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NeilBlanchard 07-09-2012 09:12 PM

CarBEN EV5 Full Sized Prototype Construction - 5 Seat Electric Car From Scratch
 
I've begun the construction process to build the first full sized prototype of my CarBEN EV5 electric car!

I bought 25 sheets of Dow XPS foam sheets today (a quarter of what will be needed in total), and began cutting the first one on my PhlatPrinter 3 CNC machine. All the drafting and major designing is done, and the 3D SketchUp model is "sliced" to eventually generate the g-code to cut the foam to form the core of the chassis.

All was going swimmingly, until the bit failed to lift up on the Z-axis far enough and then it plunged in too deep, causing the X-axis to drag and get skewed... I'm going to hopefully troubleshoot it with the help of the folks on the PhlatBoyz forum.

I video recorded the "event" and I'm uploaded it now to YouTube -- I'll link to it when it is ready. So, it is started but still not "flowing along" yet.

Cd 07-09-2012 09:27 PM

Godspeed !
Wishing you the best .

t vago 07-09-2012 09:28 PM

Looking forward to your progress.

MetroMPG 07-09-2012 10:29 PM

Subscribed.

NeilBlanchard 07-10-2012 04:25 AM

Here's the video -- it is a noisy thing with both the CNC router and the small shop vacuum running:

[youtube]pejWMTbQ1jo[/youtube]

You can see when the error occurred at about 10:50 -- I first thought it was a slippage on the Z-axis screw (which you can see me adjusting back upwards after pausing the g-code controller program) but it keeps plunging in. I was hoping that the pieces would be usable, but the resulting X-axis slippage meant that it ran off the back edge of the sheet...

NeilBlanchard 07-10-2012 07:55 PM

I have successfully cut the first 4 sheets for the CarBEN EV5 chassis -- only 89 to go!

WOO HOO!!!

I had to fix two problems: the voltage driving the Z and Y axes was too low, and the drive belt on the X axis stepper motor was loose. And I added back the two side roller rails so that they keep the sheet from shifting side to side. Each piece finished the cut *right* where it started; virtually perfectly...

Today was an amazing day! I've been working for over three years on this project and I finally have something *physical* to show for it! :-)

Video to come...

Weather Spotter 07-10-2012 08:18 PM

subscribed!

NeilBlanchard 07-10-2012 09:35 PM

Here's a couple of photos:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9255.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9254.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9259.jpg

Here's the video of cutting the second copy of the F23 sheet -- it is fairly long and noisy, but I try to "narrate" as it goes along:

[youtube]J81NwJvlfjc[/youtube]

I ran out of space on the camera about a minute before the last part finished, but I'm sure you get the idea... ;)

Now I need to generate more g-code files - and cut hopefully 5 or 6 more sheets tomorrow. Then start gluing... :)

123 07-11-2012 01:48 AM

Nice can't wait to see it finished.

NeilBlanchard 07-11-2012 06:32 AM

Well, I hope you are patient. This will take a year, or two or maybe more.

I have to buy ~68-75 more sheets of foam (depending on how many "extras" I need), and then the real fun begins. Fiberglassing the inside and the outside, fitting it with suspension and wheels (likely custom rear suspension?) and working out the steering and the connection to the hinged front wheel skirts, buying at least the windshield and wipers for a Smart ForTwo, putting in the driver's seat, working out hinges and latches for the rear hatch and rear doors -- and THEN building the battery pack (hopefully around 50kWh+) and the drivetrain.

Tango Charlie 07-11-2012 08:30 PM

Congrats on the next big step!
Now I can say "I was there when it all began..." :)

What kind of glue will you be using?

Cd 07-11-2012 09:46 PM

Neil, have you succeeded in producing a model that you can do CFD testing on ?
It would be nice to know if there is some unforeseen area that needs to be addressed before you go ALL THE WAY.
It would be a lot easier to modify it now then later, eh ?
Also, I just know you are aching to get a somewhat accurate Cd figure ( I know all of us are ! )

NeilBlanchard 07-11-2012 11:12 PM

I'm going to be using waterproof carpenter's glue -- the light brown Titebond. There will be lots of gluing -- the jigsaw joints first, then the 2 copies of the same cut pieces, then the adjacent layers; using the 1/2" holes with alignment dowels. I'm planning on starting at the nose and I should be able to glue up the first 8-12" (at least!) pretty soon.

