Project: OSIDIAS begins!

[craigbru]

Great idea! That flat thingy around the bit on the Romaxx is new..is that a vacuum attachment?

Good catch! Yes, that is a vacuum boot. It was recently added. It has it's obvious benefits, but sometimes it can be just as much of a pain. It sometimes gets in the way of clamps and hold-downs should I need them.

Excellent work!

I may have to contact you about just what that CNC can do...

Thanks Kayin!

(I'm pretty easy to catch should you want to chat.)

[craigbru]

With the core of the mold done, it's time to get some aluminum wrapped around it. It's a pretty simple concept, but I need perfect execution. The aluminum needs to fit the MDF perfectly, as it ultimately will determine the shape of the carbon fiber on top of it.

I'm starting by using some AC Ryan 1mm sheets that I had lying around. I've had these for quite some time courtesy of the Rogue project's bit-tech Mod of the Month win almost 2 years ago already. I figured it was time to put them to use.

One of the newer pieces of equipment in my shop is this metal brake. I've retired the little 18" unit I had, and moved up in the world. To say that it's a huge improvement, is understating the obvious. So, I marked out the aluminum, and slid it in place for the first bend.

A second bend later, and things are looking good!

An additional 4 bends brought me to this.

A quick test fit, and it was looking pretty good. Well, good enough to move on to the other side. At least for the moment...

I made the second panel, and after evaluating it's fit, I decided to remake the first one. Ultimately I just wasn't happy enough with the way it fit the contours of the MDF core. It couldn't have been more than a single millimeter off in the way that it fit one of the edges, but it was still too much for me. I sometimes tend to set standards for myself that seem unreasonable, but when something is bugging me, I just can't let it go. So, the red panel is gone, and it's been replaced with blue and green...

Since I was pretty happy with the fit of the new panels, I now needed to get them marked and cut to fit. I need perfectly flush mating on the top and bottom joints, and I'll cover that in the next update.

[x88x]

Mmmm, pretty aluminum..ness..

[craigbru]

Lol, it is pretty, but it's about to get covered with something even prettier.

[Mach]

Quick get the kids and the dog into the bunker. He's started building skynet. We're all doomed

Glad to see this one is underway. Consider me sub'd.

[craigbru]

Quick get the kids and the dog into the bunker. He's started building skynet. We're all doomed

Glad to see this one is underway. Consider me sub'd.

Lol, funny. It's also ironic that Terminator 2 is on TBS in the background as I type this...

Haha, there's nothing like the smell of a warm Dremel on a beautiful Thursday night... With my last update, I was ready to trim the top of the aluminum shell down to size. A few minutes of cutting and filing left me with a prefect fit. It's absolutely straight with no gaps.

Now it was time to do the same thing on the bottom. I always mark first with either a pencil or fine point Sharpie, and then follow up with tape. When I cut, I get as close to the tape as possible, then finish up with a file. I find that it's easier to follow the edge of the tape, than it is any regular line.

Once again, after cutting...

Okay, so what's next? With the aluminum shell done, I've got to prep for layering on the carbon fiber. Since I'll have multiple layers basically rolled on the mold, I needed an easy way to apply the CF. The following method is what I came up with. I've got a pair of sawhorses and a piece of aluminum channel through the center pipe on the mold. This will allow me to roll the mold in to any position, yet the square planes of the channel means that it won't roll away when I don't want it to.

Now let's take a look at my box of goodies from Aerospace Composites. I've got a vacuum generator, check valve, associated vacuum bags, and peel ply. I'll be using all this to ensure as flawless a finish as possible.

At this point I decided to do a small resin test. I've seen far to many instances where resin doesn't set, and I want to make sure I've got a workable ratio. The last thing I need is a mess on my hands. Up next, the fun part!

[x88x]

8D Giant roll of CF... Shiny!

[jiggiwiddit]

Respect @ the amount of planning +sub. looking forward to this

[craigbru]

8D Giant roll of CF... Shiny!

It is a little mesmerizing, isn't it?

Respect @ the amount of planning +sub. looking forward to this

Thanks man. I couldn't not afford to plan this one well. The material cost makes mistakes... undesirable.

[Waynio]

Wow, this looks ambitious just watched the walk through video & read up to now, action packed super fun happy box it looks like , I'm gonna enjoy watching this progress , keep up the awesomeness Craig . +rep here & on bit-tech