We're using CNC mills since 1993. The first one was pretty simple - aluminum frame and
stepper motors - yet worked like a charm for three years. Most of our planes up to the V6
were made on this one.
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CAD overview drawing. |
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CAD detail drawing of Z axis assembly. |
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Overview. |
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Detail of the head and spindle. |
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3 mm hard metal cylindric cutter with four cutting edges, used for finishing wing
molds. We use a cheap russian microscope to check the condition of cutters, milled surface
quality etc. - in this case the picture shows a damaged cutter (one of the tips is
chipped). |
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This is a powerful vacuum chip sucker Franz built from oil barrels. |
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The electronics cabinet door is open showing the power amplifiers for the brushless X,
Y and Z axis motors. Above the cabinet sits the high speed spindle driver. The cabinet
also houses the control computer - a 120 MHz Pentium with an Ethernet link to the CAD
system. |
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Now we get going! Franz lifts a tooling material block onto the milling table. |
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Using a wireless keyboard, the router is carefully adjusted to the tooling block. |
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Path after path, layer by layer - the router is carving a wing negative mold |
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Last but not least, the mill doubles as a campsite, too :-) |