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This is a large pad I built for my Dad for his large low and slow projects that require a long rail. It should handle nearly anything that could be loaded on it, I would trust it to rockets up to a few hundred pounds and into the P range. The main requirement of this project was that it could be loaded onto a small trailer and could be moved and set up quickly with one or two people. It has 8ft long adjustable legs that fold for transport. It supports 20ft of aluminum tower with 1515 rail. It has been painted since these photos.
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This is a large pad I built for my Dad for his large low and slow projects that require a long rail. It should handle nearly anything that could be loaded on it, I would trust it to rockets up to a few hundred pounds and into the P range. The main requirement of this project was that it could be loaded onto a small trailer and could be moved and set up quickly with one or two people. It has 8ft long adjustable legs that fold for transport. It supports 20ft of aluminum tower with 1515 rail. It has been painted since these photos.
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Very nice, it must have taken a while to build.
 
Updated my custom launch pad by adding a blast deflector, and replaced all of the zinc coated hardware with stainless steel hardware (not a cheap option by the way, but worth it)...

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I knew I shouldn't have clicked on this thread...

www.onlinemetals.com is now a bookmark on my iPad.
 
Updated classic. The good old LIA-100 increased in size by 30% with adjustable elevation. Wood is oak and a stake ring has been added to the center to hold it down if needed.

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My club is looking to build a large trailer based alum tower launcher. SO I am watching this thread for some more ideas!
 
Very nice, it must have taken a while to build.

I designed the whole thing in CAD to get all the dimensions correct and all of the tube cutting was done on a precision horizontal band saw. The longest part was drilling all of the various parts which was done on a manual milling machine for straightness and consistency. Making all of the parts took a bit under a week during lunches and after hours. The welding was done by the certified welder at my work and took him about 5 hours.
 
I designed the whole thing in CAD to get all the dimensions correct and all of the tube cutting was done on a precision horizontal band saw. The longest part was drilling all of the various parts which was done on a manual milling machine for straightness and consistency. Making all of the parts took a bit under a week during lunches and after hours. The welding was done by the certified welder at my work and took him about 5 hours.

Can you post pictures of the joints and michanism up close? I really like that.
 
The tower is at my dad's house and he is on his way home from NYPower, he will get some photos when he's back. In the mean time I can post a 3D PDF which will let you rotate the model and zoom. You can also hide parts or make them transparent. I have been thinking about making up a set of drawings for this pad and making them available. I've also been considering making drawings for a version with the next size down tubing and 5ft or so legs. It would be much lighter and easier to transport and would still handle most anything. The only improvement I would make to this tower is a electric or hydraulic lift system, the manual winch takes a lot of effort.
 
Brian,

That would be awesome.

I briefly considered making and selling these but shipping wouldn't be possible and it would be way to much work.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/nqnkdycpjelwait/Launch Tower 3D- Set up.PDF?dl=0

You can use left click and drag to rotate, right click and drag to zoom, and ctrl and drag to pan. You must have a recent version of adobe reader, and you must "trust" the document and enable 3D.

I just noticed the 3d pdf is missing the foot pads on the inner 3 feet. We set the pad up with 2x4 blocks under the inner feet to raise it up and then remove them once the legs are unfolded. The center floats an inch or so off the ground so it applies all of the weight to the legs. The inner feet and the feet at the end of the legs are then staked to prevent the pad moving laterally.
 
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Here is a project I have started. Hopefully going to have rods and a rail system.
Note the exhaust vents for effect.
 
Resting I like the idea of using an antenna tower to make the back bone.

Chris: interesting idea to duct the gases.
 
Here is a low to mid power pad my daughter and I call the "Tuff Pad". Frame is PVC and the removable legs are reinforced with chains. Power is provided by 6 D batteries hidden in one leg. Power is fuse protected and has continuity light and arm buzzer on the controller. Blast plate is a $3.00 saw blade from harbor freight with the teeth knocked off. Drill chuck is also from harbor freight and is protected by a $1.00 flower pot. Elevation is adjustable from 0 to 30 degrees.

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Very awesome! This is super similar to the pads that I built. What are you using for the tilting mechanism? Thanks in advance, and it looks great!
 
The elevation adjuster is custom. But everything is available at a good hardware store. The aluminum stock is 3" L. Main pivot is a #5 shouldered bolt. The shoulder is a press fit in one plate and set with sleeve retainer. Elevation hardware is made from an aluminum block and a threaded furniture dowel. The block has a sleeve over the threaded rod so it can spin. Everything is bolted to the plates with washers capturing nylon bushings for pivots. Here are a couple good pictures to help make sense of it all.
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I like this thread. So I will bum it again with a tower used for my 29mm minimum diameter launches. I was looking for a over built, stiff and self supporting design. For years I had a 3 rod tower with a halo on each end. But with the high speed 29mm launches the design seemed a little lacking in my opinion. So I built this. Rails are 4 feet long with a ground offset for the blast plate and spike. Halos are 6" sewer PVC.

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