Unibody 3D printed rocket

I'm considering making a small scale (1/4A size) version of my Jart. I thought I could just cad it in Inventor and then 3D print it. Does anyone have experience with something like this? Are there any problems that might come up with a uni-body rocket?

Thanks

Here is the design that I made for the rocket. It is a minimum diameter rocket with a 13.1mm engine mount. Since the nose cone does not come off there is a series of presser relief tubes that go from the top of the engine tube and then branch off and make their way out the side of the rocket. This way the engine won't go flying out of the rocket when it fires the ejection charge. As of now there are no buil-in launch lugs because I do not plan on launching this more than a couple times and for those launches I can use tape to make a makeshift launch lug. I plan on this being a desk ornament mostly

I am currently printing it on a Dimension SST printer now. It should be done printing in a couple of hours and tomorrow night when I get home from work I will remove the support material I can post what it looks like.

The print was done when I came to work this morning. Here's what it looks like (with the support material still attached).

This is really cool! Most of us, myself included, do not have access to a 3-D printer. Can you tell us more?

aerostadt said:

This is really cool! Most of us, myself included, do not have access to a 3-D printer. Can you tell us more?

Click to expand...

I dont know but I like the idea.. draw up a rocket in rocsim.. test it sim it get it right press print come home from work and the rocket is all done... except the important part... the decals!

Kjmccarx,

I use SLS for prototypes at the office. My experience is the stuff is heavy. Will you comment on the mass of your rocket relative to surfacing freedom?

Feckless

I'm glad that people are interested in this. Sorry it took my so long to upload this final photo which I actually tool a few weeks ago when I made the rocket. I don't know about the weight - it is extremely light. My concern is that the stability of the rocket is actually to low, not that the rocket is to heavy.

Feckless Counsel said:

I use SLS for prototypes at the office. My experience is the stuff is heavy. Will you comment on the mass of your rocket relative to surfacing freedom?

Click to expand...

Feckless, thanks for the comment, but I'm not actually sure what "SLS" or "surface freedom" are. If can elaborate I may be able to answer the question more thoroughly.

Thanks!

kjmccarx said:

Feckless, thanks for the comment, but I'm not actually sure what "SLS" or "surface freedom" are. If can elaborate I may be able to answer the question more thoroughly.

Click to expand...

I believe SLS stands for Selective Laser Sintering.

cool is this something that you could do in a Makerbot....

Thats a nice easy way for making rockets. I was looking at a 3d printer. I was fascinated with printing rockets from Kerbal space program

Yes, SLS does stand for selective laser sintering and yes it would result in a very heavy rocket regardless of scale. 3D printing or what looks to be FDM, fused deposition modeling, would result in a very light model. Have you launched it yet? It would be interesting to see what its flight was like. It would probably withstand landing without recovery if in a grass field. Assuming the ejection caused the motor to eject. SLA might be a bit stronger if you have access to one of those machines. In any event, cool. Depending on the process, not sure you needed that much support structure. Developed by you or the machines programing software?

Vipertiper said:

Thats a nice easy way for making rockets. I was looking at a 3d printer. I was fascinated with printing rockets from Kerbal space program

Click to expand...

KSP rocks Time to begin some one-offs from the game. I wonder if it is possible to build a selection of components and just strap them together Kerbal style?