Terry Whiting 1 Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 Max, On page 65 in RCM&E special is a picture of Rich's Atom and silhouetted is the rotor which shows clearly the blade roots and gap, your drawing is spot on . Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigel simkin Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 If I make the gap 14mm then I will only have this small section (the black triangle on photo) touching the blade holder is this correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat (rActive) Harbord Posted October 17, 2014 Share Posted October 17, 2014 And here is the first head that has been cut, I will be getting a few of these to assemble early next week which I will test hard! I have made it as simple as I can , keeping the material the same thickness all round with minimal parts. I will post more as I start assembling if anyone is interested? Yes please - great to have an alternative to HKs offering. This is what I've been waiting for. Going to make a start on my Atom this weekend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Flynn 1 Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Rich very interested in the new head design you can put me down for two or even three, I am sure Bill will take one or two. Kevin California Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.A. Barry Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Yes Rich I'll take a couple as well Looks good Barry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Wright 2 Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Rich That is a nice looking head and could be just the job to eliminate the frustration of relying on HK stocks. It also means that all the parts will be available from uk suppliers which must make things easier and encourage more to build . Tom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Dowell Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Rich Nice job...I am sure that is what will be needed for your models.......and were you also thinking of a heavier / larger version ? Chris... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Stevens Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Posted by Richard Harris on 16/10/2014 22:38:14: Nigel, Trim the end of the blade so that you have roughly a 14mm gap between blade root and blue triangular bearing housing. Rich Confusing me too as was suggested in an earlier post that 20-25mm was the distance to drill the mounting hole for the root of eth blade so the sketch is bang on , soooooooooooooo with a 3mm hole drilled as above how to resolve? though this may not have referred to the HK head? Fill existing with dowel or car body filler and drill a second hole or trim the root or trim the root? Will post a picture later to show what I have done. More to this 'coper' business than meet the eye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Stevens Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Overall blade length is 460mm so could trim 9.5/10mm from root? If I do that do I need to bother with extending the cut away on the blade trailing edge? Need to locate some 3mm studding today so and can weigh and balance the blighters. I did wonder about this as there is a picture of Rich's machine with all blades folded back - made me scratch my head a bit. Thanks all Mike Edited By Mike Stevens on 18/10/2014 07:37:07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Jones 2 Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 If your blades are 460 (mine are 445) I would cut some off the root and leave the hole you have already drilled. remember the comments when my Atom took to the skies.... "Blimey your blades produce more lift"..... That maybe suggests 445mm is long enough..... Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Whiting 1 Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Mike, If in doubt PM Rich and ask him to send you his blade PDF, In your PM add your email address. You can print it off A4 size Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Stevens Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Thanks all - think I am sorted - trimmed the end of the blade as Steve suggested and we are now 14mm from hub flat to end of blade. - pic to follow I have the pdf - I think the 25mm ref was from the hub flat to mounting hole rather than blade root hence being 9.5mm off adding up the mm's on the sketch above. Getting there but could I find any 3mm studding in B&Q (though I did find a bench vice that I thought would come in very handy for bending u/c legs ...one done already now....lol) - currently trying to solder together two 3mm nickel bolts otherwise ebay here I come...... Edited By Mike Stevens on 18/10/2014 15:16:20 Edited By Mike Stevens on 18/10/2014 15:20:51 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Ok , I have managed a little more Today. I have the recommended EMax servos and fitted one Carbon Fiber geared servo for the rudder. And as the weather was playing ball i managed to spend some time outside sanding the blades to shape. Not sure how good these will be i have a little more sanding to do but light has gone now. I bought some more wood to make another set . I spent a lot of time sanding that leading edge and found it quite hard , so i tried it with my razor plane then found it much easier than sanding or filing . Steve. Edited By Stephen Jones on 18/10/2014 20:21:15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Here are a couple of pictures of the body, And I had hoped some old under carriage legs would do but they are too short so i will have to bend some wire to shape. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Jones 2 Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Looking good Steve Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Jones 2 Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Looking good Steve Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Dowell Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Re shaping the blades...I also use a razor plane to remove most of the excess timber before going to the balsa block. Chris... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Harris Posted October 19, 2014 Author Share Posted October 19, 2014 Stephen, Your Atom is coming along nicely , the only concern I have is your top blade. The LE is a little rounded around its lower face compared to the rest. Apart from that, if they are your first ever set of blades you are a natural! Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Hi Richard , Yes i have my concerns over them too , if you remember i had bought the wrong thickness balsa and so stuck 1/16th to the bottom to build up the thickness , But as balsa is softer than the hard wood LE upon working the wood it appears to of crushed also the edge needs re gluing as the 1/16th has parted from the hard wood. After i have given them a final sanding i will have to decide whether they will have to go in the bin and start a fresh. Just how critical is it that the LE be flat at the bottom . Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Jones Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Posted by Steve Jones 2 on 18/10/2014 22:21:11: Looking good Steve Steve Thanks Steve , Progress is slow at the moment , i still have a lot of work to do on the house . Normally i would of finished a model of this size by now. Steve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Whiting 1 Posted October 19, 2014 Share Posted October 19, 2014 Steve , I too have increase my blade thickness by 1mm, I have cut strips of 1mmX10mm birch ply to be glued to the underside of the blade LE, but making sure it is proud of the LE by 1mm., this allows for re-profiling the LE to obtain that sharp leading edge. The rest of the blade will be made up with firm 1mm balsa sheet.. The TE once sanded I firm up with thin syno. Terry Edited By Terry Whiting 1 on 19/10/2014 22:28:12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Stevens Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Progress to date..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Whiting 1 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Great stuff Mike, you are almost there. If this blessed weather continues I can see mine will soon be on the building board... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Z Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Progress has been slow for me. I have been struggling to make a decent cockpit for the Atom. I tried the balsa-block-in-a-bottle-trick. Two bottles have been harmed in the process without result. I just did not seem to be able to shrink the forward part around the block properly. It kept curling up without fitting. When the balsa started to scorch I gave up. I used a transparent sheet I had lying around instead, fixing two battens on either side, heating it and pulling it over the block. I will spare you the stories about wrong glue, wrong trimming foil. I will show you the result sometime and let you judge the result. On to the rotor blades. I thought I would show you my planing/sanding method. Like Richard described it ( or was it one of the Stephens? ), I planed wedges off from the leading and trailing edges. I then made up a little tool into which I fed the rough blades, and used a sanding block to sand the final airfoil in 3 or 4 places. As you can (hopefully) see, the sanding depth is restricted by the curved sides of the tool, and the "wings" (I don't know another word to describe them) formed by the plate screwed to the top of the block. I then used a sanding bar to finish the blades, just sanding until you see the indentations from the cross-sanding in the tool disappear. Let the pictures speak for themselves: Max. Edited By Max Z on 21/10/2014 20:26:22 Edited By Max Z on 21/10/2014 20:28:58 Edited By Max Z on 21/10/2014 20:29:39 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve Jones 2 Posted October 21, 2014 Share Posted October 21, 2014 Blades look good Max, remember thought - sharp leading edges Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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