I have raised this topic on other threads before and felt that its worth give it a bump.

Inspired by R C' Guppy glider build, I finally bought some Balsa sheets from a LHS and have been looking for some Laser CNC guy to cut it for me. The reason is I am not good in fine art and would like to have the plan cut precisely into shape/size so that I don't face few of the issues.

Earlier Anam_Funny from Delhi has offered CNC service, but it would be hard to send him the delicate 6x48" balsa sheet I bought to Delhi.
http://www.rcindia.org/for-sale/laser-cutting-job-work/msg21404/#msg21404

I had some leads in Balsa cutting in Bangalore. Heard from some one that Mr Sanjeev of RC Dhamaka (he himself is an avid scratch builder) tried to get ti done some where and the CNC guy burnt the Balsa beyond any use. Now this is a huge risk that the cutter guy should be knowledgeable to to Cut Balsa od different thickness without incriminating it. It shouldn't be like trying to get Aluminum welded at Iron Welding guy.

But at least someone is getting Balsa Cut in Bangalore successful. I had this small chat with Mr Vijay of 'Indian Model Makers' ISRO Center, Bangalore. He told that he can get the pieces Laser cut, but he would give me the finished model. now that I dont want. I need to have the fun of Kit building at least, If I am not cutting all the pieces by hand.

I strongly believe there would be at least some R/C enthusiast who would have got Balsa laser cut, in a city like Bangalore.

This would be real good for hobby as in the era of ARF/RTF, Kit building is becoming a dying ART. If this community gets a decent CNC guy, many others can benefit of getting near-KIT (sans other gear which come with Kit) like building experience for so, so many plans floating on the net, especially when Kits are much more scarce than RTF/ARF themselves.


Looking forward for some leads from more experienced members.

Hi Ujjwal,

Ref your other thread & request for plans of guppy.
I had mailed the plans to your email about 2 days ago, hope you received the same.
Just wondering since I didn't receive any acknowledgement from you.

Opps!Sorry Rajendra Sir! I cordially sent the acknowledgement cum thanks mail but to wrong address. Sent it again anyway. Thanks again. Hope to start the build soon.

Did you got the Plan cut with laser in Hyderabad ? I am still at dark finding one in Bangalore.

Well no need to say sorry as I was just wondering if you received the mail.
I am building the Guppy from coro so no need of laser cutting. However a friend of mine did the entire balsa cutting manually.
Happy building.

My quest for finding a place where one can get Balsa/Ply Laser Cut in Bangalore has ended. Thanks a lot for Rotorzone and HamAero for providing leads. I was referred to Mr  Naresh by Rajesh (Rotorzone), who runs a enterprise called RepliCon in Malleshwaram, near Sheshadripuram Road. He had a modest rate and cooperative staff (Paresh).

I could finally get the 3mm Basa and 3mm Lite ply cut for my 'AMP Master 015' Model. Few ribs were burned a bit as they were themselves new to the material. I would also like to thank Rajib, who went to great extent reviewing and correcting my layouts. He also gave tips on laser cutting, which saved the Day.

If you wish to take the Laser Cutting Service, contact Mr Naresh on +9198450090567.

Some pics of the cutting job. Note that 2-3 ribs are slightly burnt on one side, rest were saved by increasing the speed of the cutter travel.

This kind of information truly makes this forum valuable !

PS
i see two emoticons as well

Great job Ujjwal... 
I'm sure this will motivate a lot of us to move towards Balsa..   

Awesome dude.. How much did he charge you ? Any details of the laser cutting process ?

 

I had 4x12 inch and 4x24 inch 3mm Balsa and 12x10inch 3mm lite ply. You may well see  the number of parts. The rate was Rs 10 per minute and all the 3 sheets took 22 minutes. I ended up paying 200 as they did not had change.
Please keep in mind that the prevailing rates for bulk/regular job is only 5-6 Rs min and max Rs 10 for prototype job like ours. Refrain from paying exorbitant prices to keep the market clean.   

There is one more Laser shop near Urvarshi Cinema which I would explore next so that we have more option.

Kool..

Ok if I have to look for this kind of laser cutting cnc machine, what kind of people/workshops do I approach ?

Sorry for the ignorance..

People who provide:

1. Laser Engraving on Glass/Wooden/Acrylic  Memento/Awards
2. Cutting MDF/Vinyl sheets used in Name Plates, Kiosks, Back lit boards

There are many Gift/office stationary shops who do a front sale of these mementos and give the orders to these people. You may find difficult to get info from them. Try.

You may also contact people making Advertising Boards ('Painters' of bygone time) and ask them where they cut 'Letters' out of Acrylic/vinyl sheet to put on Shop's sign boards. Earlier done with 'scroll Saw', now they get it done much cheaply using these laser cutter.
 
do come up with any success you strike in your local city. All Metros and semi metros must have local workshops like these. There is one problem with these workshops. As the charge is on minute basis, once they agree to cut your plan, they tend do run the machine slow with Low laser power. This would turn into a catastrophe for Balsa and it would burn into charcoal. You have to convince him to run the Laser at Full power and  run the cutter at max speed.

