Secret Santa build thread

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

Secret Santa sent me a BNC300BB nose cone from BMS (thanks Pantherjon!), so I'm building a Big Betty upscale with it. I'm calling him "Big Bad Burt". He'll be 3" diameter and 44" long, and weigh about 22oz (without motor) according to Open Rocket. He'll be a center break zipperless design with ejection baffle, and have a 29mm motor mount. I'm building him very stout, with three 1/4" plywood fins and 1/4" centering rings.

View attachment Big Bad Burt.ork

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

As with most of my builds, I started by cutting out the centering rings with a hole saw. This is a 3-1/4" saw. I also cut out the bulkhead/baffle that will be epoxied into the coupler, with a 3" saw. Mounting the centering rings on my woodlathe, I cut the outside diameters to final size.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

I cut the center holes in the centering rings with a 1-1/8" hole saw, then sanded them to fit the motor tube with my Dremel and a sanding drum. I marked the baffle with a center punch and drilled eight 5/16" holes around the perimeter.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

Since the balsa nose cone is so soft, I epoxied a hardwood dowel in it for the screw eye. I cut grooves in the dowel to give the epoxy more "grab".

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

I cut out the half moon baffle disks with a hole saw, and sealed the pilot holes with epoxy. I also installed the tee nuts.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

I installed the eyebolt in the baffle with a fender washer, lockwasher, and nut. I'm paranoid about the eyebolt nut coming loose, so I staked it with a chisel after I cut off the extra length. I also covered it with epoxy.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

As I've been doing lately, I epoxied blocks to the centering rings for the rail buttons to screw into. It's been working out very well for me. I also got the half moon baffle disks epoxied into the top of the motor tube.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

I used a piece of plastic pipe as a spacer to epoxy the forward centering ring to the motor tube at the correct distance from the end. It also keeps the ring square to the tube. I flooded the outside of the coupler and inside of the upper body tube with CA, so I could sand them smooth.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

I mounted the coupler on my lathe, and sanded and polished the end with the CA smooth. This is where the rocket will separate during ejection. I also trimmed a section off the coupler since it was so long.

dlazarus6660 · Dec 26, 2011

Nice buiild!

Could please tell me how you post a pic of the open rocket design?

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

dlazarus6660 said:
Nice buiild!

Could please tell me how you post a pic of the open rocket design?

I did a screen capture and edited it in Photoshop.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

I got the motor mount epoxied in, and the baffle epoxied in the coupler.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

I've had my bandsaw for several years, and have never replaced the blade. I bought new Timberwolf blades a few years ago for it, and finally installed one. It was a pain in the butt, but man does that new blade cut!

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

With my new bandsaw blade installed, I started on Burt's fins. I used 1/4" birch plywood that I got from Michael's. It's pretty good quality, and very inexpensive. I cut out the fin blanks, traced the pattern on one of them, and drilled 1/4" holes through for dowel pins.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

With the fin blanks pinned together, it's very easy to cut them all at once. With the fins still pinned together, I match sanded them with my stationary belt sander. I separated them to do the final sanding.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

I forgot to take pictures of it, but I used a piece of aluminum angle to cut the fin slots just like I did on Tank Girl. Using my handy dandy fin alignment jig as always, I started attaching the fins. I'll tell ya, I can't imagine any other way of attaching fins. The jig makes it so easy. And I'm getting better with fin tabs - I didn't have to sand these at all, they were just about perfect. These are the thickest fins I've ever made. It was kinda fun working with the heavier plywood.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

Next, probably the most boring part of any build, applying the fillets. The balsa nose cone had a couple of gouges in it and was pretty rough on the tip. So I filled the bad places with Elmer's wood filler.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

After sanding the wood filler down, I put a couple coats of thinned filler on it and sanded it smooth. Turned out pretty nice, if I do say so myself. The sun is out, and if it warms up enough today, I'll spray several coats of sanding sealer on it.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

After the epoxy had time to set, I sanded the blocks on the centering rings. He's going to be a good looking rocket!

Aksrockets · Dec 26, 2011

Qquake's build threads are the best!

Scotty Dog · Dec 26, 2011

Aksrockets said:
Qquake's build threads are the best!

They(threads) make me want to go buy more tools.
I still say qquake has more woodworking tools than this guy.

Aksrockets · Dec 26, 2011

Scotty Dog said:
They(threads) make me want to go buy more tools.
I still say qquake has more woodworking tools than this guy.

Yep. Right now im going to harbor freight tobuy some new tools.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

Aksrockets said:
Qquake's build threads are the best!

Aw shucks! :blush:

I just like documenting everything, and hope that someone can learn something from my builds. That's how I learned most of what I know about rockets.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

Scotty Dog said:
They(threads) make me want to go buy more tools.
I still say qquake has more woodworking tools than this guy.

No way. Norm is the tool pimp!

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

Aksrockets said:
Yep. Right now im going to harbor freight tobuy some new tools.

I buy a lot of tools from Harbor Freight. I've had pretty good luck with them. My woodlathe is from there. And I used to have an HF bandsaw, until I bought the Craftsman. It's actually made by Rikon, and has a deeper throat than the HF did.

o1d_dude · Dec 26, 2011

Looks like someone stayed home today and built himself a rocket! LOL!!

You continue to amaze me as to how quickly you get your birds put together. I sometimes spend months puttering around on my rockets.

I've been looking at the 3-1/4" hole saw blades for making 3" centering rings. I understand that the disks come out a bit over-sized and you turn them down to fit. My question is how much material do you have to remove? I don't have a lathe but think I can turn the disks down using my drill press and a fence with a sand-papered surface. As Gunny Highway says, Improvise, Adapt, Overcome.

Are you using Milwaukee, Bosch or Lenox brand hole saws?

sodmeister · Dec 26, 2011

Great build thread ,I love looking at these !

The Timberwolf blades are great ,I can attest to that !

What kind of bandsaw do you have ?

Alright carry on sir :handshake:

Paul T

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

o1d_dude said:
Looks like someone stayed home today and built himself a rocket! LOL!!

You continue to amaze me as to how quickly you get your birds put together. I sometimes spend months puttering around on my rockets.

I've been looking at the 3-1/4" hole saw blades for making 3" centering rings. I understand that the disks come out a bit over-sized and you turn them down to fit. My question is how much material do you have to remove? I don't have a lathe but think I can turn the disks down using my drill press and a fence with a sand-papered surface. As Gunny Highway says, Improvise, Adapt, Overcome.

Are you using Milwaukee, Bosch or Lenox brand hole saws?

Actually, I opened the package early because I didn't know it was from Secret Santa. So naturally, I ordered the parts and started the build. LOL

A 3-1/4" hole saw should give you a disk about 3" in diameter, which would be about perfect for 3" body tubes. You should be able to sand them to size pretty easily. Most of my hole saws are Starrett. A buddy of mine years ago used to buy pallets of tools to sell at gun shows. He gave me a bunch. I've bought Lennox, DeWalt, and Bosch, but don't have a preference. I've bought a few off Ebay lately pretty cheap. I just got a 4-1/4" one for $17 shipped. They were $28 at Home Depot.

JPVegh · Dec 26, 2011

Great thread as usual. Can't wait to see the video of this guy taking to the air.

qquake2k · Dec 26, 2011

sodmeister said:
Great build thread ,I love looking at these !

The Timberwolf blades are great ,I can attest to that !

What kind of bandsaw do you have ?

Alright carry on sir :handshake:

Paul T

My bandsaw is a Craftsman, but I believe it's made by Rikon. Sears doesn't sell them anymore, but it looks the same as this one, just a different color.

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