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I am a bit slow when it comes to learning, so I try and make up for it with extra effort.
THAT's the way to make a pattern!....If you're going to machine a pattern, you might want to consider aluminum. It isn't really anymore difficult to machine than MDF, ect, and is far more durable should you want to make more that a few castings.....especially patterns in the small sizes that are easy to damage during ramming if made of wood.Dave
Hi Pat,In regard to your flywheel spoke construction here's a way you can get the shape you need. 1. Create your rim and hub2. create a workplane through the axis of spoke.3. draw the profile, taper part way up then the remaining taper I presume at a different angle. 4. do a revolve on the profile and you will get your spoke.5. fillet the spoke into the hub and rim. gbritnell
I guess if I were going to make commercial kits available
Dave-Yep, I hear what you are saying.I guess if I were going to make commercial kits available I would certainly use aluminum in a CNC for patterns.I was thinking along the lines of plywood that does not have many or any knots in it, if there is such a thing, and glued up in layers if necessary. Plywood has pretty good dimensional stability, but does break out sometimes.Plywood avoids the fuzzy finish, and holes in the plywood can be filled easily enough.The guy with the CNC is retired, so not really a time is money thing, but even he does not want to have to repeat a run.It is something to think about.I guess I will get whatever he decides to use, if he decides to make these patterns.I can make patterns manually in wood, but for things like tapered ellipsoidal spokes, CNC or 3D printing is nice, and for tight tolerances where you are trying to maintain a uniform wall section like in the cylinder/water jacket area, you need all the accuracy you can get.
Hi Jason,I was intrigued with your flywheel construction problems so this evening I had a little bit of time to play with it in my Cad program. I drew the hub, extruded it, then the spoke profile as an ellipse and extruded it but only halfway to the rim with one draft angle. I then extruded from the end of the spoke ellipse to the rim with another draft angle. I then did an array of the spokes. Now I tried to fillet it, I tried edges, I tried faces, I changed radius sizes but with no luck. What I ended up doing was putting a fillet between each of the spokes first. Once this was done I could lay a fillet all the way around the edges. I'll try and post a picture of my screen shot but I'm not sure how it will come out.gbritnell