Cutting MDF/Vinyl board is their bulk of job so they talk in terms of  thickness of MDF board

3mm Balsa = 1mm MDF board    = 95/4.5
3mm Lite ply = 2mm MDF board.  = 95/2.5

In terms of cutting, they mention the power of laser (may be percentage of max) and head traversal (cm/second). the above notation is percentage/cm per sec (95%, 4.5 cm/second).

But this may vary from machine to machine. If you are going for the first time, get a small sample of sheet you gonna cut. Ask them to first make some small cutting with reasonable power/speed. Play with the two parameter to get things right.

Most of these guys would need your layout in Corel Draw format (lowest version as they ask) but more learned ones like mine may also accept AutoCad DXF files(much better)

Most of the 'Gyaan' I have put above has been acquired from Rajib and HamAero. I would try to work with them to put a tutorial on how to go about putting the layout from a model plan for laser cutting. Watch out folks! 

Hello Ujjwal,
You did very nice job and the information you have shared it will help all of us. People who are in this hobby they know that our ultimate target is flying, now you bought the plane as ARF or RTF or you built it from the kit whatever but your ultimate goal is flying. But if you’re flying the model which you have built your own that gives you most satisfaction which you cannot express by words. Honestly speaking I love to build models than flying.
We all know if we want to build like pro then cost goes higher than ARF/RTF available in the market, it is just because companies are producing in bulk and we are making just one or few. But if you add shipment cost, duties and taxes of that ARF/RTF then our own built models are cheaper. So if we can make get kit of these ARF/RTFs then we can save lots of money. Some people might say you are doing copy; yes I agree but since our ultimate target is flying so I don’t mind to copy some nice models which are tested and we all know they are good models. We are not scientist or engineer, so instead spent time to invent a new design we can save time and money to make kit of these nice models and enjoy flying. Since we are not doing any business so I don’t think those companies are going to file case on us and if they do then Ujjwal is going save all of us 
Regards,
Rajib

Thanks Rajib for the encouraging words.

I am already trying to team up with some commercial entity who can provide some logistic to (re) design and test fly kits for which Copyright no longer holds, or even reverse-engineer few of the proven designs like Extra/YAK/Katana/CAP232 and provide as laser cut kit , for the benefit of the RC fraternity in the country. Importing kits or even Balsa is always hard. These kits could be a very price effective, let alone the availability of few rare designs.

Even if building from kit turns out to as costly as an ARF (taking covering and other items in consideration), it would serve as a learning opportunity to beginners and let perfectionist to build a plane much more better than the quality they get from ARFs.

Its too early to tell from my professional commitment and success to find a business house, but should encourage with others with time and resources to beat my plan and come with something like this.

Would also love to see old dogs in the business like Sarkar/India Hobby/Aurora to get a faceless, move to better quality Balsa and move to precision Laser cut kit and give us option locally.


As they say 'Necessity is mother of all (re) invention' , sooner or later I expect some or the other doing this!!
 

Hey Ujjwaana,

Thanks for sharing this! Could you put up his number again please? The one provided has an extra digit.

Also do you know anyone who can cnc mill aluminium?

Thanks!

Tassem,

Replicaon : Near Jhadka Stand, Near Kaumara Park  SBI.
Ph: 08023344077, +919845009057 (Mr Naresh).

Before visiting them , insist that Paresh (CNC operator) is there and not Muthu alone, especially if you can't speak Kannada like me. Paresh is much learned and knows AutoCad and proofing. Muthu can only do run of the mill job and may spoil your Balsa.

Hey thanks so much for that! I'll give them a call and ensure that Paresh is there before I visit. I can't speak kannada well..

Sir
u have given no. of  Mr Naresh on +9198450090567. for lazer cutting kit

but above said no is not working kindly give new no.

kp

Try calling their Workshop number 08023344077. It is still listed in major Yellow pages with the company's name

nanomarkers@gmail.com, I have personally tried for laser cut service, They undertake all type of Laser  cutting, engraving works on balsa & pine wood sheets
Address: Sudharsan Nagar, Sriramapuram, Srirangam, Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu 620006
Phone: 091500 53500

Rs 10 /min.

Hello All!

I would be Glad to assist your with your laser cutting needs. I currently have one laser machine (29"x18")  but will be adding two more (one 29" x 28" and one 4'x3') by mid next month. I have had students from PES College getting balsa cut from me (they were the ones who introduced me to balsa). We are basically acrylic plastic fabricators.

Aman Bhargava,
9886245954.

Free Design Nesting Service for Laser cut parts.

I am happy to help fellow hobbyist who wish to produce their laser cut models with easier Numbering or tagging of  parts & balsa or ply wood sheet optimization for free.

Attached design optimization of My 2100 mm wingspan MSX Acrobatic model.

Advantages,
1.Sheets of any dimensions can be generated as DXF with any Part to part gap of 0.1mm- required gaps.
2.Auto Numbering or parts tagging is done.

Step 1: Just send in your Individual DXF or DWG Files,Ex-If the tag required for rib is "R-1",Just name the DXF or DWG File as R-1.
Step 2: Send in your Sheet Size,Required Qty of parts,Ex 1000*100 mm-2mm gap Part to part ,1mm gap Part to sheet.

Thanks,

Prabu