Here is teaser pic of what the BalsaBuddy will resemble when complete.
There are (for sure) many things that will change throughout the development stages but this is the target look and feel of this machine
Hope you guys like it
Mark and Trish
Attached files

 

Cool!
I like the look of it. Nice and compact.

 

Cool lookin' little dude. Does it incorporate the same electronics as the MK1 or did you downsize the steppers?

 

I'm liking what I'm seeing....Need more pics.......Cool dude!!!

 

Well, would you look at that! It's even cooler than I imagined it in my mind's eye.

I ask you, does a man with an MKI, an MKII, and a 3x3 overhead gantry CNC need a 4th CNC machine?

Of course!

 

mark and trish, lookin good you guys.....very cool name also!!. randy.

 

Thanks guys for all the kind remarks! This is the fuel that drives the projects here at Phlatboyz. You guys are the best. Coming soon specs and more pics.
Mark

 

Some Specs on the BalsaBuddy
The goal of this machine. You will still be able to cut foam but as well we want to be able to cut lite ply, plastics, etc.. (Not sure of all the cool materials we will be able to cut with this one yet )
The tool on this machine will be interchangeable from the Dremel to the Rotozip direct face mount on the z gantry to allow for larger collet sizes which will open us up to a whole new level of bit selections!
Right now the dimensions are at 18.5" for the Length, 9.5", Depth 13" Height (without handle)
The cutting material width max is 12.5" The height is .5" but I am working on moving that up.
All axis will be geared using belt and pulley reduction. The z will use amce geared as well.
These are all target sizes and components for this machine as we start the testing phase there will be changes I'm sure, but its going together nice and compact and really looking strong.
I have left several key features off of the above picture I don't want to show too much at this stage and spoil the surprise. :mrgreen:
You really can't get an idea of just how small the BalsaBuddy is until you see someone holding it so I am going to try and get Trish to take a pic for us.
Thanks guys
Mark

 

That may change Kwok as I am trying to allow for 1" cuts on the Z

John this is just the tip of the iceberg this machine was created a little after the MKII but as a large scale version. This has been scaled down to fill the need to quickly enable you to cut harder materials. Of course it will be able to cut 12.5" wide so you could find material that size or even cut 2' sheet in half and lay your parts out that way and then you have the ability to cut kits out on this machine as well. It will be nice for shipping them to because all your cutouts will be half sheets ready to ship including firewalls and control horns, etc..
Thanks again guys!
Mark

 

It is cool, eh Spad? BTW, welcome to the PhlatForum!!

Attached files

 

I'm gonna expect that it's much too early for the PhlatBoyZ to ballpark a price on the newest to their lineup. I say this because I think that they are hoping to use their new commercial CNC to fulfill the parts for the Balsa Buddy, rather than contracting it out to their usual vendor.

You can easily design new aircraft or modify existing aircraft with the version of SketchUp for the Mac. To that existent, you should also be able to generate the gCode from the PhlatScript, as well. The problem you'll have is that you'll need one of two applications to process the gCode and send the necessary signals to the CNC machine. The machine that runs one of these apps will need to have a parallel port to interface with the application.

The two apps that have been used thus far are 1. Mach 3 (about $175 and ONLY runs on a PC) and 2. EMC , a completely free and open-source app but it must run on a machine with the Linux OS.

When you get that new headset, send me an email and we can chat on Skype where I can fill you in on all that you need to know!

 

Spadman82, sorry for the delay in response, it gets crazy here sometimes
Crash is right, thank you for posting this Mike you guys are on top of it

That is the plan and we are moving as fast as we can on this. The design of the BB is about 80% ready to go (mainly because I keep changing things) and is really looking like a tough little machine! We can't wait. One of the coolest parts about having this done in house is that all the prototyping and testing can be done live! So we look forward to hanging out with you guys and working on the BB to teak it to perfection.
Thanks to both of you guys,
Mark