The integration of lasers and software has significantly impacted the scratch building of RC airplanes. I've noticed that by minimizing the use of hand tools such as Exacto Knives and paper plans, building RC planes from digital plans has become a much more efficient process. Here, I'm excited to share my personal experiences with automating the scratch building process, in hopes that it may inspire and guide you to do the same.
MS Copilot describes it like this...
It seems like you’re referring to Lazy Builder RC, which is a channel on KZread that focuses on the integration of lasers and software in the scratch building of RC airplanes. The channel shares personal experiences with automating the scratch building process, and it appears to be a resource for those interested in efficient RC plane construction using digital plans.
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Thank you for this tutorial , just tried this on the sidepiece for the BD5.
Did it work?
@@lazerbuilderrc1536 Yes it did, I had to reshape one of the weight-saving holes though because there wouldn't be enough "flesh" left but that was a breeze.
Really appreciate the videos man, learning heaps from ya please keep em coming.
Appreciate you tuning in. Please like and subscribe if you haven't already, check out my other page if that interest you and, otherwise hang out and learn. Happy building!!!
Hello sir how r u ineed lazer cut plan file plz...
I am actually working on setting up a Patreon account where members will be able to download my laser cut files. Stay tuned!! And thank you very much for checking out my videos.
How many watts is that laser?? Thanks!!
Currently I use an Xtool d1 with a 10watt laser. Works fine for balsa and light ply airplanes. Hopefully going to up the wattage soon. Thanks for checking out my videos.
@@lazerbuilderrc1536 thanks so much for the reply!! I’m loving your videos as I just purchased a 10w laser for Rc airplanes…..👍
Thanks for stopping by.
@@lazerbuilderrc1536 cheers! 👌
Thank you- this was very helpful. I finally managed to program the esc brake on my ZTW ESC without needing a programming card!
You’re very welcome. It’s possible the same technique will work on other ESCs but I couldn’t tell you which ones.
Thanks for your insight, appreciate it. I have a large E-size roll plotter and can print full size plans. If you have several you would like printed for future projects just reply with your email contact and I will send you mine. I’ll cover shipping if you want them folded in an envelope but if you want them rolled in a hard tube, I would ask for shipping costs only.
That is a very kind and more than fair offer. My email address is [email protected] Right now I’m good on plans but always in motion is the future.
Brilliant I’m learning from you thank you so much from the UK 👍👍👍
Hello fellow RC’er from across the pond. Truly appreciate you stopping by. What kind of airplane are you looking at building?
Hi ya great to be in contact with you. I’ve flown and built RC all my life the old conventional way when there were no ARTF, so clued up well on building thankfully. Just bought myself a Atomstack A10 pro and loving it. I’m working like you in LightBurn and appreciate your videos so much. I have a question if you can throw any light on it. I’m having trouble when printing my pdf plans to scale regards to how many A4 sheets to print in no poster tile print. I’ve wasted I can’t tell you how much A4 paper and ink guessing, and guessing wrong, thus my plans g C coming out the wrong size and not to scale. I wonder if there’s a magic routine sequence of thumb to get this correct to print to the correct size of the plan. Just to have got me going , I’m building the old school Super 60 originally Ben Buckle build. I’ve filled your knowledge and aquired the vector plan from OZ to start me off but like I say just cannot get the print out size correct. It seems if I go either a way with the number of pages to print, it still doesn’t come out to the correct size. The only thing I haven’t fiddled with is the two options ( fit to scale or scale) Im sorry my post to you is so long, almost as long as the distance between us lol, but I have so many questions and can’t tell you how grateful I am to have come across you sharing the same hobby that we both love. Incidentally where are you located? I’m in central England Notts Sherwood Forest Robin Hood country. Again so great to be in touch my friend, John.
