Needle foam cutter for Primo?

Ok, I’ve been trying to sift through the forums over at Flite Test as well as here on the foam needle cutter, and it’s getting a little confusing as to what is what and what mounts to which model. It seems the majority of development was done with mounts for the Burly. I’ve only had a Primo so not sure how big of a difference there is between the tool mounts, and it’s unclear if the Burly mounts will fit. I got my son a Flite Test setup for xmas, and I’m counting on there being some crashes and would like to be able to cut new pieces at home. In the interest of being efficient (possibly lazy?) I figured I’d ask here if anyone has a setup known to work with the Primo mount, or at least spacers to make a Burly piece fit onto the Primo. Thanks!

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For what it’s worth, you can put the Burly tool mount onto a Primo, AFAIK. The tube sizing and spacing is the same. (You cannot put a Primo mount onto a Burly though, as the Primo mount needs more room behind the tubes.)

You need the Burly tool plate. I think that if you use the Primo nut traps, you might need to drill out the mounting holes a little.

The geometry of the tubing is the same between the Burly and the Primo, so a Burly mounting plate can be mounting on a Primo. A more complete answer can be found in this topic. If are eyeing a specific needle cutter designed for the Burly, I’ll take a look and see how much work it would be to modify it for the Primo.

If you go down the Burly mount route, it can be a pain switching mount systems between the Burly and the Primo. One solution is to build a second Z axis using the same model stepper motor. Then you can just slip out one Z axis and slip in another one to go from routing to foam cutting.

Edit to add: I’ve never implemented a needle cutter, but out of curiosity, I’ve read many of the topics concerning needle cutters. In one post I saw something like, “I tried cutting Dollar Tree foam board today with my router and a 0.8mm bit, and it worked really well.” So, if you only have a few replacements parts, you could try cutting the foam with your router.

Hey, Tyler!

I’m pretty much credited with introducing needle cutting tech to the RC community… and the long FliteTest thread you’ve undoubtedly visited is mine. I agree, it’s not an easy read and it is difficult to find specific info you may be interested in. But that’s because it’s always been geared to DIY’ers and doesn’t present a polished product, with models and options. It instead chronicles the development of the needle-cutter and related tech over the past 12+ years and encourages people to use what they probably already have on hand – in their stash or junkbox – to build a usable needle cutter for themselves. Hundreds of designs and design ideas have evolved over the years… with the most up-to-date designs and information toward the end of the thread.

There are several of the more popular designs presented out on Thingiverse, including a couple of my old designs (which I don’t recommend), Jason Hitesman’s Improved Needle Cutter, and Edward Chew’s TimSav design, which is the most polished and complete of them all. Edward once even offered a kit of parts for an entire machine (less the extrusions). The needle cutter itself isn’'t a difficult build or a complex mechanism but it has its quirks and a learning curve… not unlike learning to use your CNC, with “feeds and speeds” being among the most confusing things to grasp.

You say you gave your son a “Flite Test setup” for Christmas… I assume you’re talking of one of their plane kits? I think Dan and Robert have given good advise on your easiest, most efficient, path toward a needle cutter setup. I’ve built numerous MPCNC’s and variants but never got so far as a Primo… but it looks as though it should serve nicely as the basis for a foam-cutter system. Here’s a particularly nice one from @RHill051 over on the FT thread…

that includes a vacuum pad and needle-cutter that appears similar to Jason Hitesman’s improved cutter.

I’m pretty much out of the needle-cutter “business” now (getting old!) but will offer what help I can (or point you to others) if you have questions.

Welcome to the party!

– David

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Thanks David. And yes I’ve read through your thread over on the Flite Test forums and here as well, definitely a ton of great info and an amazing tool you came up with. And yes by “setup” I meant we got him one of their speed build kits along with their powerpack combos and new radio/battery setup. Essentially everything he needed to get a plane going minus all the chargers/tools/etc that I already had. We just finished up building the plane tonight, might give it a test tomorrow.

I liked the needle cutter concept because it was diy and I think I have the vast majority of stuff kicking around to build one. I figured if someone already had tool mounts/adapters worked out to make on of the newer versions fit right on my Primo, it would be nice to save the work. I was doing some hunting around on Thingiverse this afternoon and there is a design for a needle cutter that fits in the Makita holder setup, which I think I’m going to go after. Would be nice to not have to remove the tool holder and just pull the router out and drop the needle cutter in when I want to cut some foam. I’ll see how that design works out and probably tweak it from there. I’ll post up my progress!

