Micro-T Chassis How-To Part #2, Pictures pictures pictures - Beware Options

[The Cow]

It is long over due… I apologize for the long wait my friends. Things have been hectic and my travel schedule has been ridiculous…. I had some free time today so this is one of the many things I made sure to get taken care of. I am uploading and entering pictures now so I will soon be posting PART 2

I have to admit I dont know how Squirrel does it and thank god he does I have effectively turned a 3-4 hour micro chassis into 10-15 hours of work Stay tuned a few more hours and by the end of the night.... I should mention there is no shortage of pics..... i have around 20 maybe more to upload and most all will be used

Heath

[The Cow]

Hope you all enjoy all questions and comments appreciated

Heath

CARBON FIBER MICROT-T CHASSIS part 2



Well at this point we have gathered all our tools; we have our carbon fiber and have decided what thickness we wish the chassis to be. As we all know I am a speed demon so I will be going with an ultra rigid 2.3 mm chassis for this particular build and i plan to extend the chassis 10mm to really help reduce the wheelies as well as improve the high speed handling In order to obtain this thickness I will utilize the 1mm and 1.3 mm carbon squares… Now since these are only one side finished sheets we will be bonding the unfinished sides together to obtain our desired thickness… An interesting thing to consider here is the rigidity of carbon fiber is not solely determined by its thickness. There are many factors to be considered and thickness within reason is arguably not the most important IMHO. Rigidity is affected by the resin used and most often overlooked the weave thickness. This 2mm weave is unheard of in RC to the best of my knowledge and it amounts to a peculiarly rigid chassis for its thickness. I have built many chassis with this 2mm weave and I can tell you 2mm weave 3mm thick carbon fiber is comparably rigid to the nicest 4mm thick carbon fiber I have found in R/C and that is only 1mm weave! When done correctly I have never had a chassis split… as long as it was bonded correctly. When done-sanded-etc you will not be able to tell that it began its life as separate pieces.

I apologize for not having pictures of part of the below bonding process, i tried to mock up what i could but I am actually building this with a previously bonded left over sheet I have If there is anything that I need to clarify or explain in more detail please don’t hesitate to ask!

So what do you say WANNA GET STARTED?

Let’s begin the build…

First you will want to set up an old towel on a nice flat surface and have a big heavy book or something flat and heavy on hand to put on top of it. I use a pack of printer paper. Then you will want to ensure you clean and remove all dust etc from both the unfinished and polished sides you will be bonding. This is a great time to utilize some compressed air. First you will want to cover the polished sides entirely in blue painters tape.

I get mine from home depot. This will serve many purposes. Obviously it will protect our chassis while we work, but it will also protect the edges should any ca bleed when we bond them, but most importantly it will give us a surface to write on and lay out our design on!! . It also is simple to work with.... holds well and removes like cake... I like to line up each piece perfectly so there is zero space between them but they should not be overlapping in any way.

Doing this rather then overlapping will make it much easier to mark and cut later. once both sides are covered you will want to trim away the excess to make it easy aligning the two pieces when bonding....

Once we have only the finsihed side covered by tape we will want to make sure to use a high quality preferable slow drying CA. Great plains CA has served me well over the years, I use nothing else although I am sure there is other good ones out there. I like to apply it in a portion to the center of each square. Not so much it will run off but enough that you can take a disposable paintbrush or piece of cardboard to smooth it over the entire piece with out leaving a puddle… Remeber to be consious of the where the ca goes and ends up... Dont want to have to rip it off your hand ouch!!! Start with less then you will need and add accordingly. The coat should be thin yet wet enough to leave no air or gaps once the pieces are sandwiched together. You will do this on both sides… Remember to work quickly to ensure the CA does not begin to cure prior to bonding! this is another reason it is important not to lay it too thin. This should take no more then 30-45 seconds otherwise and even then you risk the CA beginning to cure if areas are applied to thin. Once both are coated you will place them together coated side to coated side. Make sure to line the edges up as best as possible to ensure you can utilize as much of the now double polished carbon fiber as possible. Place the sheet on the flat towel.

fold the towel over it and then place the book or flat weighted object on top…

Take the time to do this right since you only have one chance. This will ensure a equal and tight bond throughout the sheet and will also ensure there is no space or lines in the chassis when viewed from the side later. I like to let this sit for at least 12 hours, often over night. Since this is 4 inches wide and the ca is not exposed to the air it can take some time to cure all the way through. You could likely begin in an hour but I like to be safe to ensure a killer bond.

