Another Steam Punk" BAINBRIDGE "

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I love my mid course changes !! I'm not going to use the first centering ring I made--it's just too heavy and I don't need that much strength. The single layer cr's will do the job just fine. I'm going to run off a couple of cr's with a single side of glass and see if they meet my needs for the upper rings. This is all about weight. my gut tells me that's all I should need. As far as the folding fins go---the fourth pic is probably closer to the finished angle of deployment.I've come up with a simple solution to the wasp waist problem--I think--More later--H
 
I'm off today and yet another ice storm is moving in. I did some rough calculations and figured I was gonna be a little heavy no matter what I did so I'll just add some outboard 24's to help get the bird off the pad. That said no reason to re invent the wheel--I'll keep the rings I have--. I got them sanded to size. I HATE SANDING FG. I ran a bolt through the middle of each bulkhead and using a drill I proceeded to sand them to size. It took about 10 minutes per ring using 60 grit paper. I was working outside and the temps were falling. As luck would have it there was a lot of wind so the dust was not an issue---IMG_20150304_100230.jpg--the first thing I did was use a jig saw to cut off all that excess material--next I drilled a hole in the center and installed a bolt. I used a piece of wood on either side to help grip the plate ---it gives me a little compression---IMG_20150304_102313.jpg---and here is the first ring sanded--the fit was perfect--IMG_20150304_103042.jpg--I used a hole saw to cut the openings for the mmt's. At first I was just going to butt the 24's up to the bulkhead but in the end I decided to drill both out--just too much chance of mis- alignment--IMG_20150304_131817.jpgIMG_20150304_140426.jpg---installed looking from the nose down--IMG_20150304_141714.jpg--and the rear--IMG_20150304_141747.jpg--The alignment looks to be near perfect. I'll get the main mmt in tonight. Second stage motor will butt up against the first stage motor. I need to fg an outer tube to couple the two . I should get this done tonight. I'm using a sign holder for the mmt/ body tube. This is a really heavy tube but it takes all the loads and performance is not a goal here.---IMG_20150304_095544.jpg. I had planned on starting on the fin installation today but I have to get the nose section on and measured first. More later--H
 
I laid up the last ring tonight. I'll most likely wait for this weather to pass before sanding it down. I will however be able to get the tube length now and begin assembly of the second stage fins. I'll also start the baffle/recovery system.
 
I had a few minutes on my hands tonight so I finished a couple little things--I needed a coupler between the stages. At first I was going to fg a coupler but in the end I took a couple of toilet paper rolls and coated them with resin. The process was simple enough. I wraped a section of the tube I'm using with wax paper to protect it. next I cut a slit lengthwise along one tp tube. Next I coated the inside and outside of this tube and put it around the bt. I followed this by sliding the second tp tube over it and coating it with some fg resin. This should be plenty strong as a coupler--it's not load bearing--and should be a bit flame retardant. I will make slits in the side to clear the upper stage fin assemblies. These should also act as vents during staging. Here is the raw product-IMG_20150306_200302.jpg--I'm also ready to trim the flash off the last ring and sand it--IMG_20150306_200736.jpg---I did get the second stage shoulder cut and fit---IMG_20150306_200655.jpgIMG_20150306_200705.jpg.. Once I get the last two rings in and mount the main body tube I'll transition to a 3 in inner tube in the top stage. In the lower part of this I'll have a baffle followed by the recovery gear---h
 
Thanks guys, I had the day off today--sort of--and got some much needed work done. I sanded the flash off the external coupler. This act as a coupler between stages and a flash guard. When finished it will have slots for the upper stage fin assemblies and act as a vent. The two motors butt up to each other but if I have a slow light off this will act as a sort of gap/stage tube--I think/hope/pray---IMG_20150310_081829.jpgIMG_20150310_081908.jpgIMG_20150310_081918.jpgIMG_20150310_082049.jpg
 
It's time to get the nose area started and fit. I mounted the top centering ring--IMG_20150310_102213.jpg--followed by the shoulder--IMG_20150310_104812.jpg--and now the final centering ring--IMG_20150310_182702.jpg
 
