View Full Version : RotorWorkz G10 Frame Review
OICU812
12-05-2006, 02:42 AM
Good point, I would surely pay the few extra bucks to have em in there from the get go. :)
Finless
12-05-2006, 05:18 AM
The bearing holders are CUSTOM.... Charlie would have to make them and I am sure that would raise the cost. You sure you guys want that?
Bob
WillJames
12-05-2006, 05:28 AM
I don't think any of hte other aftermarket frames sold come with the custom Align bearing holders either from what I hear.
Finless
12-05-2006, 05:45 AM
NOPE.... no one (like MJP Carbon) has bearing holders!
They are REPLACEMENT frames and you pretty much are expected to have a KIT. How would you have the heli otherwise anyway?
Bob
The bearing holders are CUSTOM.... Charlie would have to make them and I am sure that would raise the cost. You sure you guys want that?
Bob
Yes, bring out a true plug-and-play frame set so we don't have to fiddle and file things. If the frames end up costing ~$5 more, big deal.
Cheers,
Tom C
Ticidytoc
12-05-2006, 11:42 AM
:arggg:
:arggg:
Most 'good' after market upgrades are plug and play, not fiddle and file, which says the maker has not thought it all the way out to begin with imop.
Cheers,
Tom C
Rotorworkz
12-05-2006, 12:33 PM
I will be Looking into adding bearings I just wanted to be able to offer cheaper replacement frame with improved features. And some of you are right it may add a few extra $
As for having to file the Bearing block centering holes I will relax the tolerances I wanted a perfect and precise fit no problem to fix
Charley
WillJames
12-05-2006, 12:35 PM
That is hard Tom. ;)
My L14 frames had to be filed a little to get a couple of the cros braces in there. :)
king kong
12-05-2006, 02:15 PM
I didn't have any trouble with the bearing blocks. they were tight, but i just kept tightening the bolts until they popped into place. looks like they're gonna work pretty nice.
OICU812
12-05-2006, 02:44 PM
good points..
SteveL
12-05-2006, 03:01 PM
There is always one. :shock:
There is always one. :shock:
Don't think I'm the only one! Big difference in doing minor adjustments while building a heli. Everyone needs, or should, do this. But if you are going to sell after market replacement parts, these should be a direct fit.
The Align replacement frames (Al and CF) come with bearings installed so duh, maybe others should as well.
This is just my opinion, which I think is the idea of a forum. If you don't agree, say so and say why. Head-banging and other non-value adding one liners are not very useful imop.
Cheers,
Tom C
oldschool269
12-05-2006, 05:59 PM
wouldnt mind an add on to the vid , with this bearing removal and replacement
being demonstrated ///
i live too far from a model shop to F___ it up ..
how bout it bob ??
no biggie
Jason
Ticidytoc
12-05-2006, 08:47 PM
I'm sure if Rotorworks cut some bearing retainers for the frame they would be more than $5 more.
Now if he did include them, I'm sure there are some who would complain that they are not installed.
So now, Charley has to go and install them. How much should he charge for his time and labor ?
Then you will have those that complain that he didn't include the bearing itself.
How much should he charge for those ? Oh, you want that installed ? Now how much is that frame set ?
I knew it would only be a matter of time before someone like Rotorworkz put out a low cost alternative to the expensive Align frames.
Thanks Charley ! :woohoo
wouldnt mind an add on to the vid , with this bearing removal and replacement
being demonstrated ///
i live too far from a model shop to F___ it up ..
how bout it bob ??
no biggie
Jason
Thats a great idea! Bob, Get to work !
Tic,
Maybe Charley should offer 2 versions, with bearings installed and without. Charge say $10-15 more for the with bearings installed version.
The other guy selling G10 frames out of Asia right now has now included these bearing (because most people wanted them) and has not increased his prices.
See;
www.rcgroups.com/forums/showthread.php?t=579175&highlight=g10+trex+600
Cheers,
Tom C
Ticidytoc
12-05-2006, 11:47 PM
Tom, I saw that frame before.
A few things I like about the Rotorworkz frame vs. the competition. Rather than copy the Align frame, Rotorworkz took it a step further. By the looks of things it may survive a crash better if some of the weak points in the frame were addressed as it appears to me.
I also prefer to support the local guys when I can.
Tic,
I think I see what you mean. Looks like a duplicate of the Align frame with a big hole in it to allow for larger dia motors. This has got to weaken things a bit. Mind you, the way I crash, the frames will probably only a small part of the total cost to repair!
I like buying local too. I don't mind spending 20-25% more to help support the locals. After that, I go elsewhere.