O.K. your pieces have bonded Whats next?

Next we will need to trace the original chassis onto our sheet...

I like to put a small thin piece of double stick or looped tabe on the chassis to help ensure it does not move as i am tracing.... A small precaution like this will help to ensure you dont discover 3/4 of the way through things wont line up because a line was traced wrong. Try to put it towards the outside ege... maybe 1/8 in as you dont want to waste the CF. Remember there is still a top plate to make Once traced it should look like this....

Now we will need to mark the new chassis pionts since we will be extending it 10mm... to help make sure everything is extended in a straight manner you will want to find the exact center of the chassis and mark it. I like to measure 2 pionts on the chassis and mark the center of each..

Then we will use a straight edge to mark the center line as the pionts indicate, then making a piont 10mm from the rear side of the chassis... this will indicate our new chassis line

Remember to be precise and take measurements 2 even 3 times. I always do.... I hate to do things 2 times and triple checking myself always catches mistakes... Trust me, I make plenty! HAHA

Did We verify all measurements? COOL THEN LETS KEEP GOING!

Now we will want to take the stock chassis and lay the rear of it so it lines up to our indicated new endpiont.... make sure the chassis is centered front and rear (remember the line we made) Once it is centered perfectly trace it...

NOw did you notice i crossed out the old line.... I did not do it for you guys that is so when I am cutting I dont forget what line i am following... I have ruined many a piece like that so i am now in the habit of making it very clear for myself to what i need to cut... This way all i need to concentrate on is cutting outside the lines... Now you will want to grab your cutting wheel

and install it on the dremel so we can start making a mess... Remeber to be care full these things can do alot of damge. I use the wheel to cut out the basic shape... I cut a good 1/8 outside the line at minimum!

take your time.... we will be going through many steps to cut away and make it perfect so be patient.... I have made tons of chassis in my time and have been fabricating in the 12v industry for over 15yrs, even with my steady hand i go through all the steps. if you dont it just takes one slip or pull of the dremel and all your work is ruined. Once the chassis is ruf cut you should have this...

now its time to remove the cutting wheel and grab your sanding wheel

And install it on the dremel... I will now go back over the cuts... the idea is not to make the final cut... I go for a hair outside the line but I have a seasoned hand so if need be go outside further there will be plenty to fix it later... We just want to smooth everything out and get the basic shape fairly clean... Your edges will look something like this...

notice i am still a good amout outside the desired shape but it is more workable for the file and sand paper. in order to realy do the detailed filing and sanding once this is complete i like to lightly file off the excess mess of tape on the edges so we can see clearly the shape of the piece and the shape it needs to be...

once working with the sand paper and file the tape will no longer fray and the ecges will stay nice and clear.... The tape really is key to all of this it serves many purposes.. once the mess is lightly filed away you will have a good idea as to what is left to fix... notice it is close but not what we want yet...

I would reccomend you get the front rear and sides straight first... all other angles and remaining fixes will be eyed in relation to these sides so these go first..... I like to lay a piece of sand paper on my flat workspace and sand...


I will usually take a small square or something to ensure the sides and front a perpendicular long before i am in the lines... remember once you are to far in its over! once these are correct you will want to utilize your files and sandpaper as nesaccery to get the remainder of the edges where they need to be. I will often line up the factory chassis and use straightedges to make sure I am correct... Finished product should be something like this


Really not to hard is it? Time for a little more challenge... the Top Plate!

