Through the cumulative effect of multiple crashes and initially over tightening I managed to snap one of the G4 plates that make up the motor mount tube clamps on the Flite Test VersaCopter. Unfortunately at the time I ordered the crash kit for the VersaCopter it didn’t twig that these plates were sold separately. As such I was faced with either making a very small order with Flite Test for replacements or coming up with my own solution.

I took this as an opportunity to test my tube clamp motor mounting method and the folks over at 3dprint-au.com both of which are critical elements of the MultiChase project. I knocked up a very quick model of a direct replacement part for the Flite Test designed tube clamps and sent it off for printing. 3Dprint-AU use an SLS printer which I hope will provide better dimensional accuracy and a more homogeneous structure than a FDM style printer.

The results are not as spot on as I expected but I generally found the parts are oversize rather than undersized. For example the bottom edge of the clamp, as shown above on the right, is raised rather than rounded as designed. A quick touch up with sandpaper (applied only to the motor side) brought the overall measured height down to the designed number. Also interesting to note here is that the ‘black’ material offered is actually just the white material dyed black on the outside. I’m not sure of the specifics of this process, if it is done by the print head or if it is done as a post process but it is something to bear in mind.

To ensure a nice clean holes for the mounting bolts I actually printed the hole under size and drilled them out as appropriate, they are shown here as printed.

The installation process was simpler than the flight test motor mounts as there are less pieces to hold together. I also think it looks cleaner than the original pieces.

Strength wise I have no doubt that this well be less susceptible to the same style of failure as the original design. Everything is nice and snug with no visible deflection when tightening. That does however raise some concerns about the next failure. My mounts fit much more tightly around the tube and seem much less inclined to rotate as the originals would in a crash. This could make the frame itself or the arm tubes more vulnerable. Despite the much bulkier appearance these mounts only add 1.7g per corner. Each printed half weighs 4g for a total of 8g per corner whereas the Flit Test design weighs in at 6.3g per corner.

Now it’s time to get this rig back in the air, it has been several weeks since I broke flew it last.