Here’s a model plane that has some design features of the Squirrel. It’s a mash-up of the Squirrel and the Denny Dart.
It’s designed by Bill Kuhl.
All posts by Darcy
Interlocking parts
During my visit with Lloyd the other day, he promoted the idea of an interlocking Squirrel design.
Him and Rolly made these a while back and they sent me some samples last year.
I love the idea to be honest. I’ve actually made a few interlocking Squirrels even before the laser cutter.
The Squirrel was originally designed to be made from stripping wood manually to make sure everyone could make one.
All my upcoming designs will likely have interlocking parts and I may even convert the Squirrel some day. I’m going to work with this concept longer before looking at this for the Squirrel as this will require updating the instruction sheet (40h of work including QA measures), the 30 page Squirrel HandBook (update time not known as it’s at V1) and the video series for building it (perhaps 50h, not sure as it’s been at V2 for quite some time).
The real concern I have is branching the design into the DIY version and the Laser version. I’d have to maintain the legacy instructions mentioned above as well as the new version.
There is another subtle aspect that I take into account. Interlocking parts have an orientation aspect to them. Also the parts would all be different. Right now, for instance there are six 2″ (5cm) parts on the Squirrel that are all identical. They’re interchangeable and there is no orientation to explain to people during a workshop. If I make the parts interlocking, then the six 2″ parts become six different parts. Now we need to worry about which one to use and there is more detail on how to use it. This aspect will seem more important after a couple hundred workshops. 🙂
After I have achieved mastery with interlocking designs I’ll have another look for the Squirrel.
I am about to release a design that has interlocking parts so stay tuned!
Workshop in Kerala, Kochi, India
Sudha Menon is running a workshop on 29th & 30th August. Here is a brochure and a couple of pictures from the previous workshop.
Model Airplane Tip: Colors to match living room decor
If you store your Squirrels in your living room, make sure you choose a color that matches.
This technique of storage is great. If it’s close to the TV you may very well find the Squirrel before the TV on a nice day.
Also, your guests will be impressed.
Using a dremel to cut balsa
Ever drill 600 holes precisely? Here’s a peak at an experiment of using a dremel for cutting out parts precicely.
First I made a fixture for holding the balsa wood. It’s basically a wide and flat clamp. You clamp the clamp to a work surface and then you are able to keep changing the balsa wood to repeat the same parts. I drilled 600 holes in it so it was completely adjustable.
This was used for prototyping before the laser cutter.
I think this is a great system for a hobby modeler as it allows you to make parts precisely and it’s not very expensive to set up.
