Comment

Comment by Clint L Gosch on September 25, 2014 at 7:35pm

Hi Bryan, I made a simple cutting template out of fiber board or other cheap wood product, when I was satisfied with the dimensions of the template, I clamped it to the aluminum and used a dremel tool with a mini router base and 9903 bit to make the cut. The bit shank was allowed to run along the template (the depth of the router base was set so the cutting edge of the bit only contacted the aluminum). I applied candle wax to the template edge and the aluminum to help prevent aluminum fouling of the bit and protect the template, still have to wire brush the bit if the cutting action degrades, but the wax seems to help. Very little feed force should be required. I've used this approach on my wing tips, forward fuselage sides, and a few other places with good results. Not exactly CNC, but works well for an under-funded plans builder workshop :)  

My cheapo craigslist craftsman bandsaw is setup with a metal cutting blade, my Grizzly 14" has a good quality woodworking blade that is tuned up quite nice (no wandering or tracking issues). I got tired of changing blades and making adjustments, so I own two bandsaws :)

Comment by Bryan Walstrom on September 25, 2014 at 8:21am

Talk to me more about this "poor mans CNC". :-) And why the two(2) band saws???

Comment by Clint L Gosch on July 23, 2014 at 8:34pm

Thanks Timothy.  Kind of a poor man's cnc approach,  only downside is the setup time. It takes about 2 hours to measure, cut, and sand the form, then only about 2 minutes to cut the hole in the 6061!!!

Comment by Timothy Aanerud on July 22, 2014 at 11:34pm

Nicely done Clint.