L3 - really?? Tekcub 3L

les said:

After all the tubes were installed, I injected some epoxy to clean up the tube/fin joints. Then more 2 part foam

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Tomorrow I will install the other half of the pod tube...

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What 2 part foam are you using? I've wondered what kind would be good in rocketry. I'm going to be building my L3 rocket soon, and I want to try that method.

mperegrinefalcon said:

What 2 part foam are you using? I've wondered what kind would be good in rocketry. I'm going to be building my L3 rocket soon, and I want to try that method.

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Public Missiles Ltd 2 part expanding foam. Available from Wildman and other distributers.
Do not use the spray can foam from the hardware stores

Ok, I'll have to get some. I've heard that about the hardware store expanding foam. What's the issue with it?

mperegrinefalcon said:

Ok, I'll have to get some. I've heard that about the hardware store expanding foam. What's the issue with it?

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It never really cures inside a tube due to lack of air

Oh ok. I can see how that would be an issue.

The balance of the tubes are installed. Using some Bondo to clean up the joints between the tube/cone and the tubes (after I divided them)

Some then some sanding.

Ya know - these things have been a bigger pain than I thought they would be...........

les said:

Ya know - these things have been a bigger pain than I thought they would be...........

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Okay but, they are going to look really really cool when this project is complete!

Started doing the fillet on the tube to the body and fins

Taped guidelines, epoxy applied, and results.



Only 2 more to go....

Coming out smokin Les...
Keep up that meticulous work....

Teddy

Thanks Teddy

Finished doing the fillet for all 3 tubes

Decided to test fit the strakes - yes, that is a rubber band holding them on....



Actually a little concerned it's become too busy

You could make the strakes shorter. Also, don’t forget to leave a clear channel for rail buttons. Lol

pendrin2020 said:

You could make the strakes shorter. Also, don’t forget to leave a clear channel for rail buttons. Lol

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Yep - already thought of that but thanks for the reminder.

I've got a 1.66" gap at the body tube for the 1.5" 1515 rail. A bit tight (0.16") but the distance separates as you move away from the body. The rail button move the rail up a smidgen. And I may cheat and move the 2 closest strakes out 0.1" Doubt it would be noticeable but would give me an additional 0.2" of clearance

I saw a rocket once with a strake in line with the buttons. The stake and the button were the same height, and the strake fit in the groove of the rail. I thought it was so darn cool...

Anyway, build looks great so far, keep up the good work!

I decided to cut the strakes down a little. They were 1.25" high and now they are 1" high. I think they look better (but the pix may not show it well)

Hmm - got some sanding to do.

I was going to test fit the pieces together to see how it looks all together. The coupler will not fit in the payload tube!
I tried both ends of the coupler and the payload tube.

When I first got it and fitted the pieces together they were snug but once lined up they slid together nicely - not now.

Wonder if temperature related or what?

My couplers did fit good either, drill and cylinder hone with 80 grit paper wrapped around it will make quick work of that, after 15 minutes it was smooth as butter, little finishing with 220.

Nick@JET said:

My couplers did fit good either, drill and cylinder hone with 80 grit paper wrapped around it will make quick work of that, after 15 minutes it was smooth as butter, little finishing with 220.

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I'll have to see if there is a place I can rent one. To buy a 6" hone is nearly $200. Otherwise continue to do it manually.

Also discovered (too late) that the tube ends are not square, so on one side the tubes line up but there is a gap on the other side. Sigh....



Won't really impact the operation, just a bit ugly....

les said:

I'll have to see if there is a place I can rent one. To buy a 6" hone is nearly $200. Otherwise continue to do it manually.

Also discovered (too late) that the tube ends are not square, so on one side the tubes line up but there is a gap on the other side. Sigh....

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Won't really impact the operation, just a bit ugly....

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Mark the tube end with dry erase marker, crayons, or chalk. Put them together and turn them against each other to find the high spots. File off the high spots. Repeat as needed.

It’s easy to make an inside tube sander with pvc fittings and sandpaper. Chuck a piece of all thread in a drill and through the fitting with nuts and washers and go to town.

