Rocket Build/Prep Stand

I've seen posts where someone has a stand made from PVC and pipe insulation. From what I can see, there are 2 cross unions, 4 ell unions, 4 caps, 8 1-foot sections of PVC, and 2 2.5-foot sections of PVC. Also, there are usually 4 1-foot sections of pipe insulation either loose or taped with black electrical tape.

What I'm looking to find out is how much of the structure is actually glued together, and how much is slip-fitted? I'm worried that it might be a bit too wobbly if it were entirely slip-fitted, but I'm also concerned about storage and transport if it were entirely glued together.

Another benefit to the slip fit, is that it could be extended by building an X with tees at the lower end instead of ells, and adding another pair of 2.5-foot sections of PVC.

Thoughts?

Thanks,

G.D.

I made mine completely slip fit for the sake of tranporting. Most of it can still stay together so it's only broken down to 2-3 pieces. I have 4 "X"'s for support and is about 4 foot long 1/2" pipe. Holds my Thor 4 and my 35 lb. 9 foot Patriot. Never had a problem of it wobbling or coming apart. While preping the rockets usually only half of the rocket is on the stand while setting up the DD. When not preping it's a display rack. You will want to mark or number each joint in case you have to take it apart completely. Helps putting it back together, mine is not exactly the same lengths at all points.

Was gonna build one of these this weekend for my DS4 DD. Can some of you post some pics as well as info on what you might change if you built another? No sense reinventing the wheel

I glued up the X's completely, so the only slip fit parts are the two long pieces of straight pvc. Bigger rocket? Longer straight pieces! Collapses very nicely, and still very sturdy.

-Ken

Mine are all slip fit. I haven't had any problems with them falling apart or anything like that. I regularly use them for large projects as well.

new2hpr said:

I glued up the X's completely, so the only slip fit parts are the two long pieces of straight pvc. Bigger rocket? Longer straight pieces! Collapses very nicely, and still very sturdy.

-Ken

Click to expand...

This is what I did as well. Gently tapering the ends of the elements makes slip-fitting them easy peasy.

I made mine from 1/2" PVC so that standard pipe insulation is easily slipped over the cradle ends without slitting it.

Ever any need for something like velcro straps to provide additional stability when working on the build or transporting?

The only time I needed something like that was when the rocket section I was working on was unbalanced. The stand was fine.

OK, here is what I came up with.

I bought 3 ea. 3/4" cross unions, 4 ea. 3/4" ells, 2 ea. 3/4" tee unions, 6 ea. 3/4" caps, 2 ea. 10'x3/4" schedule 40 PVC pipes, 1 ea. 72"x3/4" self sealing foam pipe insulation.

I cut 6 total 6" pieces of pipe, 6 total 10" pieces of pipe, 2 total 12" pieces of pipe and 2 total 20" pieces of pipe.

Everything is slip-fitted, and seems strong and wobble-free.

I made 3 X shapes with 2 6" lengths at the top of the X and 2 10" lengths at the bottom of the X. The short legs had the caps installed, the long lengths had either ells installed or tees installed. I connected one side of the tee junctions with 20" pipes to one end assembly, and the other side of the tee junctions with 12" pipes. I cut the insulation to fit over the short arms and the cross junctions, to pad as much as possible. Easy peasy.

I am including pictures of the assembled stand, as well as a reference picture of the components if anyone else wants to duplicate what I made. I chose 3/4" as a good trade off between klutz-proof strength and light weight, plus it was the biggest pipe insulation the Home Depot had.

Copy this design as you wish, I copied it from what I've seen here.

G.D.

Looks good, here are some pics I took this morning anyway.

o1d_dude said:

This is what I did as well. Gently tapering the ends of the elements makes slip-fitting them easy peasy.

I made mine from 1/2" PVC so that standard pipe insulation is easily slipped over the cradle ends without slitting it.

Click to expand...

I have to correct my statement about gluing the "X" together. Turns out I just glued the "V" that makes up the top of the "X".

It's also worth noting that none of my rockets exceeds 48" in length so the 1/2" PVC I used may not be appropriate for those building Gigantor-sized rockets.

i use a single 36" rack for my 40lb monster thats 12ft long

Thanks for all of the build tips! I finished mine up tonight and am very happy thus far with it.
I did 1" tubing for no real reason at all and cut my lengths as follows:
2ea short bottom lengths = 12"
2ea long bottom lengths = 24"
6ea long X members = 12"
6ea short X members = 6"
Lowes had the 1" insulation, so I was good there as well.
I also have a small add-on in the near future which amounts to a solid rod thru the center of the X's by which I attach velcro "tie down" straps...maybe this weekend

, ,

Looks good and sized so the bottom rails fit the notches in your fold-up saw horses. It's much easier to work on something that's at workbench height.

I also like the idea of a dowel through the cross fittings. Be sure to post a picture of your stand when it's complete.

Here ya go, Kit!

,

I'm pretty happy with it thus far. We'll see how things behave well into the build op:

Nice! I like it!

I've got one long bird that could benefit from a larger PVC stand and I'm gonna keep your stand in mind.

Thanks for posting it.

This is one area, where I just got lazy.....

Purchased a few PVC stands from quickburst here: https://quickburst.net/rocket_racks.htm


The price was right, and I had a lot ofnbuilding in front of me.

Resurrecting an old thread because I found it helpful. I've thought about building one of these stands ever since I saw Kit's at one fo the LUNAR launches. So, I finally got a "Round Tuit" and made a trip to the hardware store. I built mine out of 1/2" schedule 40 PVC. everything is slip-fitted for now to allow for minor reconfigurations...

"Shopping List"
6x end caps
4x elbows
2x tees
3x crosses

2x 10' pieces of PVC cut to lengths:
6x 6" lengths
6x 8" lengths
4x 12" lengths
2x 18" lengths

2 pieces of 1/2" foam insulation. (I didn't get the self-sealing kind, since I was able to slip-fit the insulation over the pvc. Also, I only used one piece. So I have extra...)

and I still have a bunch of pvc and insulation left over to make additional cross pieces (or another small stand) - it was cheaper to do it this way than to buy multiple 2' lengths and cut to size.

Assembly only took a couple of minutes, the longest part getting the PVC cut, which I had done at the hardware store. (I know a guy... no really. My friend's dad works there and I ran into him when I was picking out the fittings. He offered a bit of feedback, and was able to cut the pipe for me. Saving me the need to buy a pvc cutter.)



Top of the "x" is 6"
Bottom is 8" (although I might trim these down to 6" as well)
then either 12" or 18" bases depending on how long I want the stand to be.

One more thing:

I thought about drilling holes for a wooden dowel like Jeff's, but i realized that it might not be necessary:



A dowel, (or in this case, extra PVC) could be used to tie down a rocket if needed, by just strapping it under the cross pieces.

Good job, Robert. Very similar to the cradles I've built for my birds.

You didn't mention it so I assume you didn't glue the the tubing and fittings together. It make storing or transporting the cradles soooooo much easier when you can knock them flat.