Automation is a great way of increasing accuracy and efficiency when making parts.

Many of the steps of making Squirrel kits use expensive and complex equipment.

But sometimes just using your head is all it takes.

Originally I had planned on a system that would pull the elastic out of a box and snip it at regular intervals (and having the elastics fall into another box). That sounded like a fun and reasonably challenging project. I expected to use an arduino microcontroller and some sensors to control the elastic length and alarm when it runs out and finishes a batch.

With the simple method below the elastics are easier to handle because all of them are in a bunch when they come off the template.

Plus this machine needed very little material to make.

I  had some bags of 5″ and 6″ propellers around that lacked nose pieces.

They were purchased a while back when I just started making Squirrel kits and I was assessing different propellers.

Also a batch was purchased at one point when I was low on propellers and needed some in an emergency. It was a pain since I had to buy nose pieces and other hardware.

What was left over of these have been sitting in my “research bin” for quite some time.

I am testing the new 3D printer by making nose pieces so I figure this is a great chance to put these props into use!

I got some .030″ music wire some small beads and presto! Complete propellers with nose piece assembly!

The propellers I have use .0375″ wire which is a little thicker. I will come up with the best size over time.

I will bring them to my next volunteer activity and we can test out the hubs to see if there are any problems with them. I made up about 10. I can already see that the down thrust didn’t come to the angle I intended. I’m not sure if this is a problem yet so we’ll find out next building session!