GrouchoDuke
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Hey everybody. Last night I looked at the bad weather rolling in and decided to design a little 3d printed rocket instead of prepping rockets to fly this weekend. I printed a test rocket last night and made a few changes. I'm printing what should be my first flight version now.
If you'd like to print your own, here ya go: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2763166
It flies on the little Estes 13mm motors like the 1/2A3-4T. The body tube is sized so that the motor should be slightly loose, so you'll have to add a little bit of tape on your motor to get the right fit. The body tube thickness should give you just 1 layer, but that will depend on your printer & settings (my printer is set for 0.48mm extrusion width). It's a tumble (or maybe feather weight free fall) recovery rocket, so make sure your launch area is safe for that. The launch rod tube is sized for a 1/8" launch rod. It has a Von Karman nose cone because, well, it looks cool.
I printed mine in PETG with a layer thickness of 0.16mm. I'm using a modified Prusa i3 printer variant with a 0.4mm nozzle. The fins are pretty close to 45 degree overhangs, but there's not much base area for printer bed adhesion. So, I adjusted my support settings to print supports for the fins instead of just the body. Feel free to try your supports with or without supporting the fins. It's tough to print without them though. It might work well with some rafts instead of supports. YMMV.
<The OpenRocket file will go here once I get the weight & balance of the final print>
The recovery is something I'll definitely watch for when I fly it. The pointy nose isn't best if it comes in fast & stable. So, watch out for that.
If anyone makes one, I'd love to hear how it goes. Video & pictures would be great too. I'll fly it as soon as I get a chance, but the lakebeds here have to dry first.
If you'd like to print your own, here ya go: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2763166
It flies on the little Estes 13mm motors like the 1/2A3-4T. The body tube is sized so that the motor should be slightly loose, so you'll have to add a little bit of tape on your motor to get the right fit. The body tube thickness should give you just 1 layer, but that will depend on your printer & settings (my printer is set for 0.48mm extrusion width). It's a tumble (or maybe feather weight free fall) recovery rocket, so make sure your launch area is safe for that. The launch rod tube is sized for a 1/8" launch rod. It has a Von Karman nose cone because, well, it looks cool.
I printed mine in PETG with a layer thickness of 0.16mm. I'm using a modified Prusa i3 printer variant with a 0.4mm nozzle. The fins are pretty close to 45 degree overhangs, but there's not much base area for printer bed adhesion. So, I adjusted my support settings to print supports for the fins instead of just the body. Feel free to try your supports with or without supporting the fins. It's tough to print without them though. It might work well with some rafts instead of supports. YMMV.
<The OpenRocket file will go here once I get the weight & balance of the final print>
The recovery is something I'll definitely watch for when I fly it. The pointy nose isn't best if it comes in fast & stable. So, watch out for that.
If anyone makes one, I'd love to hear how it goes. Video & pictures would be great too. I'll fly it as soon as I get a chance, but the lakebeds here have to dry first.