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Lately it's been Bandaids.
Tony
Tony
Lately it's been Bandaids.
Tony
Bamboo skewers and throw away chopsticks are my most used, repurposed items.
You know that may work even better than my idea, maybe with a two small notches on opposite sides?
Where do I get an aluminum straw?
Oops, never mind
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01MY5WMGO/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Two creative drying methods (not quite the exact thing you asked, but sort of?)
1: Tie the shock cord to something and suspend the rocket. This is really useful for kits where there's no easy way to stand it up to let it dry, particularly when you've just finished the fins. I had a class of kids building the BMS school rocket and stuck a yardstick between two tables. Bam, instant drying rack.
2. Amazon box, brick inside, wooden skewer stuck through the top makes a great way to dry a lightweight rocket. For something heavier (or for painting), use a thicker stick, one that you can build up to the thickness of a motor.
And a bonus:
This was a fun discovery: You know that "rocket cradle" everyone makes quickly out of PVC? The one that looks like an "x" from the end? Get a longer piece of PVC and put it in instead of one of the top pieces. Set something heavy on the bottom of the cradle (couple of bricks, sledgehammer, whatever you have handy). Slide your rocket onto the long piece of PVC and you've just made a painting stand!
Okay Illustrator is actually a software tool but I think it qualifies because it was never meant for building a rocket.
But I find it invaluable for:
1) stupid instructions like "measure 5.9 inches from one end". Normal rulers don't measure in decimals. But Illustrator does. I can just draw a line or box "5.9" long" and print it out to use as a template.
2) Scratch building/designing my own models. I can't count the times I have ideas in my head that don't quite work on paper. Being able to see that in Illustrator first saves me the woe of ordering parts and cutting only to find something doesn't quite work.
A fraction to decimal conversion chart..
Or a dial caliper..
Sorry Rktman, I don't mean to sound like a dick or a know-it-all.. But I deal with things like this daily.
5.9" is very close to 5-7/8" (5.875") or 5-29/32" (5.90625"). But I agree, this is badly done, and that's assuming the assembler knows that the measurement has been rounded.. (which also means the measurement isn't critical.. 5-7/8" ± 1/16" ore more...) Also, finding 1/32" on a ruler is hard.
1/2" dowel with a screw eye in the end. That end can hang on a hook on the rafter in the basement, the other end fits into the motor mount on a mini-motor rocket for painting and hanging the rocket up to dry. For standard engines, slide a used standard engine onto the dowel, it fits tight and then the same dowel can hold your standard engined rockets. I have several of these hanging in the basement rocket room along with a row of hooks on the rafter to hang them.
Goose
Credit cards, driver's license, insurance ID cards, etc. Good for applying filler to flat surfaces like fins, for smoothing on decals, the corners are good for fillets, etc.
Credit cards, driver's license, insurance ID cards, etc. Good for applying filler to flat surfaces like fins, for smoothing on decals, the corners are good for fillets, etc.
Zip ties for temporary hold on tubes without crushing. Rubber bands work also, but zip ties don't have to go on from the end and are more adjustable. [Joining tubes, for example: 1) Use glue with a good few minuted of working time. 2) Butter up and insert the coupler into both tubes. 3) Lay the assembly into a piece of angle such as you might use for marking. 4) Use two zip ties on each tube to assure that each one is lying dead straight on the angle. The tubes are now in perfect alignment. I built my Mean Machine this way.]
I second toothpicks, wire hangers, and big cardboard boxes. I once made a poor man's paint booth out of a box about 18 or 20 inches square by 36 or 40 inches tall give or take, and suspended rockets inside it from various lengths of hanger wire.
I glue used engine casings to old CD-ROMs to make work/storage stands for my LPR stuff. I leave the stand in the rocket to protect the fins during transport.
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Ooh, I like. I cut 3 or 4 inch squares of cardboard for the same purpose, but I like the CD idea better.I glue used engine casings to old CD-ROMs to make work/storage stands for my LPR stuff. I leave the stand in the rocket to protect the fins during transport.
I would like to add matte board. I use it for stands, drying holders, parts stock, etc. It's easy to cut and fairly stiff, and I get free "scraps" (up to about 12" by 24") from when they frame artworks at school.
I like baking parchment a lot - much better than wax paper for fiberglass layups.
Plastic champagne/wine glass make great stands.
Also,like many others..credit cards, coffee creamer cups, tooth picks,dowels....yada.
Ooh, I'm glad someone mentioned parchment! I use it sometimes for wicking away moisture for certain things.
For example, if I put CWF on fins, they dry much faster between parchment sheets than they do between waxed paper. Also, if I have to de-warp fins with Windex, I let the fins dry for a day in plastic wrap, then switch to parchment. Again, it wicks the moisture away much better, letting the fins dry out faster.
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