What's your favorite non-tool building tool?

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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.
 
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!
 
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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!

That just reminded me: big heavy duty boxes made of thick cardboard like the kind you get at Costco to put your groceries in. Use it to make angled sanding jigs to carve the correct angle into glider wing root edges or to support the wing at the correct dihedral angle while the glue dries; making fin alignment jigs; temporary rocket support cradles while building...the uses are endless as material for making more temp tools. I've used the same large box as a "painting booth" for ages (keeps the paint off the garage floor and more or less contains the overspray).

BTW, made some of those PVC cradles and never thought to use them as a painting stand. Thanks for the great idea!
 
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.
 
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.

Thanks Doc, no offense taken, at the moment I'm still in the process of acquiring better tools more suited to the job, but in the meantime relying on what I have. As an old timer who grew up with inches/feet instead of metric and also dislikes having to convert fractions to decimal and back, I rely on those conversion charts or software because I'm admittedly impatient...or lazy...or both. Anything that slows down a build is irritating (my wife's very good about this and doesn't interrupt me when I'm in the middle of a build--unless it's an emergency like a grease fire or the neighbor kid set the cat on fire).
 
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
 
...and then you can put a 24mm motor casing over the 18mm motor case to do D/E rockets. An Estes BP 29mm motor case is a really tight fit over the 24s. So, with a half-inch diameter dowel and some spent motors you can handle anything from 13mm to 29mm motor mount rockets. I probably have half a dozen of these dowels now for use as holding fixtures for painting/applying Future to most everything I've built, though it starts to get awkward with a 29mm motor mount model much heavier than a Star Orbiter.
 
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

goose_in_co

BEC Great tips gents!
 
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.
 
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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.

I keep my hotel room keys for just this reason. Also gift cards with no balance, fake credit cards with the "WE'D LOVE YOU TO HAVE A CREDIT CARD" offers ... that way you can chuck 'em when you're done and don't have to worry about cleaning them.
 
Liquid laundry detergent comes with very heavy wall polyethylene measuring cups that make great epoxy mixing cups. Indestructible and you can't beat the price. And kitchen bag clips provide light, no-mar clamping for all kinds of assemblies.
 
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.


@qavins @ActingLikeAKid I agree with the plastic card idea. Great for spreading a thin even layer of glue over a largish area.
 
Yeah, cleaning them can be a pain. I've found a sturdy steel straight edge, like the one in your combo square (take the head off) is good for that. I tried using the combo square edge for spreading stuff, but it is too sharp and stiff.

I like having a variety of the plastic cards, because some are more or less stiff than others, which makes them better for this or that job. Credit cards are pretty stiff, my old expired Blue Cross card is more flexible, etc.
 
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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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 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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Impressive builds! Oh, and great ideas for recycling CD discs. I used an old CD as a fin marking guide by gluing a circular piece of paper to it marked off for 3, 4, and 5-fin positions then glued a strong magnet to it and various size spent engine casings. They slide into the end of the rocket. The magnets keep the CD and casing tightly stuck together so that the guide can be used in either vertical or horizontal positions.
 
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.
Ooh, I like. I cut 3 or 4 inch squares of cardboard for the same purpose, but I like the CD idea better.
 
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.

Foamcore boards are also great. I keep finding new ways to use the leftover scraps, like easily building dihedral jigs, mocking up different size/shape parts to test fit them, and even used it to build small fins and glider wings. Much easier to cut than thick C grade balsa and basswood, and I'd much rather sacrifice Foamcore scraps than wood.
 
Plastic champagne/wine glass make great stands.
Also,like many others..credit cards, coffee creamer cups, tooth picks,dowels....yada.

stand.jpg
 
I like baking parchment a lot - much better than wax paper for fiberglass layups.

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.
 
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.

lcorinth

Great tip. I've been experimenting with bending balsa using ammonia solution and it sounds like a good way to speed up drying while it's wrapped around the mandrel/form.
 
Out of frustration trying to spread a thin layer of epoxy in a tight area (elevator hinge) I folded a thin strip of aluminum from a soda can in half and attached it to end of a wooden chopstick (a small dowel will do but the chopstick conveniently had a flat end, making it easy to tape the strip to). Works better than a popsicle stick because it's thin and flexible. The other end of the stick is convenient for stirring the epoxy and hardener together and scraping any excess off the surfaces you're joining.

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