qquake2k
Captain Low-N-Slow
- Joined
- Jan 26, 2010
- Messages
- 13,574
- Reaction score
- 65
I've put rail buttons on three high power rockets so far: My LOC-IV, Minie Magg, and Hyperloc 835. I drilled into the centering rings on all three (or tried to). I measured carefully, measured again, and drilled the holes. Got both into the centering rings the first try on the LOC-IV, so thought, "This isn't so difficult." Uh huh, sure it isn't!
On the Minie Magg, I got the first one, but missed the second one. What the heck? I measured and double checked myself just like I had on the LOC-IV. Then when I did the Hyperloc 835 today, I used a square/depth gauge to measure with, that I got at Harbor Freight. I measured the depth from the bottom of the body tube to the surface of the centering ring, making sure the gauge was on the wood and not on the epoxy. I locked the gauge, then used it to mark the depth on the outside of the body tube. Since the centering rings are 1/4" thick, I measured up 1/8" from the mark, thinking that this would be the center of the ring. But when I drilled, it just *barely* caught the top edge of the centering ring, instead of drilling into the center of it. What the heck? So I drilled 1/8" down from there, and it came out inside the rocket just brushing the rear of the centering ring. WHAT THE HECK???
I measured for the front rail button just like I had for the rear, and drilled right into the centering ring. I'm at a complete loss.
On the Minie Magg, I got the first one, but missed the second one. What the heck? I measured and double checked myself just like I had on the LOC-IV. Then when I did the Hyperloc 835 today, I used a square/depth gauge to measure with, that I got at Harbor Freight. I measured the depth from the bottom of the body tube to the surface of the centering ring, making sure the gauge was on the wood and not on the epoxy. I locked the gauge, then used it to mark the depth on the outside of the body tube. Since the centering rings are 1/4" thick, I measured up 1/8" from the mark, thinking that this would be the center of the ring. But when I drilled, it just *barely* caught the top edge of the centering ring, instead of drilling into the center of it. What the heck? So I drilled 1/8" down from there, and it came out inside the rocket just brushing the rear of the centering ring. WHAT THE HECK???
I measured for the front rail button just like I had for the rear, and drilled right into the centering ring. I'm at a complete loss.