Diy sup foil

[supuk]

Not been very creative the last week but I have had a lot of Foil time and have been testing and trying lots or little changes in the setup and starting to find out what adjustments can achieve and as before just a few mm can make a huge difference!

Anyway I have the 3D print all glued together and I think rather than leaving the print inside I am going to use the method I posted in the link and remove the print after it is cured and the fill the shell with foam.

[surfcowboy]

So did the smaller sections allow you to get around the warping? It looks great man and sets the stage for way faster prototyping I'm sure.

[supuk]

No unfortunately with pla I have still been geting some warping in the base of the print. I used a raft which helped a little, posabley a enclosure would help or a different plastic but It works ok for what I need. I may try pet next time. Half way through glassing it then just need to deside how I’m going to do the internal structure.

[supuk]

Worked like a charm!

[surfcowboy]

Perfect!

[supuk]

Had a bit of a problem geting the 3D printed fuz tube in so had to do a bit of modifications to get it in. However before that the 3D printed tube got wrapped in a bit of glass and carbon and a high density insert placed in front to tie the top and bottom skins together nice and solid. It was allso time to bond the trailing edge at tips with a Cabo mix. I allso made sure to get everything all lined up square and with the correct inserdance.

[surfcowboy]

It looks thin at the trailing edge. Is that just the photo or was this just a shell and  you're going to add more glass once you get it glued up?

I'm also worried about making sure mine's all true before I set it. Just want things to run straight. That said, it's still a surfing device so I know that "good enough" will work. I've got a nice marble slab that a buddy gave me to make sure I've got a true and flat surface, even though I've not had any time to glue up my fuselage. The early dark is still killing me. I haven't adjusted to winter yet.

[supuk]

I used 6 layers of 6oz top and bottom as there is no structural core that is all there is at the TE. I’m tempted not to actually fill the inside with foam but my over Claudio’s side will probably get the better of me and I will do it anyway. It’s not hard to get it true just get the front wing parallel to the fuz cord wise just use some sort of similar setup to a pair of notched calipers. Vertical for the mast can odviosly be done with a square on a flat surface but then make sure you tail surface is allso level. then trueness can be don’t with triangulation from wing tips to center of fuz at the rear.

[supuk]

Nearly there now with this wing and new process, did a fill coat in black and then gave it a sand back then a hot coat in white. The one problem you do get with the expanding foam is it continues to gas out for quite some time so I have left the holes open to allow it to equalise.  May have also cut a new foil board 6'10 x 26.5" from a block that has been sitting around for a while 

[surfcowboy]

Dude, it's so good. You inspired me to get back to mine. The first one will be a bit hacked together but it'll get me a mast and fuse to use for future wings and should be good to let me get the feel for flying.

I'm thinking that the more this printing thing evolves us home builders might have a shot at really nice foils and the sport will move forward way faster as people can prototype quicker as well. The hive mind will get us down the road faster for sure.

[supuk]

good good you just need to get on and do it its not hard to make something very useable. put the effort into the mast and fuz so you have something solid and that you can easily swap the wings on then bodge a quick set of wings like I did on my free style set.

the printers have lots of applications its just learning how best to aid manufacturing with them. There are so many little ways they can help its crazy, I cant wait for new printers to be developed and open up even more possibilities. There are already two other printers I'm already very tempted to get.

Like you say with everyone having so much to learn the faster everyone can try new things the better so hopefully some of this will help others with the testing. 

[PonoBill]

I mostly print polycarbonate now. It takes a bit more work to get it going, but it's worth it--stronger parts, less warping--if you do it right. Lots of information online, but for me, the biggest benefits came from enclosing my PC printer and playing with the print head to get the temperature high enough (everyone says 290 works, but 295 is better). You need the bed to get good and warm too, but a good enclosure helps with that. I put heaters in my enclosure but I keep forgetting to turn them on and I still get strong, dimensionally stable parts. And don't buy cheap PC. Matterhackers has good filament, and it needs to stay dry--meaning store it in a big ziplock bag with desiccant. I haven't printed anything with PLA since I started using PC. I still do a little ABS, but that's because I have a lot of it.

I made a shrouded propellor for an 85 lb thrust trolling motor (guess what that's for) in October that I think is substantially stronger than the one that came on the unit.

I'm going to have to buy a printer for Maui, there's a dozen things I'd like to print.

[surfcowboy]

Pono, I don't want to see you trolling the efoil forums too now.

Thx for the tip. I keep avoiding buying a printer but it's looking like I'm heading that way. First I'm going to hit up all my buddies who bought one and never use it lol.

[supuk]

a cabinet for my prusa is on the list, I have done a few designs but all come down to cost and I cant bring myself to do some sort of bodge I want it to look cool. I tend to do anything that is just a prototype in pla as it prints so nice and is at least slightly greener than the others and then recently I have been using a fare bit of pet. From what I read abs is now out of date and thing like pet have replaced it. I have a roll of abs I tried but gave up very quick with it.
I too thought I would print a prop from solid pla and its incredibly strong.

[supuk]

And here you go a bit of sanding a splash of paint and jobs a good’n