I did a trial fit on the top stage and the shoulder is is a bit too tight----oh well--guess I'll be sanding a bit later.Anyway, I went ahead and fitted the center tube and butted every thing up. I pulled all sorts of measurements and said to myself--self I said--I'm not comfortable cutting things just yet ---soooo---I decided to cut the hole in the top of the flower pot thingy I'm using for the nose and measure up the 3 inch insert tube---IMG_20150310_185453.jpgIMG_20150310_185810.jpgIMG_20150310_191123.jpg--I'll be using these little ply plates for the baffle, they were left over from the Thunder Child project --IMG_20150310_191257.jpg--I went ahead and ran the center tube down the middle--NOW I HAVE A PROBLEM--There seems to be just a little misalignment , it's not bad but it's enough to make me nervous. I got everything together--with some effort----in the end I sprayed some silver paint inside the top section to get the cut line on the tube--no pics of that--Here is the project so far. The long tube up front will be cut off deep inside the nose section but for working purposes I have not done that yet.---IMG_20150310_194223.jpg--I'll get to work tomorrow on the tight fit and see where that leads me--more later---H
 
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IMG_20150310_185810.jpgOh yea, one more little mistake along the way. I cut the hole in the top section just a tick too big--I cut the outside of the line instead of the inside. Oh well no biggy. It's an easy fix and it may turn out to help me in the end with this tight fit problem--we'll see--Later--H
 
OK,I figured out the misalignment problem. It seems the hole in the lower ring of the top stage is just a bit off--this one---IMG_20150310_182702.jpg---My fix will be to enlarge the hole with the next biggest size hole saw I have and make a floating ring to go around the bt. once I get this aligned I'll epoxy everything in place. This could have been a lot worse problem if it had been the interior ring---I guess I got lucky.--H
 
And the fix is in. I enlarged the bad hole by 1/4 inch and ran a section of bt through the rocket from top to bottom---PERFECT !!!IMG_20150311_081812.jpg--The floating ring was easy enough to make out of plywood--until I cut my thumb and index finger--YIKES !! Here are the mmt parts and their relative positions , included is the floating ring----IMG_20150311_084320.jpg---and the dry final dry fit, the ring will be slid into final position when we start gluing things together---IMG_20150311_090044.jpg---I'm going to use tape to secure the upper stage motor but I'll make some kind of more active retainer for the lower stage. I have an Idea but it means a trip to Home Depot later today. more later---H
 
Well, this is turning out to be a productive day. I tacked all the mmt parts in place after they set for about an hour I went back and ran a bead of epoxy on all the joints. I followed this up by epoxying the floating ring in place --everything looks good and is aligned perfect---IMG_20150311_154912-001.jpg I also got the bulk plate for the cone laid up and installed--IMG_20150311_135540-001.jpgIMG_20150311_140426-001.jpgIMG_20150311_154920-001.jpg---Here is what the stack looks like so far--IMG_20150311_155956-001.jpgIMG_20150311_160016-001.jpg--I managed to get the glazing putty sanded down and a final coat of primer on the first stage..the second stage got its first coat of primer--it's gonna take some work--IMG_20150311_160143-001.jpg---I'm gonna take a break and start cutting the upper stage fins later----H
 
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OK, Back at it !! I have a little time off the next two days so I should make some progress. I went ahead and got a coat of glazing putty on the upper stage--this has since been sanded and primed--IMG_20150311_193113.jpg---The main focus is gonna be on the fin assembles---:facepalm::facepalm:-IMG_20150316_193203.jpg--:facepalm:-------more later-if I survive this ! H
 
Got a little more done, I went ahead and marked and drilled the holes for the dowel in the fin parts---IMG_20150317_091457.jpgIMG_20150317_090658.jpg--I did a quick prefit and marked and sanded off one corner of the fin for clearance--IMG_20150317_091655.jpgIMG_20150317_092150.jpg--I have no illusions that there won't be some stress in the hinge areas. I really gave this a lot of thought. I came up with some options to strengthen the balsa in those areas. 1-I could just CA the wood and call it good(not sold on that idea) 2-I could paper all the parts(this had a certain appeal and solved a lot of problems but in the end I nixed it). 3- glass the fins (ain't gonna happen---way to much work)----so what did I come up with??--This, I coated a single layer of glass and trapped it between two sheets of wax paper--next I laid this heavy wood block on top of it and stood on it to compress the resin. I ended up with this--IMG_20150318_190022.jpgIMG_20150318_190153.jpg--a very thin strong sheet of FG. Next I cut out about 20 washers with a hole saw. I smoothed off the edges and epoxied them to both sides of the retracting fin. These were trapped between two pieces of wood with a weight on top ( BIG CAN OF SOUP) and left to cure(10 min)----IMG_20150319_180108.jpgIMG_20150319_190353.jpg I'll do the same thing to the outside of the fin retainers more on all this later. So far this whole thing is going pretty smooth considering how complex this is turning out to be----Oh yea one more thing---I got two of these today for the rocket----IMG_20150319_190951.jpg--There will be one on both stages----12 bucks--a buddy of mine is gonna start handling these --I'll see how they are----more later---H
 
I dug my heals in today and got to work on the folding fin assemblies. The first thing I needed to do was sand some reliefs in the side retainers to clear the washers. Of course this meant creating yet another tool:facepalm:. I took my trusty hole saw and cut a bunch of balsa rounds until the saw was loaded then I capped that with a fiber washer from a previous build then a left over washer from this build and I glued a piece of sand paper to this---IMG_20150325_113225-001.jpg--IMG_20150325_114512-001.jpg--It worked ok--IMG_20150325_120000-001.jpg. I did a prefit and was happy with the clearances. I went ahead and epoxied some 1/4 inch elastic to the fin and after doing some finagling figured out the length I needed and epoxied the other end to a balsa retainer---IMG_20150325_123244-001.jpg-IMG_20150325_131131-001.jpg---you'll notice I tappered the tips, I also rounded over the leading edge and softened the trailing edges. I installed the elastic retainer unloaded and the installed the other other fin retainer when this assembly was dry(used yellow glue)--I pushed out the temporary hinge dowel and put in the permanent one--IMG_20150325_150110-001.jpg-- After letting this set for a while I sanded the base of the fin assemblies to match the body tube--easy enough --wrap a piece of sand paper around a bt and go to town -- this should give me a really nice contact areaIMG_20150325_160735-001.jpg----and here's the nearly completed product--IMG_20150325_162330-001.jpg. I still need to install the backstops---YOUR GONNA LOVE THIS !!------Later H
 
I can see you have just as much fun making the tools..... Beautiful and original scratch build.
 
Thanks Ken and yes ap the tool making thing is kinda fun, That said a nice big shop would be really nice but I live in the apartment world !! Well, back at it. I've got all these parts and I need to put them to use----IMG_20150326_123821-001.jpg---I'll be using all this to make the pistons that will also act as the stops---in the end I hope this helps the locomotive look !
 
Early on in this build I new I wanted some sort of piston or ram looking thing on the fins. It fit the steam punk style and helped with the other styling ques I was looking for. As the build evolved , I was able to incorporate this idea as my fin stops. After playing with the various positions I finally came up with a basic layout that I liked. I picked a spot on the lower part of the fin for the arm attachment point. It's about 1/3 the way in from the rear of the fin . This passes any loads through the thickest part of the fin. In the retracted position I drilled a small hole through the fin assembly--IMG_20150326_125253.jpg--A small dowel will pass through the fin here---Next I cut out a small notch in the outer panels--IMG_20150326_131758.jpg--IMG_20150326_132616.jpg-I decided to set the fin angle at 45deg. I marked all fin sets and drilled a small hole for a dowel to lock the fins in this position.This made handling much easier--IMG_20150326_135118-001.jpg--after figuring out how much throw I needed I was able to come up with a piston assembly and fit it. The dowel slides smoothly in and out. At the rear of the dowel I drilled a tiny hole about 1/2 inch deep and epoxied a steel fishing leader in. Later the other end will be fixed to the side panels and these assemblies will act as the fin stops--IMG_20150326_155020-001.jpg--IMG_20150326_155709-001.jpg--IMG_20150326_155721.jpgIMG_20150326_155714-001.jpgIMG_20150326_155709-001.jpgIMG_20150326_155721-001.jpg--The piston attachment spot turned out to be a little weak,plus I needed some kind of spacer for the arm to keep it stable..I drilled out a piece of dowel and slid it over the smaller dowel. In the end this will be glued in place ,both strengthening the are and serving as a spacer--
 
Awesome build thread. I mean, just the bit about creating your custom disk sander, love it.
 
