CarBen Concept EV Open Source Project

[NeilBlanchard]

I cut 6 more sheets today (with time to lubricate and tight bits, and drop off and pick up my son. More tomorrow -- and hopefully soon the gluing will begin!

10 done and 83 more to go...

[kerbe]

so what's your best guess: software or hardware?

[SEGsby]

Use good ventilation! And please, use a respirator when using industrial glues or resins...

http://www.gemplers.com/tech/sresp.htm

[NeilBlanchard]

Kerbe -- are you asking about the troubleshooting?

I'm going to be using waterproof carpenter's glue (Titebond III Ultimate Wood Glue) so very little smell let alone fumes, water clean up.

Edit: I cut 8 more sheets of foam toaday -- just 75 to go! I've got 6 sheets left from the first buy (3 were scrapped during troubleshooting and a glitch), so I'll be off to the store to buy some more next week. I'll starting gluing tomorrow...

[NeilBlanchard]

I've now cut 22 sheets and begun to glue things together. I've stacked and glued the first foot of the front! Here are pictures:

[kerbe]

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard

Kerbe -- are you asking about the troubleshooting?

Yes, indeed I was asking about troubleshooting.

Love the pix - it's like watching a topographic map of a vehicle come to life!

[NeilBlanchard]

The two issues I had to fix to get the CNC machine working properly were the voltage setting on the Z and the Y axes was too low, and the X axis drive belt was way too loose. The only software issue I've had was a radius that was too small to be cut -- I was trying to be cute with stress relief on a temporary support strut on one of the parts.

You pegged it -- I was basing the technique of stacking layers on architectural site models. It won't be long before I start to smooth the contours to "reveal" the car inside! ;-)

[kerbe]

Did you remember to take stills of each new lamination being added? I'm picturing an animation not unlike the one in "The Fifth Element"!

[NeilBlanchard]

No, I didn't manage to do it with that much organization!

Here's some pictures of today's progress:



I added 6 more layers; minus two pieces that I have not cut yet. This happened because I was trying to pack pieces as efficiently as possible, and two pieces are on a sheet that is 7 ahead in the sequence... I'll buy more foam as soon as I can (I'm waiting to be paid) and I'll cut that far and then keep gluing. In the meantime, I need to help my brother finish rebuilding his bulkhead AND there is the small matter of emptying out my little 1 car garage to make space to build more that 3 feet of CarBEN -- otherwise it will be trapped on my screen porch...

The third picture is taken with the main piece "nose down" so the the additional pieces are on top and the dowel rods can be left in.

I also put together the pieces of the hood so far, but the final assembly of that will have to wait until the hood opening gets fully formed on the car. The hood doesn't have alignment pins, so it has to be done by fitting it. Next time I'll put in the alignment pin holes.

The main piece I've glued together is amazingly light and strong -- it will get significantly lighter after the shaping is done, though it will probably be less rigid. I think it weighs less than 8 pounds? I'll try to weight it tomorrow, as will as get a better picture. The fiberglass will obviously add both weight and strength.

This is going to be a lot of fun!

[NeilBlanchard]

Some better pictures of the front 18" of CarBEN EV5: