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Nearly 3 Weeks of Yoke and dual controls


Boeing 737 3d Printed Yoke
Final Design for the 737 3D Printed Yoke

Hi Guys,


Creating dual yoke controls has been an epic task! Not so much the design phase, but the print time for the prototypes, the re-designs and the print time again. That said these complex compound curves have made me realise my CAD design limitations. Add in the frequent power cuts and printer breakdowns, this has lead to some extremely long lead times.

Ender 3 Blockages
My New broken Ender 3 Pro Printer

In the photo above, the printer had been printing 22 hours into a 32-hour print. When I awoke in the morning, The printer was checked to find that the PTFE tubing had become detached and the nozzle had blocked. I need a new hot end coupling. That will take at least another 3 weeks, bummer! (the plastic clip was fitted)


As some of you will know, I actually have a yoke and column to copy. My first design somehow ended up massive! This lead to a redesign and another 3 days of printing with losses. Im now solely relying on the cheap tronxy A8 printer, which in the 3 years I have had it, has not failed yet. (It will now of course, as I have just said that!) Below you can see the different stages of design.


737 yoke design
Top, 1st attempt, middle the unit I'm trying to copy, bottom the final prototype.

The unit feels sturdy, strong and can easily drive the control gearboxes. When i go for the final prints, I might use a much higher infill for an even sturdier feel. Currently a single complete yoke take 3 days to print. The Yoke head with the gearbox, another day. So you can hopefully see what is taking so long. I think this weekend, i can start filming and building the units. The quality is not there due to no ender 3, but at least the tronxy is allowing me to complete the task.



737 yoke and head
737 Yoke with working switches and gearbox control head.

I hope that has kept you interested in the build. I realise this is taking a while and I knew it would which is why I have left until the end with the throttle unit.


If you have any feedback or suggestions, please let me know.


Kind Regards


Karl



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