I am located....as they say...Deep in the heart of Texas. Abilene Texas if you wanna look it up on a map. You probably could have guessed that by my southern draw on my vids. LOL I have a solution to your problem. It will be in my video, Printing large plans at home. The only thing I can think of right off hand is...are you loading the digital plan in lightburn before you try printing? cause that is do-able but more difficult. You'll need to watch my video on Scaling and printing in Lightburn for that. Simply download the pdf from Outerzone and open it in so form of Adobe reader, The free kind works well for me. It will offer options to print in Poster format. I would like to hear more about your Atomstack a 10 laser. I've been looking at those and some other brands for a new/more powerful laser setup in my shop. Thinking ahead to large scale light-ply bulkheads. Anyhew,,,we need to find a way to communicate cause I'd love to see pictures from England. If you want you can e-mail me at [email protected]
Thanks for the tips. Doesn’t look like a stock machine. How big is it?
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!!
Great video. I have just started using my laser to cut plans/parts, but I have run into an issue that I cannot solve. What process did you use to cut your ribs and other balsa parts? I assume the tiled plan pieces you cut with your laser were a PDF file. How were you able to get it into a format lightburn could use? The plans on the blue paper appear to be just copied from a printed set, and are in a raster format, not vector format, which lightburn needs to work.
The paper plans are printed straight from the pdf file from Outerzone using my "Print Plans at Home" video. Also, the same Outerzone file I opened in Lightburn and hand traced the parts for cutting out the High Five on my laser using my video called "My Process" (parts 1 and 2). Lightburn will open pdf plans but if they are PDFbitmap then you'll have to trace them with Lightburn or by hand in Lightburn. Look under the Advance tab on Outerzone for plans in PDFvector that are ready to cut on a laser. Also cad plans will open in Lightburn if they are DXF. DWG plans will need to be converted to DXF. There are several online conversion sites available. My Beginner videos will help with a lot of these practices. Thanks for checking out my vids!!!
Can you please share the model of your first laser that is at the beginning of the video. Thanks
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
@@lazerbuilderrc1536 Thank so much. It is difficult to piece through the power and type required to cut the materials needed.
I have been looking at these. Cheaper and more value than my Xtool 10 watt. atezr.com/collections/laser-engraver
I have the Neje laser but it also came with a plotter pen accessory. Perhaps using a fine point marker would be an option. Then cut with scissors. Seems the covering wants to curl after being cut with the laser. Food for thought
I too, was very surprised that I could dial my laser down, cold enough to make the cut without damaging anything it’s low power, high speed, and the curling you saw in the video was actually from the role being rolled up tight for years. Appreciate you checking out my videos!!!
Congratulations, I really dig what you’re doing, keep it up. I’m brand new to a diode laser and just got back into RC planes after a 30 year hiatus.
I hope that you find as I have that taking away some of the hard work with the laser makes building the airplane so much more fun.
Okay, a few things about Adam's foam board. While it is next to impossible to cut with an LED it cuts like butter with a C02 laser. Not about power, about wavelength. I'm 65 and use a lot of it. Slowly trying to use more and more Baltic Birch and Balsa though. As to foam board being toxic, it is just paper and polystyrene so no worse than a lot of other things. You need proper ventilation no matter what you cut.
Thank you for chiming in here. I was wondering if air assist would work better. You have confirmed my theory.
Looking good !!
Thanks sir
Informative and good content
Thank you for the kind words. I hope it opens minds and furthers creativity. As for myself, using a laser has made building balsa, airplanes, fun again
Interesting, I'm a giant scale rc builder and bought a Atzer pro 20 watt to burn parts using Lightburn and thus far not having a great deal of success using the machine/ Lightburn@@lazerbuilderrc1536
I’ve been looking at the Atzer 24watt but wouldn’t think it would be a good beginner laser. Are you looking at building something from Outerzone or Aerofred? I wouldn’t mind at all helping you get the plan set up in Lightburn and then emailing it back to you. Assuming it’s OK with you that I make a video out of the work I did on the plans.
