Uneven Fin Slots

How big a deal is this?
Glued in the first fin and realized just how "off" the fin slots were cut on this tube.
My thoughts: As long as the fins are straight fore/aft (so the top and the bottom of the fin root follow the same line along the tube) and are straight left/right (so from the outer edge of the fin to the fin root is a line toward the center of the rocket) then this ought to be ...okay? I don't know how the fin slots were cut, and I'm already deep enough into this build that I really don't want to start over.

Is this going to make for an unstable rocket?

Two more notes:
1: You can see in the pic that the slot in the template is where the fin SHOULD be, and where the slot is in the body.
2: I guess at this point my only option - if the consensus is "No, no, this won't work", is to cut away the body tube, order a new one from LOC, and start over.

That's how I do all my rockets.

Should be fin as long as each fin is straight.

It'll work just fine. Build on.

You could also just enlarge the offending slot so your fin lines up with the guide. Then fill the gap after fin installation.

if thine tube offends thee...then contact the maker of kit(that might not be a bad idea as their setup for the tube slotter is off). provided the slots are aligned fore and aft and don't cant the fins it should fly okay.
Rex

I'll amend my previous comment: rocket should be fine as far as stability goes. That bottom slot does look like it's pretty far off; a bit tougher to tell on left and right. Flyfalcon's suggestion of just widening the slot and then filling the remaining gap should fix the aesthetics. There are assorted ways of filling that gap that should keep the assembly strong, and the fillet should cover the whole thing when done.

I'd also agree with Rex to contact LOC either way.

Thanks for the input. I am officially Not Worried About it.
Even better news, since this rocket has a "lucky fin", I think I have a paint scheme for it!

While it does not affect flight, (as others have mentioned, aslo long as they are straight up &* down) it does affect the aesthetics.

I do question the fin jig you've made. Is that your only source / gauge to validate the slots are off?

I, personally, would verified them being off with:

• measuring the distance form one slot to another with a compass (place pointy tip of compass on edge of one fin slot, open compass so that pencil point is on edge of next fin slot. repeat for each fin slot.
• wrapped a strip of paper around tube, and mark point of overlap. then fold in half; edge to point of overlap, then fold theses halves in half again to 4 equally divided sections., then re-wrap around tube, align fold line with slot edge, and compare other slot edges to fold lines..

dr wogz said:

I do question the fin jig you've made. Is that your only source / gauge to validate the slots are off?

I, personally, would verified them being off with:

• measuring the distance form one slot to another with a compass (place pointy tip of compass on edge of one fin slot, open compass so that pencil point is on edge of next fin slot. repeat for each fin slot.
• wrapped a strip of paper around tube, and mark point of overlap. then fold in half; edge to point of overlap, then fold theses halves in half again to 4 equally divided sections., then re-wrap around tube, align fold line with slot edge, and compare other slot edges to fold lines..

Click to expand...

To verify, I printed a fin wrap guide from Payload Bay (which should have 4 fins at even intervals) and that was off, too. Also just eyeballing it, you can see that the fin slot doesn't line up.
If it's just aesthetics, I'm not too concerned.

I've run into that on a couple of kits as well. I made sure that the fins were straight relative to the airframe, even if the symmetry was a little off. Both of those rockets fly great. There didn't seem to be any ill effect at all.

Jim

Fly it on a smaller motor first, make sure it goes where you want it. Personally, I think it will be fine. Consider it an "odd roc" if anyone asks.

As others have said, you'll be safe flying-wise.

I've seen worse fin sets walk up to the RSO table (and my estes Patriot looked like an X-wing for awhile after a botched fin repair)

My LOC slots were equidistant (at least with three fins it's harder to tell, visually) but the width of one of them was quite a bit smaller. Given the precision of laser cutting I thought that it was very odd...

This was an aftermarket kit made with LOC tubes and a hodgepodge of other parts. I don't know if they cut the slots themselves or LOC did the slots; either way, as long as it flies, I'm not super concerned.

Thanks everyone for the input. I'm kind of stoked about the Nemo color scheme.