swatkat
Down these mean skies, a kat must fly!
Found this new astronaut volunteer at a garage sale. Perfect for BT80 tubes and streamer recovery ☺
I've got several of these... they make great test subjects.
What did you do rocket wise today?
- Thread starter BeerorKid
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I've got several of these... they make great test subjects.
grouch
Well-Known Member
Even though it happened yesterday, I flew my LOC Onyx on an AT H128H. Fast and straight and pretty high. It was kind of a "home coming" event for me. I did my L1 at METRA with an Onyx.
Launched up 4 reloads I made the night before...all went up great! Of note is that for the three 29mm reloads, I forgot to bring the right ignitor (AT First Fire Ignitor Jr. - great ignitors!) and so I used some smaller red ones I had on me which I think are for 24mm and still went well. I found the trick is to straighten the ignitor wire, then measure up against the motor to where the end of the grain or the delay is, then bend the wire where the end of the nozzle is - this way you know when the ignitor is at the end where it should be.
No problem, mine is based on this:
[video=youtube;afGNbVrBiFE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afGNbVrBiFE[/video]
I made mine out of stuff from my scrap bin. Total cost 1h, and $0.
It works very smoothly. I'm showing it here with the piece I cut yesterday. I think I am going to plug the hole in the jig, and re-drill the peg hole just a touch further out. I'd prefer to be a little oversized, and sand it down on the poor man's lathe (drill press) for a tight fit rather than the slightly loose fit it currently is. You can't make infinite sizes with this jig, but given bt size distributions I should be able to make all my 4" and up bulkheads this way. For CRs, the peg hole used here is the same size as my fly cutter, so I can cut the inner circle with that, and be confident it is centered.
Note: If you don't feel like watching the video, the strips on the underside fit the saw table. You slide the entire thing on with your plywood in place and the saw running, and once it is fully engaged you start to slowly turn the plywood around the center peg. although the jig is perfectly stable once slid fully on, I still use a strong spring clamp to secure it before I start spinning the plywood.
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rharshberger
Well-Known Member
I do something similar on my Scroll Saw and another for final sizing the rings/bulkheads on my Disc Sander, the brass pins are the center pivots.
Scroll Saw Jig on left with adjustment screw closest to camera, Disc Sander circle jig on right, and I use a clamp to lock it in place. Inner diameters are cut with either Scroll Saw, Drill bits, or Fly Cutters (I no longer use the HF one on the left in the third picture, since I have acquired 3 of the General Tools ones (on right, single cutter).
Scroll Saw Jig on left with adjustment screw closest to camera, Disc Sander circle jig on right, and I use a clamp to lock it in place. Inner diameters are cut with either Scroll Saw, Drill bits, or Fly Cutters (I no longer use the HF one on the left in the third picture, since I have acquired 3 of the General Tools ones (on right, single cutter).
krusty
Rocket Powered Kangaroo
I just slapped down a wad of cash on a rocket retrieval vehicle
Hmmm.. I wonder if I can strap a couple of J's to that??
Should be here by the end of the week!!
Krusty
Hmmm.. I wonder if I can strap a couple of J's to that??
Should be here by the end of the week!!
Krusty
dave carver
....what hump?
I just slapped down a wad of cash on a rocket retrieval vehicle
View attachment 269128
Hmmm.. I wonder if I can strap a couple of J's to that??
Should be here by the end of the week!!
Krusty
Cool, you did get the one with front suspension
Loads of fun even without a rocket to chase 
morlock
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What a great idea! One more thing I need to do
EXPjawa
Well-Known Member
It was a busy weekend, so I didn't get to post much as it happened. But, I resanded and repainted my Firecat (it had tipped over as I was painting it previously and gotten debris in the wet paint):
I also started construction of an upscaled Firecat. More on that later. I finish sanded my Leviathan and painted that. No pics yet, since as of last night it was still drying and I haven't unmasked it yet. And, put a clear coat on my Teros upscale, since the paint I used was satin finish, and a gloss will lend itself better to waterslide decals.
I also started construction of an upscaled Firecat. More on that later. I finish sanded my Leviathan and painted that. No pics yet, since as of last night it was still drying and I haven't unmasked it yet. And, put a clear coat on my Teros upscale, since the paint I used was satin finish, and a gloss will lend itself better to waterslide decals.
You did the nice version with much greater flexibility, very nice. One question, how is the cut initiated? With the one I made the start of the cut comes from sliding the jig onto the table, do you simply start at the edge of the wood?
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JERRYR708
Well-Known Member
GI-Joe Adventure Team to the rescue!I just slapped down a wad of cash on a rocket retrieval vehicle
View attachment 269128
Hmmm.. I wonder if I can strap a couple of J's to that??
Should be here by the end of the week!!
Krusty
Wish I had one, but all mine are 1/6 scale..Enjoy!
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Ordered some parts from Adafruit for dual deploy gear. Received package from Estes with sale items. Ordered some blue tube from Apogee. Did some FnF work on fins for latest build.
A slow day on the rocket farm! LOL
A slow day on the rocket farm! LOL
JERRYR708
Well-Known Member
I painted a rocket and just a light breeze put dust particles on it creating a fuzzy rocket. I thought I was safe in the garage, but I left it out there to dry with the garage door open to air out the paint. After that, I started bringing the rockets inside to dry with no more issues.