Cheers,
Tom C
Tim Tompkins
12-06-2006, 02:32 PM
Tom, If you want it all done you will be very disapointed with your upcomming Min. Air. kit. There is nothing pre built and that's the way most of us " modelers" like it. I seem to like a little challenge. Do you have any idea of the size of the staff at rotorworkz? The last I talked to Charlie he was getting a helper in the boat part. The other person is his wife. Charlie is a big help to us and his contribution is often not realized. BTW Charlie is LOCAL here in North Port for some of us. He is first a hobbiest and makes most of this stuff to help a problem or give better choices to the flyers. A cheap, better solution is hard to come up with when you are talking about Align. I think these frames will be on more than a few 600's this summer.
TimT
Tim,
I have built a few heli's, including a MA Ion-x. I enjoy a good build just like you. Although I must admit, I like flying more.
Even MA pre-install locknuts and some bushes onto their frames. This is to ensure that you do not muck up the frames, trying to install these things yourself. It must not be a big job, or MA would not be doing it.
I don't see what the big deal is for Charley to simply add a couple of bearing holders and bearings (or at least just the bearing holder) to his frames. If he is as good as you say he is, this would be a pretty fast and easy job for him. A lot easier job that I would have trying to press out my bearings from my Al frames and re-installing them on the G10 frames.
Also, Align does not sell the elevator bearing holders separately (they come with replacement framesets only) so if you muck them up what do you do? The bearings themselves are easy to source.
While I don't expect 100% plug-and-play I think that at least the bearing holders should be preinstalled, or at the very least, included with these framesets imop.
Cheers,
Tom C
Finless
12-06-2006, 10:08 PM
Charlie would have to make the bearing holder as I do not think it is spared by Align!!!! Charlie would have to make or have that holder made and for low volumes this can be expensive! Remember these are replacement frames so it is assumed you have a Trex600 crashed or old frames anyway. Honestly I dont see the big deal.....
Bob
I see your point Bob. The guy in Asia selling G10 frames, who now includes bearing holders and bearings installed, probably gets them from the same supplier as Align, who contracts out their CNC work, for pennies. This would probably cost a lot more in the US, esp with small runs.
If (or when!) I crash my Trex 600 Al version, I'll be able to evaluate how easy the bearing holders are to remove. If I got them out ok I'd probably try a set of Charley's G10's.
What I would not do right now is to order a set and replace my perfectly good Al frames with them just in case I mucked them up. Like you say, Align does not sell the elevator bearing holders separately so you'd be in trouble if you broke or bent one.
I agree, for very good builders like yourself, this is probably no big deal. And sorry, I didn't intend to make it see like one either. I really just wanted to point out the potential pitfalls of getting replacement frames without these bearing holders included and/or installed, esp for average builders like myself.
Cheers,
Tom C
WillJames
12-07-2006, 05:24 AM
The other options is there are probably bearings with a flange available that don't need the holders like the stock frames use.
Either way, since they are replacement frames, I am not really that interested in paying more when it takes 5 minutes to put the bearings from the ones you are replacing into Charley's frames.
Will,
If you, or anyone, knows where to get these flanged bearings, at a reasonable cost, please let us all know.
Cheers,
Tom C
RyanW
12-30-2006, 06:12 PM
Hello,
I don't know how in the world you can say that removing the bearing holders is an easy chore. Seriously it has been almost the biggest pain I have experienced in helicopters in years!!! I used the socket method and on the second piece it deformed the aluminum so bad from the pressure it took to get out of the frame that it will no longer accept the bearing. What has not been mentioned here is that these aluminum bearing holders are secured to the frame by mechanically deforming the aluminum on the inside of the frame, so that it forms a kind of rivet. Once you do get the bearing holder out of the frame, you have that lip to figure out how to remove. You can file it by hand (which I did on the first one) for about 45 min or hit it with a dremel tool. Either way you are out quite a bit of time modifying the bearing holder so that you can insert it into the G-10 frames. Ridiculous.
Now that I have gone through three (had to get some crashed parts from friends) carbon frames to get two good bearing holders and spent at least an hour working them over to get them to fit into the frame, I am excited to get this thing back in the air! Oops... you have to file every freakin' hole where something fits into the frame. I don't mean like just file it a little bit; it is dremel time all over the place! I have had it with these frames. Modifying them to the point of use has taken three times longer than it would have taken to rebuild with stock or other aftermarket frames. Not worth the money savings due to how much labor you have to put into them if you ask me!
I would ask for a refund, but these things have been "worked on". I rarely get online forums and talk negative about products, but I feel like people need to know before spending a little money and a lot of precious time trying to make these things work. Unless there is a BIG change to how these are made and offered with bearing holder (like other aftermarket frames out there), I would pass. If there are one or two of you out there who have had an "easy" time doing this, please please post a video for the majority of us who have had a bear of a time with these!