Thanks Sam, I'm planning on bringing this out to the next launch, not sure if it will be ready to fly by then but there is a good chance!! The fins are almost complete. I sprayed the fins with a light coat of flat black. I didn't take a lot of time filling the grain since they are hidden for the most part and I did not want the wood to swell(really close tolerances). The piston arms were painted silver and the containers flat black. once everything was put together I used some small nuts and threaded them onto the pivot dowels. I then cut the dowels off at the nuts---later I'll put a drop of glue on top of the nut. The wire stops were epoxied to the sides of the outer skins and covered with a small block of balsa which was also epoxied. After this the pig tails were cut off. I'm gonna let these set overnight before running them through some cycles and fine tuning them----here's some pics---IMG_20150327_160053.jpgIMG_20150327_160106.jpgIMG_20150327_160121.jpgIMG_20150327_160128.jpgIMG_20150327_160135.jpgIMG_20150327_160722.jpgIMG_20150327_161432.jpgIMG_20150327_161637.jpg
 
The fins are mounted to the second stage. Their reaction time is a bit slower than before when they were raw but I'm sure I can tune that little problem out..Still a long long way to go but now I see the light at the end of the tunnel.The nuts holding on the cylinders are really,really close(I'm more lucky than good I guess). Anyway, it all fit. I'm gonna let this whole thing sit for a day or so and then start tuning on it, After that the detail stuff starts to happen--IMG_20150327_221931-001.jpg---IMG_20150327_222028-001.jpg---more later--H
 
I thought I'd shift gears a little today and play around with the camera mounts. I've started with the upper stage camera which will be looking backwards. The process was simple enough. I put the camera on a discarded piece of BT and covered it with heat shrink plastic held in place by duct tape. i heated it with a blow dryer and laid a single layer of glass cloth on it. after it cured I marked the areas for the buttons. I cut it off the tube with an exacto knife and cut out the holes. Alittle clean up with sand paper and it was ready for primer. All in all it came out pretty smooth with only a couple little areas that needed work. I mounted it with #4 screws which as it turns out were a little bigger than I wanted (should have taken the part with me when I bought the screws) Oh well I'll see if I can work around them. I also got a couple screws just a tick out of line( crap-crap-crap) I can fix that easy enough.--IMG_20150331_184141.jpgIMG_20150331_184638.jpgIMG_20150331_185813.jpgIMG_20150401_071704.jpgIMG_20150401_130347.jpgIMG_20150401_132239.jpgIMG_20150401_132551.jpg-----I've yet to decide how I'm going to mount the rear camera which will look forward ---between the fins or on a fin tip---I'm leaning for the fin tip since it would give a really good view of things during staging. If I go that route I'll likely permanently mount the camera . One odd thing to note--these cameras are flat black---they are painted flat black over a gloss black shell, buttons and all !!! When I took the camera out of the mold the paint had crazed. It never touched the glass resin . The vapors during curing did it. No damage otherwise but a little odd to say the least. I'm gonna sit back and think about the rear mount for a while---more later---H
 
With this rocket you are opening a new age of science and precision engineering from well laid plans. Industrial might powered by steam and standardized parts will lift us from the inefficient and dogmatic Old World craftsmanship and cottage industry. Onward to modernity! With two stages we will soon be able to reach Mars and Venus again! The British have no chance. Those lovely flower buds are in storage on the top shelves in Colorado and Washington States and will be ready to sooth the crews of any naughty bugs they make pick up on their deep space adventures. Watch out for the green dancing space chicks James Tiberius Kirk!
 
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