I started on the smoother SU model using the sections as the starting point, and I found that some parts were less difficult and some were very difficult. I am not sure if I can put the effort into do the new SU, when building the real thing is starting...

I got 6 more sheets cut today -- 10 done and 83 to go! I had "chauffeur" duties for my son today (he was working at my in-laws house), and I had to relearn the process of getting the g-code files. I took the time to correct *most* of the minute drafting glitches already, so doing enough to produce sheets should be relatively quick in the morning. Tomorrow should be 8 or 10 more I hope.

NeilBlanchard 07-12-2012 10:36 PM

I cut 8 more sheets of foam today -- just 75 to go! I've got 6 sheets left from the first buy (3 were scrapped during troubleshooting and a glitch), so I'll be off to the store to buy some more next week. I'll starting gluing tomorrow...

t vago 07-12-2012 10:49 PM

Awesome! This is inspiring.

NeilBlanchard 07-13-2012 10:12 PM

I've now cut 22 sheets and begun to glue things together. I've stacked and glued the first foot of the front! Here are pictures:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9260.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9262.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9263.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9265.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9267.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9269.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9271.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9273.jpg

JethroBodine 07-14-2012 08:18 AM

And I thought I had a lot of smoothing to do:eek:.

Starting to look like a car:thumbup:. Glad to see you are making progress.

NeilBlanchard 07-14-2012 09:09 AM

The finished surface will be close to the base of each of the steps -- I was trying to have all of the pieces have an excess of material. The car is "hidden inside" the stacked layers. ;-)

So yes, I will be making a lot (more) blue dust. My little (2 gallon?) shop vacuum gets filled up after cutting about 4 or five sheets in the CNC, and sculpting the steps off with a Stanley SurForm (the rasp made like a cheese grater) will make a lot more. I'm thinking of rigging the SurForm to the vacuum hose will save me a LOT of cleanup afterward.

I'll be doing a lot more gluing today!

Tango Charlie 07-14-2012 10:25 AM

Wow! This is so cool! :thumbup:

After all the shaping, will you be using carbon fiber cloth? E-glass? S-glass? Vacuum bagging? Will there be structural members imbedded, or are you going for full monocoque?

NeilBlanchard 07-14-2012 09:11 PM

I think I will be using fiberglass (I'm not sure what E-glass and S-Glass are?) and probably not vacuum bagging it. I'm thinking 2 layers at least inside and out, and yes mostly a monocoque structure with gusseted mounting points for a subframe in the front to hold the suspension and provide a crumple structure. The rear may have a very minimal subframe that cradles the back of the car. I'm thinking the rear suspension will be a double trailing arm, and a lateral link for side loads. The lateral links could be inside of the cross member on the cradle. I left a space in the battery cell bays in the floor for this.

I will be learning as I go, especially with the the fiberglass. I'm following 3-wheeler's lead by using waterproof wood glue rather than epoxy. Fiberglassing all over the inside of the hood area, and the inside of the battery cell bays and the inside of the car will be particularly interesting. I may well have to build various rails out of foam to hold the hold thing on it's sides and upside down, etc. and maybe even a scaffolding? I have to leave some areas uncovered until things like the suspension get designed and installed and then fiberglass those areas.

Here's some pictures of today's progress:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9274.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9276.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9278.jpg

I added 6 more layers; minus two pieces that I have not cut yet. This happened because I was trying to pack pieces as efficiently as possible, and two pieces are on a sheet that is 7 ahead in the sequence... I'll buy more foam as soon as I can (I'm waiting to be paid) and I'll cut that far and then keep gluing. In the meantime, I need to help my brother finish rebuilding his bulkhead AND there is the small matter of emptying out my little 1 car garage to make space to build more that 3 feet of CarBEN -- otherwise it will be trapped on my screen porch...