In order to get the top plate shape and size correct we will need to mark the stock chassis for a few reference pionts. Later we will be cutting the front and rear bulkhead of of the chassis but before we do so we will need to marke the front bulkhead just behind the front plates top screw holes as shown in the pic...

We will also need to mark the rear shock tower srew pionts just to the outside as well

once these have been morked and you are sure they are placed correctly we will lay the chassis top down on the remaining CF we have not used.. We will want to trace the out side line from just before our marked pionts to just after...

also make sure to mark the exact piont indicated by the tape as shown in the pic

We will now need to decide the layout and shape of the piece... this will vary for each installation depending on your electronics... this is what worked for me... dont forget to extend it 10mm as we did the bottom in the same manner notice the cut for the servo arm in the front

Now you will want to do as we did with the bottom plate... use the wheel first to ruff cut

Once ruff cut again we are going to hit it with the sanding wheel... then the file and sandpaper.... i like to place the top and bttom plate together with some spray glue or thin double stic and sand-file them together... as u can see they sould end up very similiar on certain edges... plus this adds to the overall manufactured look we are going for

Now that we have the top and bottom plates looking good... everything is lined up..... cleaned up

let take a peek at what we got

Well thats if for part 2 boys! hope you like it..... Next time is the final installment... part 3

Thanks for reading!!!!

Heath

[The Cow]

Updated.... download complete.... see above^^^^^^

Hope you all like it

Heath

[sk8r]

Dang bro thats freakin awsome!!!! Ive got to try that!!!! thanx for the info!!!

[azwag]

that's some incredible handy work my friend, A+, 2 thumbs up, 5 stars, 10/10, all that good stuff heh

what would you charge for one? >.>

[The Cow]

way TOO much .... But I did hear a rumor that someone might be giving away a chassis for a forum contest...
Not that i know anything about that either..... Guess we will have to wait and see

Thanks for the kind words my friend!

Heath

[TyHodge]

that turned out better than i thought it would have, didnt know you were gonna go that far as to making the top piece too.. and thats some clean looking cf, i may grab me some for my buggy.

[Jughead]

Nice work Heath!

[The Cow]

Thanks Jug and TY.... I love Fabricating, You guys should see the disaster I created for that little bugger haha... Next time i will take pics Thanks for the compliments

Heath

[Micro-T Master]

Thats awesome cow! Now i got to do one for project lightspeed!

[dietpepsimax]

wow i wish i thought of using tape over the cf, i drew on the back of my one sided cf and my cuts got a bit funky

[acerpower]

great job, heath!
this is going to be helpful as soon as my cf comes in.
i hope protech composites ships fast.

[Micro-T Master]

just a side note...
always wear safty glasses while working with compressed air!
you dont want fibers getting blown into your eyes!
trust me stuff like that sucks and you only have one set of 2 eyes so take the extra care of looking goofy to protect your eyes!

[kryz]

blah blah blah blah lol who is this COW?

[yz_rider]

were can you get some carbon fiber?

[The Cow]

KRYZ!! Your alive man Good to see your still ticking my friend....
YZ rider, take a look here in>>> Micro-t Chassis How-to, PART #1 - http://forums.thetoyz.com/index.php?showtopic=7163

Heath

[maxxin2.5]

could i use 1mm?
with a top plate?
would it be to flexible?

[The Cow]

could i use 1mm?
with a top plate?
would it be to flexible?

Here is some pics of a custom mid motor extended wheelbase micro-t chassis I built.... It is a 1mm bottom plate with 2 1mm graphite stiffening rods.... This has zero flex so yes it can be done.... with less all just a matter of how its done

Heath

[maxxin2.5]

thanks now to get some cf!
and mine wont be as long so it wont be a problem!
ill just make a top deck..

[maxxin2.5]

when is third part coming along?
i want to make a chassis for my m/dt but i want to wait till this is done..