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Post by the woodbutcher on Mar 6, 2009 18:29:23 GMT -6
What if, you drilled your holes into your block of wood first, then cut your car design out working around the holes you just drilled? ;D Wouldn't this be easier? Yes, but that would depend on your design and means to remove the extra wood. A well equipped wood shop can do these kind of things, but to get a board thinner than 1/4" like they are doing would be difficult. I think the roosclan is on to something. Very similar to a torrison box. I am going to build one over the next few weeks and will share the process.
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Post by roosclan on Mar 6, 2009 19:58:45 GMT -6
You must have this car completed already, but I would make a suggestion here anyway. I am new to the hobby, having 1 race under my belt (I'll post info on that later). But I have been in woodworking for the last several years and have gained some understanding of wood and how to fix mistakes ! You plan on putting a layer of ply on the bottom and if you are gluing the whole surface, it will become one piece of wood. You will effectively tie the entire structure together strengthening it. The open area in the axle slot (as shown in the picture) is an area of weakness able to deflect upward and breaking. But when you put the ply on you tie together the front and back sides of the area preventing it from breaking. I think you will find that very strong. Unfortunately, we don't have the car completed. I was going to wait until we have it all painted and weight-balanced before we put the bottom on (we'll be balancing it upside down so we can set the bottom covering on it), but I ran across some thin clear plastic that I am thinking of using It's much thinner than 1/64" and so light that it's effect on balance is almost negligible. I can epoxy it on when we're done. The principle should still work, though.
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Post by roosclan on Mar 6, 2009 20:37:52 GMT -6
What if, you drilled your holes into your block of wood first, then cut your car design out working around the holes you just drilled? ;D Wouldn't this be easier? When my son designed his car (and yes, I helped him, but he wanted a thin car), we didn't know about the PBJ. We were going to use carbon fiber slats on the side rails to add strength without adding much weight. Then he decided he wanted a snake skin pattern, but there was practically no wood available to paint on. I talked him into covering it with the 1/64" plywood so he would have something to paint the snake skin pattern on, and then I figured we better cover the bottom, too, to provide better aerodynamics, and add strength. We drilled the holes, but I forgot to put plywood shims on the jig, so the holes came out too high. I think we'll be ok, though. The car is still quite thin, as can be seen below. We're doing without the carbon fiber rails, but I did place a c.f. slat across the gap between the front axles. The body was flexing inward without it.
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