X 12 cm alu plate and after assembled will dry stress test on board to see of some tig weld fillets are a good idea or not?
As a straight STRUT that is stiff in both lateral and twist can be hard to make this seems to be a good alternative, and should be very durable as long as SS,inox connections are insulated.
One can use plastic square stock to make profiled nose and tail inserts into alu.
Simple flat bottom F wing and top R wing,
clark y 9%.jpeg
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one curved male mold can be used and super simple LE and TE profiles shaped, even fiber glass would work as the second I ever built (09) wing is 19 layers of 300g/m2 and flew AGAIN today!
Straight T E on wings work just fine as seen on the third below,
AR4.jpeg
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The last AR 4 F and R wings for beginners look like this and fly just fine.
We are working on inserts and will update when best tested options are found.
I think you could also get an Alu STRUT from Zeeko?
So with a little investment and some work one should be able to make a reasonable low cost T bar and wings, without the somewhat complecated composit STRUT and fuse.
R H

revhed
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Re: Alu DIY

Postby revhed » Wed Nov 11, 2015 9:06 am

Update,
DIY alu flys GREAT!
IMG_0652.JPG
IMG_0656.JPG
IMG_0659.JPG
IMG_0660.JPG
MANTASTRUT.jpg
Costs
STRUT, with shipping 100 E
Alu board plate 20 E
Double wall alu Fuse 12 E
Carbon, epoxy wings 75 E
M8, M6 A-4 counter sunk SS, inox hardware inserts 20 E

Drilled, counter sunk holes holes, screws 8mm= 4, 2 baseplate, 2 for fuse
6mm=8, 4 baseplate, 2 each wing
As built for a bigger guy F wing is about 700 cm2
Observations,
On the heavy side but not extreme.
STRUT very stiff in both twist and flex. Durable, great clean profile.
Test board way to small for a big beginner.
Holes need to be drilled PERFECT for good alignment, drill press, factory lines on fuse help a lot.
90° angles are easy to get spot on.
The M8s were carefully cut to enter the STRUT as much as possible, and seems both connections are strong.
Wings can be layed up on curved male mold as described in first post.
Maybe Zeeko STRUT would be a little better as has 3 M8 holes.
Fully breaks down, different fuse and STRUT lengths can be tested quickly.
Off to a shallow spot, just mount a 70 cm long STRUT, want to fly the waves, go for a 1 meter, 4 bolt change out.
Needs product, tufgel or similar, between Stainless, inoxable, hardware and Alu, care taken to tighten but not overly, no need to manhandle to risk damage to Alu threads.
Because a composite STRUT and fuse is hard to get right and LOTS of work, this idea should be a GREAT option!
Why buy a "funny foil" when you can build the same basic design your own and so much better for so much less!
R H

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Re: Alu DIY

Postby francis luengo » Wed Nov 11, 2015 12:30 pm

Great job....have you ridden it...?
:thumb:

revhed
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Re: Alu DIY

Postby revhed » Wed Nov 11, 2015 12:35 pm

francis luengo wrote:Great job....have you ridden it...?
:thumb:
It was built by a close friend who I saw ride it on its very first day out, I will surly fly it soon as it belongs to another soon to be HBHF addict who will learn with us.
R H

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Re: Alu DIY

Postby direnc » Wed Nov 11, 2015 2:15 pm

Hi RH,

Great job! I am planning to build something like this myself. Already got the mast, and shaping the wings already.

What is the reinforcement around the strut-baseplate joint? Is it absolutely necessary?

revhed
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Re: Alu DIY

Postby revhed » Wed Nov 11, 2015 5:44 pm

direnc wrote:

What is the reinforcement around the strut-baseplate joint? Is it absolutely necessary?
We have a very special glue (now illegal due to toxiicity) that is speced to adhere to well roughed up (40g) alu.
Mixed it with micro ballon and did the board plate fillet as shown.
The twist and flex tests before and after seem the same so we would think the 2 M8s into the STRUT as far as possible should be strong enough, time will tell as a big guy will be learning on it!
R H

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Re: Alu DIY

Postby Rufusz » Wed Nov 11, 2015 11:39 pm

revhed wrote: ...
Costs
STRUT, with shipping 100 E
Alu board plate 20 E
Double wall alu Fuse 12 E
Carbon, epoxy wings 75 E
M8, M6 A-4 counter sunk SS, inox hardware inserts 20 E
...
Did you make the board plate yourself? Could you share any details of the making? :roll:
Also do you know any retailers based in Europe selling struts?
Thanks.

revhed
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Re: Alu DIY

Postby revhed » Thu Nov 12, 2015 8:20 am

Rufusz wrote: Did you make the board plate yourself? Could you share any details of the making? :roll:
JMBalubase.jpg
Also do you know any retailers based in Europe selling struts?
Thanks.
Board plate is 8mm thick to allow for M8 counter sink holes to be flush.
I only know of Zeeko and The kitefoil, Manta for Alu STRUTS.
I would stay away form the funny foil STRUT as is it way to thick and profile poor.
R H

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Re: Alu DIY

Postby faklord » Thu Nov 12, 2015 12:03 pm

RH,
Would be interested to hear what the fuse construction is.
You say "twin walled". Does this mean one hollow square section inside another?
If so:
Can you give the cross sectional dimensions and wall thicknesses?
Also Is there anything added to prevent crushing where the strut and f wing bolts go through?
Thanks

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Re: Alu DIY

Postby mm7 » Thu Nov 12, 2015 6:13 pm

>The Manta alu STRUT ...

Could you please give us the link where it can be ordered. I tried to google - no luck.

Disregard, I've found it.

Great job!
thanks,
Mark
Last edited by mm7 on Thu Nov 12, 2015 6:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.


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