What software can do this?

[Witsenburg]

Hi,

after building a big CNC wood router, I now turn to a foam cutter that can cut foam wings for my model planes. Mechanical the machine is simple: two 2D moving carts, on threaded bar. The distance between the carts I can alter so the distance equals the length of the wing, so to speak. I've constructed a wire tensioner that keeps the tension equal at all times, using some pulies and weights. Now I've been reading alot about software, but it's not my strong point, and I want to be sure I get the right stuff.

Now for the software bit;
I design the tip airfoil and the root airfoil in AutoCAD. I don't only cut the outside contour, but also chambers and for instance an opening for a carbon tube. And that's where the trouble starts, I think. If the tip is just a centain percentage of the root, the cutting speed will be an equal percentage. But cutting the tube-hole, there will be speed variations. Getting from the contour-cut to the hole-starting-point will be a different size at tip and root, but cutting the hole should be equal at both sides, so the cutting speed should be equal too, not a percentage. Also, the hole might be located at 1/3 of the wing-width at the root, but at 1/2 of the length of the tip. I think I need software that accepts me giving it 'synchronisation points'. I hope you understand, English is not my first language and getting into these technical details isn't easy...

Please help me pick the right bits and bytes,
Cheers,

Hugo

[High Seas]

Haven't tried it -- yet, but Profili 2 might be an answer.
The website says it will do what you're looking for:
http://www.profili2.com/eng/pannelli_pol.htm

OOPS _ SORRY 'Bout that - seems that Profili won't generate Gcode - or doesn't seem too. (Had to have a load and look)
SO, maybe try JediCut - it even mentions synch-points -
http://www.aeropassion.net/index-en.php

Are you planning on the wing being cut from a single blank - or several and thats why you are looking for "sync points?"

I think most wing software would let you cut the spar location on a taper just like the planform. Seems a bit unusual though - most typically the spar is at the aerodynamic center for the entire span -- unless you have a very unusual tip profile.
Jim

Hugo - had a bit of a play with both and maybe the one you're looking for might be this one:
http://www.excelcut.netmyne.com/ Its free too! Seems you'll need an older version of Excel - He wrote this in excell/office 2003 I recall.
Profili2 won't let you export GCode, JediCut is awkward for me - not french reading to well, ExcelCut will now import a dat file - so you can get to that quickly from the various databases. And the spar can be placed as you want. Best of Luck - Jim