Right now I'm learning all I can , when I'm ready for assistance I ill get back to you, I have not decided what I will select for a plan set.Thanks for your offer to help. Bill@@lazerbuilderrc1536
No problem guy. I would encourage you to stick with it. Once you get past the learning curve you’ll discover things that you wish had been available 20 years ago.
So it would need to be a completely new design but it strikes me that with the laser we should be able to make a plane that simply goes togather like a 3d puzzle, no jigs, just snap togather and then hit with thin CA. Instead of typing I should be experimenting!
Exactly, right!! And in the event of a total destruction of your aircraft, you simply go back to the laser start cutting again That’s why I believe I got the name of this site, correct lol.
When I get to trying lasers I will be looking at your videos. Thanks, WA7VQR.
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.
Interesting project, what is your technique getting the plan items into Lightburn
Lightbourn will accept a number of different document types like PDF or DXF. It doesn’t like DWG but there’s lots of places online you can change a DWG to a DXF most everything on Outerzone is in some form of PDF. Thanks for checking out the vid.
Thanks very much for you insight and fast response@@lazerbuilderrc1536
You are using the xTool D1 Pro and the extension kit. Would this be correct? Did you upgrade to the 40 watt? Sorry if you covered this in a previous vid, I have watched most of the videos, but my memory is not as it was when I was younger. Go figure!🤔
It’s an original D1 with 10watt laser, extension kit and overpriced honeycomb bed. Payed for an air assist as well but never received it. Almost bare bones system.
Oh. I did have to download and use the D1pro software to get the laser to run the full extension. You may have spotted that and some of the videos I can run it off the original D1 software, but it will only use half the table size. With the 10 W diode laser even without an air assist I can cut quarter inch hardwood in a single pass. It’s just a very slow pass.
man you make this computer stuff look so easy.
What you’re seeing in the video is just the highlights. Nobody wants to go to a rock concert and see all the practice and rehearsals and arguing in the background and all the hard work that goes into it. They just wanna see the show and that’s all this is. Thank you so much for checking on my videos.
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.
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.
Man I wish I could figure this out. I have so many planes I want to build a lazer cutter would speed up the process so much.
Do you have a laser now or is it just something you’re looking to do in the future? Or do I need to start a Patreon account and cut short kits?
@@lazerbuilderrc1536 i currently do not have a lazer every time I look at them I end up not sure what to get and the price of some is quite high so I never hit the buy button.
I have seen a couple out there that have extension kits available. It has lowered my stress level a lot once I extended my laser. Especially cutting RC Airplane parts. So far I have not needed more than 10watts of power out of the laser but you really cant go wrong getting more power as well. So consider workspace 1st and then power.
AS expected very informative.
Appreciate that!! Thanks for tuning in.
Thanks, I still have a long way to go with Lightburn, but that was really helpful.
I discover different things all the time. It'll do a lot more than I need for rc airplanes. Thank you for checking out my vids.
Software? I do not recognize it.
Lightburn. I think it's updated to the latest version, not completely sure. Might look strange because I re-arranged the screen.
Thanks for creating this type of video.
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
Great Channel, new subscriber here. Please keep them coming thanks
Appreciate the kind words I got lots to show but not near enough time in the day. lol.
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.
I have to agree. At least as far as engineering goes. Much easier when dealing with tight tolerances.
Interesting technique
Could be done with a scroll saw, or a bandsaw, but probably not that straight at least if I was doing it.
Very informative… thanks
You're welcome
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?
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.
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.
A good choice, I have several Sig Senior Cadets and one Mark 2.
Love flying Senior Cadets when I just want to relax and cruise the sky.
Very informative, keep it up.
Thanks for the kind words. More on the way.
Love the balsa plywood idea. I will be adding that to my notes to self.
It works and can be done a lot faster than piecing together 1/4 square sticks. Thanks for watching!!!
