Clark-Y airfoil template for hot wire foam cutting

thingiverse

This is a set of Clark-Y airfoil sections to use as a template for hot wire foam cutting. Use a slicer to change dimensions, these are 200mm chord, the lower rear is flat enough to place on a flat surface so can be done in a single cut. I would suggest sticking down with double sided carpet tape or attach a block to each one to screw it down. Basic airfoil has holes to put screws or pins into the foam. Others are just variations so you can - Do a separate top and bottom along the chord to allow channels and then glue together. There is a top section with notches in it so you can cut channels where you like. There is a complete airfoil with squares for channels, just saw through to the one you want to get the wire in. If you print in PLA I would suggest a strip of tape (such as aluminium) around the outside to prevent catching the plastic. Best option is print in PLA and glue 3mm ply to the template, trim to fit and sand level (I have found PLA can resist sanding so the 3mm sands easy) so the ply will stop the wire digging in. To make a round channel just put something in one of the square ones, wood or similar, and drill it out. This would allow, as an example, a 5mm dia channel guide. An alternative is to use the 3mm ply glued and then drill that. Starts as 200mm chord but can be reduced or increased in the slicer. I would suggest doing a 'resize' in all dimensions first. Then adjust the thickness of the template by resizing the Z axis only. Modellers are resourceful types, this is just so you can have an easy to use accurate starter template. It was taken from Airfoiltools.com and imported into Freecad.