The third picture is taken with the main piece "nose down" so the the additional pieces are on top and the dowel rods can be left in.

I also put together the pieces of the hood so far, but the final assembly of that will have to wait until the hood opening gets fully formed on the car. The hood doesn't have alignment pins, so it has to be done by fitting it. Next time I'll put in the alignment pin holes.

The main piece I've glued together is amazingly light and strong -- it will get significantly lighter after the shaping is done, though it will probably be less rigid. I think it weighs less than 8 pounds? I'll try to weight it tomorrow, as will as get a better picture. The fiberglass will obviously add both weight and strength.

This is going to be a lot of fun!

Tango Charlie 07-14-2012 10:10 PM

E-glass is your more common, everyday fiberglass cloth. It's formulation was originally developed as an electical wiring insulation. The 'E' stands for electrical.

The composition of the glass fibers in S-glass were developed specifically as a structural material. It is 30% stronger and 15% stiffer than E-glass, according to Aircraft Spruce and Specialty.

The homebuilt aircraft community would be a good source of information for the use of fiberglass/foam composites in structural applications. I haven't got a hold of a copy yet, but I hear Burt Rutan's manual; "Moldless Composite Sandwich Aircraft Construction", is the accepted bible of the technique.

Nice progress so far! :cool:

NeilBlanchard 07-15-2012 04:19 PM

Thanks -- I'll probably buy a copy of Mr. Rutan's bible -- he is the guru of composites.

Some better pictures of the front 18" of CarBEN EV5:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9279.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9280.jpg

Edit:I ordered the Rutan book and it should arrive soon.

divedaddy03 07-19-2012 05:06 PM

Neil, It's lookin' good man!
Keep up the good work.

Wayne
SC

solarguy 07-19-2012 05:50 PM

You realize, you can never wreck this thing...

I can't imagine investing that many hours and then having somebody back into it in a parking lot or something equally stupid.


Very exciting.

Indeed.

troy

NeilBlanchard 07-21-2012 10:12 PM

The Shaping has begun!
 
I've started to do the rough shaping of the right side of the nose. The section is now 20" deep:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9284.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9285.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9287.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9291.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9293.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9298.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9301.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9305.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9306.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9307.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9308.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9314.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9315.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9318.jpg

I have all four variants of the Stanley SurForm tools and they all are useful. The long ones are helpful on the large convex surfaces, and the palm size one is for more "precision" and the smallest convex one helps a lot when the car surface is concave.

Monday I borrow my brother's Tacoma and buy another 24 sheets of foam!

CigaR007 07-21-2012 10:25 PM

Your local hardware store must really like you ! ;)

Looking good !

divedaddy03 07-23-2012 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilBlanchard (Post 318056)
I've started to do the rough shaping of the right side of the nose.

I have all four variants of the Stanley SurForm tools and they all are useful. The long ones are helpful on the large convex surfaces, and the palm size one is for more "precision" and the smallest convex one helps a lot when the car surface is concave.

Monday I borrow my brother's Tacoma and buy another 24 sheets of foam!


Neil,

Very, very cool!
I'm so glad to see you're making progress, it's looking NICE.

Wayne
SC

NeilBlanchard 07-23-2012 02:41 PM

I bought 24 more sheets of 1" x 2' x 8' T&G Dow XPS today, and my copy of Burt Rutan's "Moldless Composite Sandwich Aircraft Construction" 4th Edition October 2005 came today. It is quite different than I thought -- it is a 11x17 portrait format GBC bound (the spine is at the top of the page) that is largely typewritten with hand sketches. A fair bit of it are about hotwire cutting of wings, and measuring and testing epoxy, etc. But some of the techniques will be very useful.

I'm going to have to work on a peel ply method that works with the waterproof wood glue I am using. If anybody has experience with this, please post some pointers!

I'm going to cut two copies each of 5 sheets that are "forward in the sequence" so I can get the missing pieces I need to continue building on the nose of the car.

NeilBlanchard 07-25-2012 10:24 PM

I cut the 10 sheets today that contain the pieces I need to continue gluing -- that will resume tomorrow afternoon. I've got a little paying work in the morning...

