billmi
Member
Getting back into building after a multi-decade hiatus, I decided to kick things off by cloning a favorite rocket, Estes' Attack Craft Orion.
In high school, I rolled BT-20 tubes out of office paper with Super 77 spray adhesive using taped together spent engines as a mandrel, and cutting the engine casings for thrust rings and the bases of rolled paper nosecones. They were lumpy and sloppy, but they flew.
Today, new materials and tools.
By 3D printing stackable 5cm long mandrel sections I can quickly get a mandrel in the size I want.
I've started parallel rolling construction paper tubes with watered down wood glue. First challenge has been shrinkage, tweaking the mandrel diameter to compensate. I've gotten to workable with a little variance and a tiny sandable wrinkle here or there. Good enough for now, but I will probably next try white glue, letting it dry on the paper then hot-rolling with a covering iron as described in one of Apogee's newsletters.
In high school, I rolled BT-20 tubes out of office paper with Super 77 spray adhesive using taped together spent engines as a mandrel, and cutting the engine casings for thrust rings and the bases of rolled paper nosecones. They were lumpy and sloppy, but they flew.
Today, new materials and tools.
By 3D printing stackable 5cm long mandrel sections I can quickly get a mandrel in the size I want.
I've started parallel rolling construction paper tubes with watered down wood glue. First challenge has been shrinkage, tweaking the mandrel diameter to compensate. I've gotten to workable with a little variance and a tiny sandable wrinkle here or there. Good enough for now, but I will probably next try white glue, letting it dry on the paper then hot-rolling with a covering iron as described in one of Apogee's newsletters.
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