At what weight are the grid fin frames coming in?
The grid fin frames were milled from a block of 6061-T6 aluminum and each weighs 105g. Each aluminum 1" x 1" x 1" grid insert weighs 29g. The total weight of the grid fins is 4 x 134g = 536g, or 18.91oz, or 1lb 2.907oz.
Okay but you HAVE to tell us where you got the outer components and of what the inner components are comprised.
So far, the needle tip was molded from a blunted Semroc conical balsa nosecone [BT-20 2.3" SEM-BNC-20SU] from
eRockets and cast using West Systems fiberglass resin with a black pigment; the needle shaft is 20mm OD X 18mm ID X 500MM roll wrapped carbon fiber tube purchased on eBay; the centering rings are 1/4" aircraft plywood purchased from a local hobby shop, and custom cut to the appropriate outside and inside diameters by me using drill press mounted hole cutters with cobalt steel cutting tips; the body tube and coupler material for everything except that airframe and AV-bay is Blue Tube 2.0 purchased from
Always Ready Rocketry; the airframe and AV-bay are G-10 fiberglass purchased from
Wildman Rocketry; the grid fins were machined by
High Desert Precision CNC Machining Nosala's Hobby Shop; the 1" square 1" thick grid material was purchased from
1800Ceiling.com; the nuts, bolts, and other hardware were purchased from
McMaster-Carr. The sizes, dimensions, and positioning of the parts are shown in the OpenRocket files attached.
As the build goes forward additional OpenRocket files and parts information will be provided.
I appreciate everyone's positive comments, this rocket has been extraordinarily different, to say the least.
[May I] ask how much those grid fin frames cost? I just have no idea what milled block of aluminum like that would set you back.
About $45 each, I provided the machining file.