Realized the other day that although I can't actually get started building anything yet (wing ribs may be coming soon, though I don't technically have a place for them either), that doesn't stop me doing work on the project: I want to get most or all of the steel brackets cut on a waterjet machine, so the first step is to start reproducing them in CAD.
Several false starts later, and I actually got halfway decent results out of FreeCAD (which is, as its name implies, free). This is the -251 cabane strut fitting from Sheet 6 of the Marquart Charger plans. The tab on the lower left is extended about an inch to facilitate bending; it will be trimmed down after it's bent. Ignore the white lines describing pointy corners, I'm not sure how to make those disappear from the view.
For those with waterjet experience, I'd appreciate your advice: I've created the holes about .04" undersize so I can ream them to size. Is that enough? Too much? Are waterjet machines precise enough to just let them get cut to size?
Several false starts later, and I actually got halfway decent results out of FreeCAD (which is, as its name implies, free). This is the -251 cabane strut fitting from Sheet 6 of the Marquart Charger plans. The tab on the lower left is extended about an inch to facilitate bending; it will be trimmed down after it's bent. Ignore the white lines describing pointy corners, I'm not sure how to make those disappear from the view.
For those with waterjet experience, I'd appreciate your advice: I've created the holes about .04" undersize so I can ream them to size. Is that enough? Too much? Are waterjet machines precise enough to just let them get cut to size?