What you are doing is the reason why I bought the laser I just don’t have the knowledge on how to do it but it looks nerve wracking for me it looks like you know what you are doing I would like to know how to do what you are doing that I may be able to build a plane from a plan some day the work you’re doing looks so amazing please keep up the informative videos going I’m already a subscriber thank you for all that you have been doing I would like to see your videos touched up and step by step from the very begging on how to do a certain airplane start to finish it would be really great
Thank you for the kind words and I will do the best I can to keep the videos coming.
Nice intro for people who have not messed with this yet.... like me. Thanks for the video.
I appreciate the positive comment. Thank you for watching.
How long have you been doing it this way, for me it’s nerve wracking I don’t have the patience I would like too cause that’s why I bought the laser sculpfun 9s to see if I could cut balsa wood and make a plane but I didn’t know it was so hard to do
There is defiantly a learning curve. I didn't ever build very many things by hand before but, now that I'm getting a little better with this laser I find that I am a little more inspired to tackle more complicated projects. I would suggest that you take a lot of notes as you work and then you can go back and adjust if something doesn't work right. I am the most impatient person on this planet but stubbornly kept working at it until now I can have a plane ready to cut out in about an hour of work in Lightburn. I started with just cutting ribs and bulkheads. Everything else I continued to do by hand. (which I really hate ) Start small and fairly easy. Maybe something out of Outerzones CAD plans of PDF vector section. Those will work straight away in Lightburn. Thank you so much for checking out my vids..hopefully they will help you build your favorite aircraft.
It took me a minute but I finally realized what you are doing. LOL. That's a really cool way to do it. I like watching your videos and I don't even have a laser cutter.
Thats very kind of you to say. Sometimes it takes me a minute to understand what I'm saying as well...HA HA Happy flying!!!
Exactly what i was looking for! And many more on your channel, many thanks for your work!✈️✈️✈️
Glad you enjoy it...Lots more to come.
Just found your channel, I am an RC builder since 1967 and now I have obtained a ATEZR P20 and trying to figure out how to get various windows to appear in lightburn and hopefully learn how to jog the laser head. Thank you….. from N.E. Tn
On your very top menu select "window" and put a check mark by which ever ones you want to appear. I use "Move, Cut, and Color Layers" most. (Move will allow jogging). Also on "Move" ...go back to the top menu and select "Edit" then "Device Setting". On this I have the following settings...Laser Offset = Off, Enable Laser fire button =On, Laser on when framing = ON. If you do this then on your Move screen you will want to set your Laser power kinda low so it will light up but not make any mark on your material during Framing. Thank you for checking out the channel, Please subscribe if you haven't already... from Abilene TX
Thank you for your response, you have been most helpful, I look forward to your next video particularly as it pertains to RC/Laser@@lazerbuilderrc1536
interesting, while laying out jig in Lightburn I don't think you mentioned allowance for balsa kerf cut .
Its defiantly not something I practice a lot so yes, there will be room for improvement. Happy Building !!
thank you@@lazerbuilderrc1536
What's the name of the programming card and where did you pick it up at? I just seem to hear the same beeps over and over again. Trying to turn my brake off. Thanks
www.buddyrc.com/products/ztw-beatles-programming-card
Do you know if the same programing card works on ZTW Mantis ESC?
Its my understanding that they have a card specific to each ESC. I have not tried using a different one, however, check the manual, because setting up an ESC from your radio may be possible with all their ESC's.
sir i import pdf to lightburn but the color is invert, how to make it normal?
Might check " Tools-Adjust Image-Negative image or maybe "Invert Display".
how to add that size of balsa qood sir, i dont see the tutorial on the video
Maybe my "Print and Cut" video will help with this?
Hi I have a vector file for a plane off of outerzone. We are limited in New Zealand for the size sheets (Balsa) we can purchase. Can you please explain how we get the components we require for the size material without all the unnecessary or over size units. The laser cutting range is 480mm x 500mm. So I would need to cut some units in 2 parts I.E. fuselage top and sides. This a new venture and would appreciate your positive reply Cheers
Maybe my "Print and Cut" video will help with this?