i've been busy with life but managed to swap out the FT120 with the Magnum FT160. it was essentially a drop in replacement with the exception that i left the OS mount on the airplane and swapped in the magnum engine. i should be ready to start and tune the magnum this weekend.

i did flip the carb so the needle would go through the same hole in the cowl as the needle on the 120. i may need to buy a small lathe and start making TBI carbs. i'm also considering a 3d printer but don't know what to look for in a 3d printer so i'm somewhat at a loss as to what to buy right now.

https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...1480f5aace.jpg
I

Wow, GREAT!

Dave. I did see your request about info on printers and will answer but swamped at the moment with returning to work after a 2 week vacation.

stand by…. Will get you something soon.

160 looks great!

Keeping my eye open for a boxer Twin and just came across an ASP FT160AR. Anybody have any experience with the ASP branded Boxers?

What would be a fair Price - Looks to be in very good shape with apparently only 4 bench runs....

3d printers
 

3d printer choice is a huge can of worms making recomodations dificult.

I have a pair or Prusa "mk3" (s+) printers.
Prusa has a cult like folowing; you can compaire it with spectrum transmiters in the states.
Some people love them others think they are overhyped and overpriced.
They are also expensive compaired to the chinese 3d printers.
Prusa is Czech company just like Jeti and have the same mindset.

So do i recomend prusa if you prefer a "fdm" (filament) printer?
It depends..
Prusa is open source and i have the schematics and parts listing of the controll board. The plastic parts of the printer are themself printed on mk3 printers and the design files are published as are improved versions.
So out of warranty repairs are possible. In warranty (3 years here in the EU) replacement parts arrived in 2 days.
If you want to see the instructions or look at the software; all is avaiable on there website; there "slicer" (tranlator form cad file to gcode) also can work with other brands and even includs profiles for populair other brand printers.

To start choosing a printer (technology) its best to first figure out what you want the printer to do, what kind of things will you like to make with them.

Based on that the first choice should be between filament (fdm) like my mk3 or resin printers.
Then set a budget on what you want to spend and if you value support.

my setup..
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rcu...cf484c617d.jpg
printer setup

I paid $300 for the os ft120-ii and $325 for the magnum ft1.60. if you're still on that other site, they come up occasionally but usually sell in minutes at those prices.I believe Bert has the asp ft160.

I think I'd mostly print things like scale cockpits, sensor mounts, and little boats. I'm not really sure what I'd use it for but it seems to fit the "if you build it, the projects will come" category.i was hoping to get in under $300 but what do I know?

What uses have you found?

Dave,

sent you an email to avoid getting a printer thread going within this thread... But here is what I find I use mine for:

Scale details -
small unique "hardware" (hatch latches etc)
templates
small enclosures
various household gizmos
jigs (very handy for this)
servo mounts
Plane parts such as wingtips and complex fairings
Full size plugs for a fiberglass mold (45 size pattern plane)
Park flyer landing gear
Props for indoor foamies (work great)

And many many others...

I have tried a few full printed planes - Not too impressed with them - Heavy and Fragile.

Raleighli' I'm in the same boat, want one, but not sure which make / model, or type to get... Not sure if it would be adequate for large scale details that I do, possibly handles, gauge bezels, etc, but I'd go old school and turn those on the lathe. I still use the old lost wax process, which works rather well, a bit time consuming, but not by much in comparison.

Cat, the ASP 1.60 boxer is the same as the older 160 Magnum Boxers... Bert runs one, and swears by it is as good as the O.S.... I have the OS 160 boxer running CDi methanol / glow fuel... I won't run that engine on gas, but I would run the ASP boxer on gas... I need the additional performance from the methanol / glow fuel, also the fuel system in the cub is setup for glow fuel, two wing tanks, too much hassle to convert all the plumbing over to gas.

I'd like to build a 1/4 scale SpaceWalker, or Fly Baby, and run it on a 160 gas boxer.

I cannot really judge the price because I am unfamiliar with your local market, but I would go with Dave's assesment, that 325 is an excellent price.

Treat them right and they are perfectly fine machines. Only thing to watch out for is that the threads in general are adequate but not top notch, so when spannering, hamfistedness is an absolute nono.
Keep RPM below 9K in the air (personally, I maintain a very good margin, mine spins 8200 in level flight (APC 18 x 6W) and it will last pretty good.