I’ll take a picture of my hone - it’s like a large brake hone $45 not the round stone hone (yes $$). Then I wrap sand paper around it - not perfect out worked well

Sanded the one tube end and to minimize the gap. Not perfect, but better

Ordered a 6" flap sander from amazon - only $11 and is supposed to be delivered Sunday. A bit surprising....
Also "discovered" that everything fits the main body tube. Just excessively tight in the payload tube. So just have to sand that one.

Meanwhile, finished foaming the tubes



After trimming, but still need some cleanup



Also drilled and tapped the holes for the Main tube to AV bay shear pins. Will be using 3 #4 nylon screws.

Received the sanding flapper today. Still real surprised an $11. item (including sales tax) was delivered on Sunday.

Had to jury rig a shaft. The unit comes with a hole for a 1"arbor. Some washers and nuts and a 4.5" long bolt



It worked OK - and the results



I have one end done and started the other end

The other end is sanded.

Marked the tube for the strakes and started installing. Epoxy coat on the bottom.

Nice flap sander and $11 bucks - better than my idea!

Way too cool guys...
Les,, this build is gonna get my vote for coolest for sure..
I've seen so many of your smaller builds I wouldn't expect anything less..
Get it,, Less-- Les,, aww ferget it... lol..

Steve S,, very cool,, that was a great idea,, lol...

Teddy

Onebadhawk said:

Way too cool guys...
Les,, this build is gonna get my vote for coolest for sure..
Teddy

Click to expand...

Thanks Teddy

Second strake set,,, and third set



And some T nuts for the #6 screws that secure Av Bay

Realized I am starting to run short on time to have this baby ready to launch by URRF 5 so I took the day off from work.

I laid out the AV bay covers and need to start drilling.

But since all the strakes are on, I also decided I needed to see what the "full stack" would look like.....



I had stuffed the tubes with the chutes, protectors, cords, links, etc. Still a few things missing but I have the majority.

Rocksim calculates the weight without motor would be 612 oz. My bathroom scale says 39 pounds = 624 oz. Not bad - only 12 oz heavier (<2%).
It will get heavier once I paint plus add the few missing items but at least I am in the right ball park!

Side note - something weird
I've been using my cell phone to take the pix and email them to myself. The pix above took 5~10 min to send. Then it disappeared from the outbox on the phone, but went into limbo. Nothing in my in basket. Waited another 5 min, still nothing. So I looked in my sent folder on my PC (not the phone). There was the email with the pictures. SO I copied them from there, About another 5~10 min later I got the notification that I had new mail that was the pictures, Just surprised how the email went into limbo for a while, but the PC had it as sent.

Assembled the AV bay covers. I still need to drill the holes to pass the wires thru



Started fillets on Strakes. Keeping them small for looks.



Before the fillet, I cleaned and sanded the tube for better adhesion. I know people say they've sanded their fingers to the bone.
Maybe not that bad. but the gloves... well....

What's the extra set of contacts fer Les ???

Teddy

For the cost of 2 e-matches I get a bit more redundancy

My Raven has 4 outputs that I use as drogue, main, backup drogue (1 sec delay), and backup main (1 sec delay). Main will be set for 1000'
The RRC is my backup altimeter with drogue (1 sec delay) and main at 800'.

I put 2 e-matches in the backup charge, one from the RRC and the other from the Raven. Either e-match can activate the charge.
This has been my typical setup for dual deploy.

Deployment Day!

Rigged the bird up to test deployment.

Drogue - Z folded shock cord and taped. Taped groups of Z fold together, then final tape. Maybe overkill, but helps control the energy.



Similar for the main and nose cone



Stuffing the main in - tight fit



6 grams each for Drogue and Main
Results



For the main, the nose cone lawn darted.... Maybe needed more angle



I did get some video on my iphone, which I copied to my PC, but I keep getting a message that it can't open the MOV file. Suggestions? (something free that doesn't have to many terms and conditions...) I tried downloading one program, but the free trial had so many limitations because they wanted to sell the full version. Another free site wanted too much access to virtually everything on my PC, not just the files I wanted converted