Love the balsa plywood idea. I will be adding that to my notes to self.

@lazerbuilderrc1536

4 ай бұрын

It works and can be done a lot faster than piecing together 1/4 square sticks. Thanks for watching!!!

Thanks. Metric I found its much easier to use metric instead of converting minute fractions of an inch to make a design after calculating tolerances. While this was outside of RC it was crystal clear how much easier the manufacture was after doing and the design.

@lazerbuilderrc1536

3 ай бұрын

I have to agree. At least as far as engineering goes. Much easier when dealing with tight tolerances.

I realize this is a video for mostly beginners to the hobby and I have been toying with the idea of getting back to building balsa planes as I did religiously when I was a kid, but I'd like to share some things for everybody. For Tip#1: LightBurn is like salt on eggs. Eggs are great right out of the shell, they're good cooked and broiled, poached, and hard boiled... but adding salt? You can't really imagine having another egg without a little salt. LightBurn is absolutely mandatory and nobody ever says they regret paying the $55 or $110 for the full license. Just get it, you won't regret it. Also.. get an enclosure for your diode laser. I'd recommend, if you have the $$$, to consider a CO2 laser instead but they're significantly more expensive. Two advantages with an enclosure: the exhaust fan is good at removing smoke and any ash you have left over, and air assists. I was a firefighter when I was younger and I always thought it to be counterintuitive to feed a fire with air but when it comes to lasers, having a proper air assist actually completes the combustion process & makes the laser cut far more efficiently & a LOT less dangerously. Your stock catching fire is because you don't have enough air. It's also why you need to be cutting at a higher power & lower speed, which gives you more of a chance to start a fire. You keep a fire extinguisher close by and you watch your cuts: thank you for mentioning that to your viewers! That is a very VERY important aspect. Many, many people have lost their entire homes because they think it wouldn't happen to them. I have a 60W CO2 laser with a 20"x28" cutting bed (usable is about 19.5"x27"), automatic Z-axis autofocus, and I paid about $3,100 including shipping. Aftermarket, I purchased a 6" exhaust fan to upgrade the cheap Chinese loud fan. I purchased a premium lens from American Photonics, and I replaced my air assist from a sad little fishtank aquarium pump with a 6-gallon air compressor and fitted a regulator to my laser cabinet. I use my laser for my business so my upgrades are completely justified, but even if I was just using it as a hobby laser, I'd skip the diode 2-axis laser and go with the CO2. Again, much more costly but if used correctly, you have a very low chance of fire, you'll use a lot less electricity, and far less wasted materials. Even as a hobby laser, trust me, after some time you'll see it saves you time, money and energy.

@lazerbuilderrc1536

3 ай бұрын

And you have now set the lazy builder RC record for the longest post. Absolutely lots of good tips there things that I should mention more often in my videos regarding safety such as goggles fire extinguisher plenty of air ventilation all good points I appreciate you taking the time to mention those things.

When I get to trying lasers I will be looking at your videos. Thanks, WA7VQR.

@lazerbuilderrc1536

2 ай бұрын

First off thank you for the kind words. And consider this, if all you did was cut ribs and bulkheads, you would save yourself hours and hours of time and it really does make the art of scratch building balsa Planes fun again. Now if I could just figure out how to get the laser to do all the finish sanding I would be set for life. lol.

Thanks for creating this type of video.

@lazerbuilderrc1536

3 ай бұрын

Appreciate that, sir, but the truth is I only started doing these videos because I was having to repeatedly explain myself face-to-face with individuals one at a time who were curious about how I was doing this sort of thing so these videos help me to have more time to fly by simply referring their questions to Lazy Builder RC. lol

Nice intro for people who have not messed with this yet.... like me. Thanks for the video.

@lazerbuilderrc1536

4 ай бұрын

I appreciate the positive comment. Thank you for watching.

Thanks for the tips. Doesn’t look like a stock machine. How big is it?

@lazerbuilderrc1536

Ай бұрын

It’s an Xtool D1 with an extension added. I had to change the software from D1 to D1 pro to get Lightburn to recognize the entire size which is now somewhere around 17 inches wide and 36 inches long of usable space. It’s the standard 10 watt laser, which will hopefully soon have air assist and a camera system for doing overlays in Lightburn. Ooopppss. Spoiler alert!!

Subscribed! Thanks for the info. Just bought my first laser the Neje max 11watt 2weeks ago with the intention to make an RC plane. I’ve modeled up a Sig Kadet Mark 2 in Fusion from my paper plans I still have from my first build in 1987. Plan is to make this electric. Would you mind telling me where you purchased your balsa/ply stock from? And were you satisfied with the quality of wood?

@lazerbuilderrc1536

4 ай бұрын

National Balsa, Balsa USA, and Hobby Lobby. I like Hobby Lobby only because I can walk in and hand pick the wood without any additional charge. The online places are good and have an excellent selection but you'll wanna buy in bulk to justify shipping charges. Thats really cool that you can model in Fusion. I have some old plans I'd like to digitize and change a few things. But for now, I got lots of other projects going. Thanks for subscribing.

@deano572

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for the info ….👍🏻 I went to our hobby lobby and grabbed a few sheets to practice with. They didn’t have much, half of the items were out of stock. nothing bigger than 3” wide. Looks like I’m going all in with Balsa USA.

@tedmoss

2 ай бұрын

A good choice, I have several Sig Senior Cadets and one Mark 2.

@lazerbuilderrc1536

2 ай бұрын

Love flying Senior Cadets when I just want to relax and cruise the sky.

Can you please share the model of your first laser that is at the beginning of the video. Thanks

@lazerbuilderrc1536

Ай бұрын

I honestly don't remember. It was some off-brand thing from Amazon. Kinda like this: www.amazon.com/SCULPFUN-Ultra-Fine-Compressed-Protection-Fixed-Focus/dp/B09MQMXXGD/ref=sr_1_4?crid=3AV5YP06YY9IE&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.8iz7LHag67hQlLmTtPf4a3_yi3jn-oo0Qa4L3Hyqu0LnZo__rrv1wdHzjsJEuGqtX21ySX5S5kyjKbIAjTbAy5Rb53uOx78rABzMimypgwJ9G1W0TnQG_J9smsduF5txY5zuyDwnUAOayBRz_rmYeDEcSiysjB-XGXQDIYhhAdWj-d-5f3gd83a87_iE9DHM_zuuBpJznJ7J-iE_WYafAVIcH0hnJV2MiR3QFp7O41vq_Xb4tn4kADB52cAhvrm54rrmjCXX1Y1DWudvVZIed5jQrAlz_FctT2yW7Tv6cs4.HCImuYHhLNJ0JcAExnQda4BGmteQ9eBui-_siyCVmIE&dib_tag=se&keywords=laser%2Betcher%2Bmachine&qid=1713152272&sprefix=laser%2Betcher%2Caps%2C164&sr=8-4&th=1

@JasonFurness-to2yo

Ай бұрын

@@lazerbuilderrc1536 Thank so much. It is difficult to piece through the power and type required to cut the materials needed.

@lazerbuilderrc1536

Ай бұрын

I have been looking at these. Cheaper and more value than my Xtool 10 watt. atezr.com/collections/laser-engraver