Projects

Planning and building a big Fiberglass Rocket

CNC Milling

The Project started with drawing up the Rocket in CAD and CNC milling all the needed moulds. The middle mould was too big for my CNC router and I had to split the mould in Z and X direction and build a strong base to support the 1,5m Long mould.

Layup

For easier assembly, I made mould pieces for a blind gluing flange. The parts are all made from Fiberglass and were all done with Handlayup. Before the Layup, the Moulds were painted with In-Mould-Coating Paint.

Assembly

All parts done. Everything was easy to glue together using the Gluing flanges. Because of accurate CNC milled moulds no filler had to be used after assembling everything.

Finishing

The Entire project was done In-House, from CAD/CAM, CNC milling moulds, making fixtures and glue flange Moulds, assembly, and Painting/finishing.

Happy Customer

The finished Rocket with the happy customer. The Rocket can be disassembled for transport and is fixed to the wall using a chain that is connected to the rocket.

Velomobile repair

Damage Assessment 

The Milan had a crash and there was quite a lot of damage, here I show only the nose area but there was a lot more damage.

Sanding

all the damaged areas were sanded at the correct ratio for every layer of carbon/Innegra 
I sanded away all the damage and backed up the holes with tape and larger ones with tape backed up with fiberglass to keep the shape.

Main repair 

after sanding I put new carbon on the damaged parts to restore the structure.

Finished 

after curing I sanded away all the not necessary carbon, restored the original shape, and then it was painted.

Result

The Milan now looks like new, weight is nearly the same and from the outside, you can't see the repair, from the inside it is also hard to see if you didn't know you probably wouldn't see it at the first look.

NBM1c - 2m Flying Wing

Foam Cores

Hotwire cut with Gravity Feed Hotwire Cutter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgyJoDhOSQ0

Preparing Cores

after Cutting, the Cores get glued together, I cut the Spar slot, glue in the Sparcaps, cut out the Elevons and Flaps, and face them, also reinforce the Leading Edge to form an Overlap between Top and Bottom Wing Skin

Layup

I prepared Mylars with release agent and painted them, I also cut all the cloth needed, skin and reinforcements, the cloth gets layed up on the mylar, and the Foamcore gets sandwiched between the two Mylars inside a Vacuumbag and cured for >16hours at ~45deg C

Drivetrain

for the Drivetrain, it took me 3 tries to get a good solution, it's a homemade Shaft with prop mount as one piece and a moulded Carbon part that I screw the motor to and press-fit a support-bearing into.

Finished Wing

it flies very nice and I am satisfied with the result, few things to improve but its a prototype... 
If your more interested you can see a more detailed Build log on my Instagram page and you can also buy one of these in my shop.

Testing Moulded full foam-core Wings

Milling Fixture

Milling 2. Core Side

CNC Milled Moulds

Layup

Result