Upscale Patriot Goony

I drilled a 5/32" hole for the #12 wood screw. Using my handy-dandy self centering center punch, I punched the other three holes, and drilled them. Then attached the face plate to the basswood with the remaining three screws.

Since it will require nose weight, even with the solid basswood cone, I decided to drill a big hole for the resin, BB's, and eyebolt. Somehow the 1" spade bit caught in the hole and got bent. It was kind of exciting with the block spinning around like that. Never had that happen before!

Drilling very carefully, I finished off the hole with a 15/16" spade bit. I trimmed the corners off the block so that there would be less wood to remove, then mounted it on the lathe.

Then the process of "roughing" the block round began.

After I finished roughing it, I sanded it with some 80 grit to see how it looked. Very nice! So far, so good. I marked the 1-1/2" shoulder, and will start on that next.

I cut a 1/2" piece of body tube to act as a "sacrificial" sizing guide, both for the shoulder and the nose cone itself. Then started cutting the shoulder.

After I finished the shoulder, I started shaping the cone. Still so far, so good.

I finished shaping it with 60 grit, then sanded it smooth with 240 grit. I was going to turn this as a short ogive, but I'm so happy with the shape of the elliptical, I decided to call it good. Yeah, you could say I chickened out, but you guys did like the elliptical better.

I like it! I like it a lot! Okay Carl, you were right.

Awesome! Knew you could do it!!!:w::clap::clap:

When I first put the nose cone in the rocket, I giggled like a little girl. To say I'm happy with it is an understatement! Thank you Carl and everyone else for encouraging me to take this risk. I think I might go ahead and try to turn a second one, this time the short ogive. I do still have another piece of body tube...

rocketgeek101 said:

Awesome! Knew you could do it!!!:w::clap::clap:

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You certainly had more confidence in me than I did!

Your cone looks great captain! I see a whole new phase to your addiction underway!

Nice work, now I know where to get a 12" Big Bertha nose cone .........

chadrog said:

Your cone looks great captain! I see a whole new phase to your addiction underway!

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I don't know, I might turn another cone or two. I still need to finish the first one I started a long time ago, for an upscale X-Ray. That one is balsa.

Area66 said:

Nice work, now I know where to get a 12" Big Bertha nose cone .........

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You'd better get yourself a bigger lathe than I have! Mine's not big enough to turn a 12" cone.

Very, very nice work!
(But, don't ever admit you giggled like a little girl.)

That turned out beautiful Jim...BRAVO my friend !!

I too would have giggled out loud, and not care who heard me LOL


I need a lathe !!!!!!!!


Paul T

hcmbanjo said:

Very, very nice work!
(But, don't ever admit you giggled like a little girl.)

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I was so happy I was out of control. LOL

sodmeister said:

That turned out beautiful Jim...BRAVO my friend !!

I too would have giggled out loud, and not care who heard me LOL

I need a lathe !!!!!!!!

Paul T

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Thank you, Paul! Yes, you do, in fact need a lathe! Considering some of your projects, you'd better get a big one...

I decided to get the nose weight out of the way, so I can hopefully paint the nose cone this afternoon. I needed to add 4oz of weight, so I weighed out 3oz of BB's to allow for the weight of the resin. I'll be embedding the eyebolt in the resin, too.

I mixed up the resin and poured it over the BB's and eyebolt.

I was hoping to get 1oz of resin, but the most I could put in was 0.75oz. I think it'll be enough. I always mix too much resin, I need to get better at estimating. I also painted the gloss white on the rocket.

Jim ,do you prefer using that easy cast resin versus epoxy ?

Can you tell me more about the product and where you purchase it ?

Thankyou !!

Paul t

sodmeister said:

Jim ,do you prefer using that easy cast resin versus epoxy ?

Can you tell me more about the product and where you purchase it ?

Thankyou !!

Paul t

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I've only ever used the Easy Cast for nose weight. It says it's casting epoxy, but I suppose one of these days I should get some Aeropoxy. I haven't had any problems with the Easy Cast, though. I like it because it's fairly thin, but it does take a good amount of time to cure. I've used it for several different rockets now. I usually get it at Michael's, with the 40% off coupon, of course. But this last time I ordered it from Hobby Lobby, only because they were offering a free shipping deal. I got 40% off of it, too. Here is some information from Tap Plastics:

https://www.tapplastics.com/product...ing_products/easycast_clear_casting_epoxy/386

Here is a better photo of the box.

qquake2k said:

I've only ever used the Easy Cast for nose weight. It says it's casting epoxy, but I suppose one of these days I should get some Aeropoxy. I haven't had any problems with the Easy Cast, though. I like it because it's fairly thin, but it does take a good amount of time to cure. I've used it for several different rockets now. I usually get it at Michael's, with the 40% off coupon, of course. But this last time I ordered it from Hobby Lobby, only because they were offering a free shipping deal. I got 40% off of it, too. Here is some information from Tap Plastics:

https://www.tapplastics.com/product...ing_products/easycast_clear_casting_epoxy/386

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Thanks Jim ,we have a Michaels here ,so I may check it out ,I like trying new products so this is a good candidate.

Cheers

Paul T

Sweet nose cone, well done.

This time I took a picture of the nose cone before I sprayed it with sanding sealer so you could see the difference. Boy, this nose cone sure is pretty. I love the figured grain. It's almost a shame to paint over it.

But paint it I did. Primer first, then gloss white. I am absolutely amazed at how smooth it is. That is some really fine grained wood.

I printed the decals out on the laser printer at work, then cut one out to check the alignment. I'm glad I did, as you can see it's way off. I must have done something to it when I resized it. I have Photoshop, but I haven't figured out yet how to fix it.

qquake2k said:

I like it! I like it a lot!

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Me too! Still lousy weather for painting (and besides, there was a club launch today), so you've pulled into the lead.