Comment by R. D. Starwalt on April 15, 2012 at 6:21am

Steven, the arms are only dimensional 0.75 square aluminum from a DIY/home improvement store. This stuff is usually found in the hardware section but.. be forewarned that it isn't cheap either. I thinka 4 foot length of the stuff is around $16. If you use the version 'A' drawings located HERE you will see how much of the stuff you need.

The arm tubing is from some antenna projects gathering dust. It was still purchased from the same kind of store. Having a small mill and lathe in my tool collection made the machine work moderately easy. I did mess up on the frame mounting holes and had to adjust the frame plates to work with the machined arms. This stuff all takes lots of time to learn to use and get running.

I looked at many alternatives to building the quad and found that this site, and the folk that support it, were the best resource. The posting of the drawings was the clincher for me. My approach has been to use what was in the shop/garage and buy/source the same stuff you mention - motors, ESC, 'brains' etc.

I ordered a set of 'B' frame plates so that I could get the dimensions right on the next quad. The home-brew CNC router can make a leg in less than 10 min. While in that mode, two complete sets of legs were fabricated.

Ellison, Thank you. The next build may have a longer cable slot, possibly a plastic insert to prevent chaffing. The hole was made with a 4 flute 0.5" mill cutter. I filed the top edge a bit to take the corner off. As this is my first quad, and probably subject to much bashing around, it will be a work in progress.

Comment by Steven Hickerson on April 15, 2012 at 9:13am

Thanks RD.  Yeah seeing other designs helps me but this is really something I'm planning to build and design myself from the ground up.  That is part of the fun of it for me :)  I'll take ideas from other designs like the material used and such, but I plan to create my own "brains" wiring, etc.  I will even write all the coding to control it from scratch :)  The only things I will source are the parts that are impractical to build myself such as the motors.  I even have my own 3d printer (only prints up to 7" x 7" x 6" though) that I'll use to make small custom parts that I need :)  I think I've got a 10 foot stick of 1" aluminum square tubing, that may be to big though if .75" was used here.  I also think I can get it cheaper than $16 dollars for 4 foot of it from a local metal shop that my Dad does a lot of business with (he has a steel fabrication shop so orders a lot of metal).

Thanks again for replying, and for the link to their designs! :)

Comment by Marc on April 15, 2012 at 5:14pm

good project,

i built a hex exactly the same ali square arms using 2mm carbon plates for the middle have a look at my photo gallery.

regards

Comment by Luiz Miranda on April 15, 2012 at 6:33pm

Very nice, specially  the easy access to the PDB, good job

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