I cut some of the sheets from the back of the car -- seeing the pieces actual size for the first time is great. The back of CarBEN EV is quite a bit smaller than most cars.

Oh, I cleared out enough stuff from the garage to make room to keep assembling larger sections. I will need to try and shape the *inside* before putting together the sections, since those inside surfaces will never be more accessible.

Years ago, I dug a trench from the house to the garage, and buried two conduits for power, but have not pulled any wires through yet. For now, an extension cord will have to suffice...

NeilBlanchard 08-01-2012 12:48 PM

I'm continuing to glue up the foam core of my CarBEN EV5 (open source 5 seat electric car). This first photo shows a mistake -- can you spot the omission?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9378.jpg

Here's the hand-cut fix on the left side:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9379.jpg

The thin struts are there temporarily to hold the beginning of the firewall in position:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9381.jpg

The first 2 feet of the front:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9383.jpg

With the hood in place:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9384.jpg

I also had not exported the latest version of the F19 sheet, so I was missing a piece (outlined in red marker) that I was able to trace from the mirror piece and cut by hand:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9386.jpg

I've continued on the shaping progress (SurForms are the best tools for rough shaping) and I'm starting the lapped hood opening edge:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9387.jpg

This is now too big to fit into my car... I need to put a work table in my garage!

Nevyn 08-01-2012 02:31 PM

This is superb! I haven't been on much, but I remember when you started designing it - gives me some motivation to work on my EV conversion for sure!

312 08-10-2012 03:15 PM

Awesome!

NeilBlanchard 08-10-2012 11:06 PM

I'm back from a week off, so I'll get a little done. I've got a paying drafting job next week so there will be another brief pause...

NeilBlanchard 08-13-2012 10:32 PM

I glued another layer and then I had to cut another 8 sheets, so as to have all the parts for another 3 layers. If I cut 6 more sheets I can glue up another 6 layers. So, that would be another 18" of the car.

As I mentioned, I'm working this week, so pictures should be possible next week.

HyperMileQC 08-13-2012 11:36 PM

This is a fabulous thread! I love the fact that you are building a 100% DIY EV. Can't wait to see this thread evolve!

Great project!:thumbup:

NeilBlanchard 08-20-2012 09:07 PM

I've glued up another 6" and I've now got a nice random orbital palm sander, that makes a much smoother surface than before. I still need to do a lot more shaping inside the hood area before I glue any more layers to it. Here's pictures from today:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9756.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9758.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9760.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9762.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9765.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9766.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9770.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9771.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9773.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9776.jpg

NeilBlanchard 08-27-2012 08:42 AM

I now have a 24" deep piece and a 20" deep piece -- they are held together with four 1/2" dowel rods for the moment. I have to nearly finish the shaping inside the motor bay while it is accessible from the back before I glue these together.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9793.jpg

Here is the front 44" resting on the ground -- looking kinda' like the CarBEN EV5 Ranch? ;)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9795.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9796.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9797.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9798.jpg

Okay, now in the proper orientation:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9799.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9800.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9801.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9802.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9803.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9805.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9808.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9812.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9814.jpg

As a reminder, here is the latest animated video of the SketchUp model:

[youtube]SXrqznFQ85c[/youtube]

NeilBlanchard 08-27-2012 07:33 PM

Question for those folks with experience shaping foam -- what works for smoothing small-ish concave surfaces?

JethroBodine 08-27-2012 09:49 PM

Looking good, Neil.

A guy at work said that he saw the tv show you were on.

NeilBlanchard 09-02-2012 10:26 PM

I added 4" to the second piece (photos to come), and I've now glued up another 6" (sections 11-13) for a total of 4'-6" of the front:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9817.jpghttp://img.photobucket.com/albums/v7...h_DSC_9819.jpg

The gluing is slower now because the sections hang off my table too far (as you can see) -- I need to make a table the is ~6'x6' for the middle part of the car. All 4 battery bays have started -- the outer 2 extend just 2" forward, and the center 2 extend 6" forward.


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