Ultimate Rocket Fin Guide

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gltruett

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My Ultimate Fin Guide showed up last week and I finally got a chance to try it out this weekend.UFG.jpg
When I first saw the URFG on another thread I was interested but the price made me a little hesitant to buy. When I compared it to the guillotine style (for low power rockets) the price was very close and loving a gadget I went ahead and ordered the larger, 6" guide. I am very pleased with the purchase having used it and consider it well worth the price. I won't go into what all comes with it since you can get that from the site; www.ultimaterocketfinguide.com . It is very well made and versatile, capable of tubes up to 4".wbt (1).jpg After attaching fins on 2 rockets I'm pretty sure they are as straight as I've ever built. I own several predecessors to the URFG and while they've seen a lot of use over the years they have shortcomings. The metal stamped one I got I think in the 70's, the plastic one some time after. The metal one is nice in that it needs no mandrels but is limited in fine size and thickness. The plastic one simply lacks precision. My only regret after purchasing this guide is that I see Dale is now thinking of making a larger version, maybe he'll accept trade ins. George T
old guides.jpg
 
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Thanks for the wonderful review! My Ultimate Fin Guide looks really beefy compared to the Estes ones. To be honest I have never seen one of them in person before, just seen pictures of them on line.

As for the larger Fin Guide, I will only make them up via request and would need around 6 people to be interested before I make any. It takes a lot of time to set up for a larger plate and it wouldn't be worth it for just one or two.
I would accept a trade in if you ever decided to go larger, or you could just order the larger base plate and re use your fin uprights and mandrels.

Thanks again for taking the time to write up a review, I really appreciate it!

Dale P.
 
I want to second this. The fin guide was very useful for my daughters LOC Weasel build. The fins are straight as an arrow and were easy enough for my daughter to use. Even when she used too much glue and accidentally got glue between the fin and the aluminum guide, it was easy to remove without damaging the fin.

Overall I really like the guide and definitely see more use in the future.
 
Thanks for the review. This or any fin guide has been on my list of things to get one day.
 
Looks solid. Doesn't seem like it's adjustable for different fin thicknesses. For the cost you could buy a 3D printer and print custom fin alignment guides. And anything else you wanted. ( Av bay and external drill jig for holes required for av bay, blanks for a Von Karmen nose that you then glass, ejection charge wells) Just my 2c.
 
Looks solid. Doesn't seem like it's adjustable for different fin thicknesses. For the cost you could buy a 3D printer and print custom fin alignment guides. And anything else you wanted. ( Av bay and external drill jig for holes required for av bay, blanks for a Von Karmen nose that you then glass, ejection charge wells) Just my 2c.
The blades are milled on one side so by reversing them you can adjust for different thicknesses. For any other thickness requirements you simply use a shim
 
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