Nice looking rocket. It kinda looks like my Laser Lance I'm building right now, but with jet fins at the tail end.
Trident
Retired, plenty of kits
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I decided I needed a somewhat simple project to work on in between all the work we are doing on yard and home remodeling.
I bought several Mini Max kits maybe a year ago at Hobby Lobby, getting them dirt cheap with a 40% off coupon. I had decided I probably would not build all the same, and in fact, the first build includes a booster section made from parts of a second kit. I decided to kitbash a second kit since the booster will use the kit decals to duplicate its looks with the lower part of the upper stage.
The booster is much longer than the small, mini motors, so it will employ gap staging. Here are the parts on my workbench. I've used one of the kit's body tubes for a booster tube, full-length. I have punched two gas ports in the booster tube, as well as clearance notches in the coupler, where it would have partially covered the ports. The booster motor tube is slightly longer than the standard motor tube, to more directly aim the booster's burnout blast at the upper stage motor's nozzle.
I decided to use a spare "old-style" engine hook for the booster, rather than the newer style hook included in the kit, for minimal overhang at the tail end of the rocket. The upper stage will use the standard hook.
And I just realized when I threw the parts together for this back when I bought them, I substituted a long body tube for the upper stage. I may trim it a little, but it will stay noticeably longer than the booster.
I bought several Mini Max kits maybe a year ago at Hobby Lobby, getting them dirt cheap with a 40% off coupon. I had decided I probably would not build all the same, and in fact, the first build includes a booster section made from parts of a second kit. I decided to kitbash a second kit since the booster will use the kit decals to duplicate its looks with the lower part of the upper stage.
The booster is much longer than the small, mini motors, so it will employ gap staging. Here are the parts on my workbench. I've used one of the kit's body tubes for a booster tube, full-length. I have punched two gas ports in the booster tube, as well as clearance notches in the coupler, where it would have partially covered the ports. The booster motor tube is slightly longer than the standard motor tube, to more directly aim the booster's burnout blast at the upper stage motor's nozzle.
I decided to use a spare "old-style" engine hook for the booster, rather than the newer style hook included in the kit, for minimal overhang at the tail end of the rocket. The upper stage will use the standard hook.
And I just realized when I threw the parts together for this back when I bought them, I substituted a long body tube for the upper stage. I may trim it a little, but it will stay noticeably longer than the booster.
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krusty
Rocket Powered Kangaroo
Cool, you did get the one with front suspension
Shh!! That's my secret
I had an RC one years ago, a blast to drive around!!
I have two kids - 19 & 21 - can't wait for them to take it for a spin!!
They have no idea this is coming and will get a surprise when they come visit :grin: :grin: :grin:
Krusty
Your pics made me realize I was overthinking the adjustable jig, so another trip to the scrap bin and 45 minutes later Version 2.0...still $0 invested, well maybe $0.50 in screws at this point.
Worked like a champ, made the insertion cut like before, rotated freely to cut the circle, and the added bonus of diameter versatility.
Thanks for posting your pics, it really helped me out here. This is an example of what is very right with TRF.
krusty
Rocket Powered Kangaroo
Is it just me or is that the smallest propane tank I've ever seen? (and a really big E-bay!)
Krusty
GRIFFIN
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LOL!!
Little tank is a refrigerant recovery tank and the giant E-bay is ......a giant E-bay. It's an Airfest "Team Wildman" project.
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
I usually draw the edge of the disk with a compass (OR prints patterns for me so no measuring), and drill a center hole for the pivot. I loosen the adjustment nut and slide the pivot pin bar away from the blade, lay the wood blank over the pin and feed into the blade until I am about 1/16th inch from the line, lock the adjustment nut and start cutting the CR/Bulkhead. After the outer is cut I move it to the disk sander jig (very similar) and final sand to perfect fit in the tubing. For the center hole I use various bits and cutters to get as close as possible then use a Sanding Drum in my drill press to final dimension the I.D.. FYI in the Scroll Saw I use a spiral blade since it cuts in any direction. Both of the bases of the jigs are firmly clamped to the tool tables.
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
The dovetails have to be a little loose or shifts in the weather will cause them to bind. Thanks for your kind comments.
Makes sense. If they give me trouble I'll pull out the center and give it a quick go on the belt sander.
I am generally a day behind, as I must do my rocketry work during late evening hours... so, I received a package from Giant Leap Rocketry, so I was able to continue manicuring bulkheads for two different projects; the Black Dahlia, and the Rocketry Warehouse Fire Flyer.
patelldp
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Looks like we're united in the "Wife is a Nurse and Rocket Tolerator" department.
swatkat
Down these mean skies, a kat must fly!
Prepping for a Thursday launch and hoping the epoxy dries quickly!
Continued work on my Fire Flyer from Rocketry Warehouse, today I built the nosecone assembly, creating a small avionics bay for future tracker usage. Also will add a U-bolt for recovery attachment.
Started cleaning the salt off all the rockets we flew at Hellfire. Then there are all the motor cases...
EXPjawa
Well-Known Member
I glued up the wing assemblies for my Firecat upscale. I also pulled the paint masks off of my Leviathan. I'm not entirely happy with how the paint came out, the stuff I used can be fussy. I'm still debating what to do with it...
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