Hello all,

My friend and I managed to get access to a laser cutter recently and we wanted to try our hand at making some templates. Problem is that we can't really find anything on dimensions for the templates, mainly the banks and sharps. Are there any numbers out there on them or is it pretty much just grab some graph paper and calipers and go to town?

I measured the templates, then laid them out in CAD. What file format do you need for your laser cutter? I might be able to save you some time.

I need dxf files for the laser cutter. I also have access to creo 2.0 and I think I can get into solidworks as well if it is easier to just send parts or drawings.

Here is the information I got when I asked the same question

All distances are in mm.

Forward templates:

Each '1' is 40 mm, the same length as the side of the small ship plastic base.

Fwd1 = 40

Fwd2 = 80

Fwd3 = 120

Fwd4 = 160

Fwd5 = 200

Hard turn templates:

Turn # - Inside radius - Outside radius:

1 - 25 - 45

2 - 53 - 73

3 - 80 - 100

Bank turn templates:

Bank # - Inside radius - Outside radius:

1 - 70 - 90

2 - 120 - 140

3 - 170 - 190

I haven't had anyone directly challenge these measures, but I did exchange info with one company making acrylic templates available on the market and we disagreed very slightly on two measurements for the hard 1 and hard 2 turns, but I find it minor enough to not care.

Their average radius for the hard turn 1 and 2 gave: 36 and 62, while mine are 35 and 63. I have no idea what their inside and outside radii are for those moves. Everything else was identical.

What triggered this intensive search:

exposition of the problem: http://teamcovenant.com/mu0n/2013/10/22/the-most-urgently-needed-fixes-for-the-x-wing-modules-of-vassal/

details of the problems: http://teamcovenant.com/mu0n/2013/11/28/the-road-to-4-6-0-and-better-firing-arcs/

I'm not sure how much experience you have with a laser cutter, but since you were talking about measuring the templates with calipers, I'll assume you really want them to be exact. When the laser cuts acrylic, depending on the laser's calibration for acrylic cuts (balancing between speed and intensity depending upon acrylic thickness), it will melt a little acrylic on each cut, making your templates slightly smaller than you drew them. If that bothers you, measure a cut template and divide the difference between the drawn and the cut template length by 2, then offset your template boundaries by that amount.

The acrylic you're using might be thin enough that the difference is negligee, but since we're dealing in millimeters, I thought I'd mention it.

Yeah that would bother my friend, thanks for the tip!