Mine has never seen a drop of methanol, broke it in on gasoline, and has now seen almost 5 years of pretty intensive use.
I monitor CHT, it holds the 1,5 minute of WOT when towing, but "just" but I would not. Constant hotrodding is not their strong point.
Other than that, very reliable, very easy to start, pretty frugal and totally carefree.
Decent power, mine gets up to above 2 HP on the ground, probably a bit more in the air but I have no way of doing calculations on free running props
I modded it with the rocker-lube, valve clearances kept "settling" for approx the first 25 hours (check every 5 hrs) of its life, but but after that, pretty much stabilized and are now so constant that I changed the interval to 20 hours (which is about once a year tops).
This is an engine that even when it is "cheap", really lasts if you handle it properly, which basically comes down to not overtightening the bolts and otherwise leave the damn thing alone and let it do its job, because I am most definitely NOT smothering it in love if you get what I mean...

I just discovered there is a wax filament made for 3D printing, that raises my eyebrows a bit, the only issue would be the resolution quality, how grainy the print finish is... We are one step closer to the molecular replicator, which should be realest sometime in the distant future. :)

That would be ideal for casting stuff via a lost wax method. me thinks...

my grandfather was a jeweler and told me that poor wax model quality would lead to porosity in the final casting. i suspect printed wax models would lead to porosity too.

I don't see how, since the wax is melted out of the mold before casting the metal? But then again, I do not know the first thing about casting metal...

resin printers
 

If resolution is your preference then resin printers ar the way to go.
Take a REAL close look to your computer (lcd) screen to see how big a single pixel is.
That is the resolution of resin printers. and that is why they are used for tiny models for example.

The "wax" filament /resin is designed to burn off clean when the mold is heated so there should be no impureties to polute the metal.
If you want a really nice resin printer setup at a "eye watering" price take a look at
https://www.prusa3d.com/product/orig...r-cw1s-bundle/ this also inludes the washing and post print curing station.

Mine payed for themselfs making protypes for work so that aso might a thing to think about.

I like that one, the resolution quality is what I would be after since any surface texture would imprint in the plaster. I guess a 3D wax filament printed plug could be smoothed out, but more work and small details might get disturbed... there's even a wax casting resin :)... the printer is reasonably priced, you spend that much on a giant scale model ready to fly, probably a bit more taking in account all the additional bits and pieces... Now, I need to distract the wife somehow, put it in the kitchen and tell her it makes coffee cups :D

https://www.prusa3d.com/product/blue...g-resin-0-5kg/

Actually you don't need any fancy material to get decent metal castings - this fellow uses PLA..

meanwhile
 

Am still waiting for the customs to clear the pico pie's ...

right tool for the job
 

You can clearly see the layers of the print in the metal.
That's fine for a big bracket.
For our smaller models engines it would take more work to clean up.
With those aplications a resin printer is quicker and simpler.

Also the design he cast looks a lot like the body of a 3d printer extruder; likely the prusa mk3 dsign.
An extruder is moving all the time so has to be as light as possible to avoid "overshoot"
The weight of this body will result in a printer that has to print slower to produce acurate prints

Thats basically the same process of sintered powder metal parts forming. Its versatile, and can be used in many applications though... Being able to print it rather than form it in a mold, certainly makes it more user friendly.


This is a 1/4 scale scotts tailwheel I cast with the lost wax process, Its a lightweight alloy cast around a .125" OD music wire core, bent to shape and then supported in the plaster mold.

Attachment 2272055

Looks like I have successfully made a deal on a ASP FT160. seller agreed on a good price and engine comes with a Sullivan Dual Glow driver (which I won't use) and a custom Keleo exhaust (cub style). Apparently only 4 bench runs and proper shutdown and storage post runs.
Can't wait to run a boxer.. :)

could you cast gears?
 

Are you able to cast bronze ? i have a (few...) raptor60 and that series suffers from brittle (by now) tail drive gears

If i can bribe somone to make a cad design then making metal tail gears could keep a load of those old birds flying.

make sure to share your hall sensor bracket shape file for that twin. in fact, a parametric design that lets you change the dimensions on the fly before printing would be useful for many engines.

You would be better off having a gear machine / broached from a bronze billet, rather than to have one case from bronze, any casting is brittle, even investment castings.