Making a LOC nosecone ready to accept av-bay

I am in need of some opinions. I am used to mostly building carbon fiber and fiberglass rockets and haven't really built many cardboard/paper rockets in a while. I have decided that while composite rocket kits are very nice and easy to build and fly, they make it all too easy. So I am now going to go back to some of the old school stuff and play with that some to test my skills a little. Today I picked up a LOC Lil Nuke off eBay for a decent price (sorry to the guy I outbid since you might see this) and figure it should be here in a week or so. During the time I had been watching the auction I was thinking of ways to get an av bay in there. I came up with a method that I think should work and I wonder what your guys opinion is or if anyone had already done it before. Typically, I attach a sled to a bulkhead and then epoxy allthread inside the shoulder of the cone which allows me to house my electronics in the cone. This is simple in a glass cone because the glass readily accepts epoxy, plastic cones not so much. So what I am thinking is I will cut off the bottom of the cone, drill maybe 5 columns of 3-4 holes around the circumference of the shoulder, wrap parchment paper then tape around the outside of the shoulder, mix up epoxy with some finely chopped glass/carbon fiber and lather it inside the shoulder working it into the drilled holes. Next I will lay up 2 layers of glass cloth maybe 2 to 2-1/2" wide inside the shoulder and wet it out with the same batch of epoxy so it is all one matrix. I figure this should give me a good surface to epoxy allthread to, to secure a bulkhead. Since the cone itself wont weigh a lot I think the bond should be sufficient with the glass reinforced epoxy rivets and whatever bond happens between the plastic and epoxy. Does this sound like it will work?

Another very easy way to attach allthread in NC: 2 part Foam.

place a washer sandwiched between 2 nuts on one end..... into the NC tip. Pour enough foam to cover a couple inches when cured.....done. It will stick to plastic NC's, I have done this numerous times.

Slide on your sled then cap with Bp's & eyenut.

Did you have to rough up the inside of the cone or does it just stick?

All you need is one piece of all thread. Like Jim said put a washer down in the tip and you can use either 2 part foam or epoxy. For added insurance in case the glue/foam doesn't stick I drill a couple holes through the NC tip and run bamboo skewers through the tip. Then just cut the excess skewer and sand smooth.

Call Nat at UpscaleCNC - he can hook ya up! Lots of creative ideas. We installed a tracker pod in my 2.6" Hi-tech nose cone... Super sweet! I have a Lil Nuke around here...

Are you going to fly the Nuke in dual deploy config? or just recording samples? What is your intention?

Mike

Just for recording, I am also wanting to put a tracker up there. It wontvreally go high enough to need dual deploy, at least in our field.

maxvelocity said:

Did you have to rough up the inside of the cone or does it just stick?

Click to expand...

you can wipe it out with alcohol or lacquer thinner to remove any mold release agent, then gouge it up a bit with anything sharp. It will stick, that stuff sticks to anything!

blackjack2564 said:

Another very easy way to attach allthread in NC: 2 part Foam.

place a washer sandwiched between 2 nuts on one end..... into the NC tip. Pour enough foam to cover a couple inches when cured.....done. It will stick to plastic NC's, I have done this numerous times.

Slide on your sled then cap with Bp's & eyenut.

Click to expand...

+1 on this method. Done it several times and always worked.