Flite Test Inspired foam board cutter jig

thingiverse

Flite test has helped open the hobby of model aircraft to the world. The hardest thing to get right is the bevel. Bixler can cut bevels blindfolded standing on his head with the razor held in his teeth....I am no where near as good as that man. I find that as my flying skills improve I am making fewer parts and repairs. With that my bevel skill drops and when it is time to make something new all my cuts are ugly. I decided to do something about it and have gone down a long road of testing and developing this tool. It has a flexible hinge area to help deal with the slight variance in foam thickness and also helps you grip the foam as you cut. It works great for single and double bevel. For single sheets you will need a scrap piece of foam to put underneath as the tool was spaced for double sheets. It comes in a left handed and right handed flavor and I recommended printing both because there are some areas where the finger grip will prevent you from finishing a cut. At that point you just grab the opposite tool and swap it in and you should be able to finish that last little bit. The blade can be laid flat on the surface of the tool and either gently pulled or with a slight sawing action to cut through the foam, just make sure your angle isn't to high otherwise you start to dig into the tool which will add up over time. I have done four wings with this tool and quite a few control surfaces and have yet to burn through the paper. I hope this helps take the frustration out of beveling and make it a little easier. I am also hoping for some real world usage to see if there is anything else I should change or redesign to make this task easier. I've given some out to friends and haven't heard any complaints yet. I've printed them in ABS and PLA and both seem fine. I'm at certain points a little more fond of the feeling and look of ABS over standard PLA but ABS also adds a little more flex to that joint making it a little easier to work with.