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Tyler,

I’d not seen this one for the Makita mount… which I’m guessing is the one to which you must be referring? It appears to be one of my old “sideboard” designs, mounted in a can, that came and went without any fanfare and/or much testing, to my knowledge. The most compact cutter, with a large following out on FB (which I detest), is Edward’s ERC design… I’m sure it could easily be fitted into that mount if you can use Tinkercad and 3d-print the parts. I also did a “virtually assembled” version of Edward’s cutter that prints in one piece and already fits the Burly mount IIRC… and could easily be modified to fit in a router mount or adapted to a Primo mount. Also, several of the folks here have LR2 mounts for a needle cutter… I think Jeff has had a hand in modifying a couple of them.

I’m thinking the “sideboard” design won’t be your best choice… though it should be good for a while and the guy out on TV got it running. If you are familiar with Tinkercad (or other CAD) and can 3d-print, I’d be looking at a version of Jason Hitesman’s Improved Cutter (which is what most of the LR2 mounts seem to be using) or Edward’s ERC design… and there are many folks here that could help. I don’t know what you’d find out on Edward’s FB group but it might be worth a look if you are into that.

A variation on a theme – and if you are into LASERS… I once (painfully!) laser-cut (with a 3W laser) a basic finger-jointed needle cutter body with a bolt-on printed backplate. I don’t recommend that particular design… just the idea. A couple of days ago, I was playing with my new Neje A40640 laser to see what laser cut wooden parts would look like…

This is Edward Chew’s original “flat plate” design… I created SVG’s from his STL’s in Tinkercad and then cut them out. I think they turned out neat! I have no intent in building it on up… I just wanted to see what I could do today with the new lasers available.

Anyway, there are tons of options and you can make it as simple or in-depth as you desire. I think this stuff is fun… maybe you do too! :wink:

– David

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I spent a little time looking at designs last night, I think the ERC version looks like the winner. I’m going to spend some time in Solidworks and see if I can get a version made up that fits into my Makita mount. It looks pretty straightforward, so shouldn’t take too long.

How are you liking that A4060? I was watching some videos on them the other day, looks pretty impressive for a diode laser and for the price. I looks like it did a great job on that plywood!

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I haven’t check relative sizes of A40640 and the ERC needle cutter… but I think it would be neat if you could have common Makita mount for both laser and needle cutter. There is an active thread on a Makita mount for A40640 laser module going on right now… and @robertbu is involved.

I love the A40640 so far. So much so I’ve already ordered 3 of them… one for my daughter’s machine and two for a couple of mine. I’ve posted photos to several threads… couldn’t be happier with it.

Making a needle cutter that uses the same mount tube I designed for the A40650 is a good idea. Unfortunately, I’m away from my machine for some days, and getting that connection right would likely take a few prototype passes. So here is a quick alternate solution. I took the needle cutter that you provided in the modded version at the link for, and built a partial tube around it. I used the STL you provided and kept the core the same only modifying the “edges” by trimming or expanding so that the mount fit in the partial tube. That way there is a much higher probability it will work first shot. IMO it is somewhat overbuilt, so will take a longer time to print.

Tyler: So here is a possible (untested) Primo solution for a Makita mount assuming you like the particular version of the needle cutter referenced by David.

Needle_Cutter_65mm_Tube.zip (59.0 KB)

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Wow, Robert! How cool is that!

For grins I downloaded my TV “virtually assembled” STL and your STL and loaded them both into “3DView” at the same time… perfectly shows the “trimmed” areas and how the cutter sits in the sleeve!

For reference, here’s what the assembled basic cutter looks like…

Might be a little tight putting it together but it’ll look really neat!

– David

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That’s awesome!! I’m going to maybe do some tweaking on that and get it printed up. I need to order some parts I need to get it built, but hoping to have a cutter done here pretty quick. Thanks!!

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I would suggest you download the files for the ERC TimSav machine from Thingiverse. Edward was providing kits for sale at the time and put together impressive documentation package for it… this is in those files and includes a complete BOM with links to the parts he used.

This cutter head is very compact and uses some tiny components that you probably will need to order. I had ordered one of his kits so had the parts to build it… but would not have otherwise.

– David

I went through Edwards files on Thingaverse the other night and downloaded his hardware list, got everything ordered that I didn’t have to build his version of the cutter once I get it set up how I want it.

Also pulled the trigger on the NEJE A40640 the other night, it showed it would ship from China and be hid mid February, but got a shipment notification this morning from L.A. area, so might be here this weekend!

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