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Balsa Man wrote:

sciolyrulz wrote:Hi!!
This is my first time doing Towers.
I am pretty confused about the word "span" in part 3a in the Towers rules, which says "The Tower must span a 20 cm x 20 cm opening on a test base and may be placed on the Test Base surface in any configuration.."
Does the tower base have to be completely outside the opening (A), or can it "overlap" the square opening in some parts (B)? In other words, does the 20 x 20 opening have to be completely clear? or can I have parts of my tower's base covering some of the edges?
I drew some diagrams to maybe help.
Thank you so much!!
https://docs.google.com/drawings/d/14Sg ... sp=sharing

This was discussed in earlier posts
Your figure B is fine. "Span' simply means legs touch base outside. Also see thread on 29cm circle bonus.

Thank you!

Just a quick note, be sure to see post in new topic on testing and using buckling strength. Some new insights, and important clarification for previous discussions.

Hi guys, Nice to meet you all!
Personal Introduction: I have been doing Scioly a couple years now and I've looked at the forums for a while now. But I now have a question, so I joined now.

Question: Our school recently got a laser cutter (30 watt epilog mini/helix) and I was wondering what settings I should use for cutting 1/8 and 1/16 thickness balsa wood. The manual for it is here https://www.epiloglaser.com/downloads/p ... .22.10.pdf on page 196, but it doesn't include balsa wood, and balsa is quite different from harder woods. I was wondering what settings I should use/you would recommend for cutting 1/8 and 1/16 balsa wood (Speed, power and frequency). In addition to that, I was wondering if laser cutting is even a good idea or recommended at all (I remember seeing it a couple years back, but not in the most recent year).

Thanks Again!

Any tips for keeping the tower light?

What do you think about make a tower that has a circular base and top rather than square?

Tanner wrote:What do you think about make a tower that has a circular base and top rather than square?

wouldn't recomend it

To Sciencevale;
It really depends on what stage of building and the weight of your tower. I personally feel that if your tower is over 15 grams, then it is still possible for some portions of the wood to be made smaller/lighter, without really affecting the strength tower (as it only needs to hold 15 kg). On the other hand, if your tower is already very light and all the wood is fairly optimized, it may be possible to cut weight from using less glue (not recommended, due to how important strong joints are), sanding down the ends of bracing (so they don't extend past where they are glued), or making the tower smaller or shorter, depending on the margin you currently have.

To Tanner;
I have not personally researched or tested it, but I would think that it would be rather difficult to consistently build and that a square one could achieve a similar score with less time and effort. That said, it should be possible for such a design to work well, the question may be if it is worth all time and effort, when a square one would be similar.

Nathan4444 wrote:Hi guys, Nice to meet you all!
Personal Introduction: I have been doing Scioly a couple years now and I've looked at the forums for a while now. But I now have a question, so I joined now.

Question: Our school recently got a laser cutter (30 watt epilog mini/helix) and I was wondering what settings I should use for cutting 1/8 and 1/16 thickness balsa wood. The manual for it is here https://www.epiloglaser.com/downloads/p ... .22.10.pdf on page 196, but it doesn't include balsa wood, and balsa is quite different from harder woods. I was wondering what settings I should use/you would recommend for cutting 1/8 and 1/16 balsa wood (Speed, power and frequency). In addition to that, I was wondering if laser cutting is even a good idea or recommended at all (I remember seeing it a couple years back, but not in the most recent year).

Thanks Again!

Welcome to the forum.
Laser cutters are very cool tools.

Let me say first, I don't have direct experience using one. That said, don't think it will be helpful for wood cutting for towers. Two possible cutting needs; end cutting sticks, and 'stripping' (cutting sticks from sheets). Depending on whether you're B or C, legs are on the order of 24"- sounds like the model you have isn't big enough to handle the size. Doing end cuts on sticks (with a sharp razor blade or fine-toothed razor saw) with just a little practice will be much easier/quicker.

Sciencevale wrote:Any tips for keeping the tower light?

Again, welcome. And again, not as a put-down: Go back to the beginning of this thread, and read through all the info. Seriously, I'm not saying this as a put-down. There's a series of basic ideas and scientific concepts that if you understand and follow will guide you to how to make the lightest tower that will handle the load.

Tanner wrote:What do you think about make a tower that has a circular base and top rather than square?

And again, welcome, and no put-down: think it would be a cool art project, if you don't care about how you score/place. Very hard to build with anywhere near the needed precision, and inherently using a lot more wood than is needed. Sorry, but that's just how it is. Again, go back through the discussion that has developed, and learn the reasons why, and how to design a tower that's competitive.

Nathan4444 wrote:Hi guys, Nice to meet you all!
Personal Introduction: I have been doing Scioly a couple years now and I've looked at the forums for a while now. But I now have a question, so I joined now.

Question: Our school recently got a laser cutter (30 watt epilog mini/helix) and I was wondering what settings I should use for cutting 1/8 and 1/16 thickness balsa wood. The manual for it is here https://www.epiloglaser.com/downloads/p ... .22.10.pdf on page 196, but it doesn't include balsa wood, and balsa is quite different from harder woods. I was wondering what settings I should use/you would recommend for cutting 1/8 and 1/16 balsa wood (Speed, power and frequency). In addition to that, I was wondering if laser cutting is even a good idea or recommended at all (I remember seeing it a couple years back, but not in the most recent year).

Thanks Again!

I do a lot of laser cutting. For projects that need to be precise, laser cutting is not recommended. Chemical inconsistencies in wood will make cuts microscopically inconsistent, creating weak points in your structure. If you need to strip wood, use a bladed wood stripper.

bernard wrote: I do a lot of laser cutting. For projects that need to be precise, laser cutting is not recommended. Chemical inconsistencies in wood will make cuts microscopically inconsistent, creating weak points in your structure. If you need to strip wood, use a bladed wood stripper.

I'll definitely take your word for it, since you're speaking from experience, but can you elaborate on why there'd be a difference? The wood would have small inconsistencies regardless of how you cut it. Does the laser vaporize some trapped water causing mini-explosions? I would have just assumed that the laser would essentially function as an even thinner blade.