Hi Jeff!
Originally posted by Loki
Replacing your case cost you more than $14.59. First you had to lay out $140 for the material, sure you had some left over, but it's still money out of pocket.
You are absolutely right! It did take more out of pocket. Buying a cut piece would definatley run you more through places like
www.onlinemetals.com etc.
On the flip side, we made 2 full sets of hardware out of that tube and still have a little bit left.
Then you had to impose on your "good friend" to do the machine work. He's gonna hit you back for a favor some day, nothing is free.
You met Dave at BALLS! He's a wacky rocket guy too... The only favors he hits me up for is not hitting him up for gas money when we go to launches... and borrowing my lawn mower. Oh and drinking all my beer...
Of course not everyone is lucky enough to have a machinist/auto mechanic for a best friend.
At the end of this you have a case that may work, but isn't anodized and won't hold up as well over many firings.
Anodizing is cheap. There's a place down the street from us in Portland (Electro-Chem Metal Finishing, Inc) that does small runs in their stock colors (i.e. red, black, gold or light blue) for $45 in type I or type II anodizing.
You can also do anodizing at home your self:
https://www.focuser.com/atm/anodize/anodize.html
You didn't mention whether the tube was draw or extruded. Some people won't know or care what the differences are, but it's details like this that make Loki hardware worth every penny.
I should have mentioned that... we use drawn tubing. We've been getting our supplies from Tube Services. Same place Purple Woody gets his stuff. They have dealers on the West Coast, but I don't think they have any on the East Coast. (
https://www.tubeservice.com/)
Of course Aluminum prices keep going up...
EXers may be able to "buddy up" to a machinist, but making good motor parts takes time and why should you expect a professional to work for less than they are worth? Maybe the free machine work that you got is worth just what you paid for it. Gonna bet your rocket on that?
Getting together for a group buy from your local machinist is exactly how my business got started, and I will guaranty that the only way my prices can be beat is by either getting someone to donate their labor or by building an inferior motor. I do this every day. My hardware is either better or less expensive (and usually both) than anything else on the market. Want to buy 20 casings for your club? Look no further than Loki as I'll be happy to make deals on bulk purchases.
Which is exactly why I recommend your products to folks who ask!
The truth is, alot of EX'ers are of the "do-it-yourself" mentality, myself included. However there are those who aren't. I wholeheartedly recommend your company to folks who don't want the hassle of doing it themselves.
I also get asked about altimiters quite a bit. I often find myself recommending the ARTS as a superior product than the RDAS.
Finally, the prices on my 152mm motors only seem high until you factor in the cost of building your own and having it blow up.
Ooooh.... Cheap shot! Heh LOL...
As you know, our P motor cato'd last year. How embarrassing that was. You even have pictures of it on your website. An immortal testament to your superior products.
Last year we tried it with a 1/8" wall threaded casing. This year I'm going with a .25" dual snap ring design.
My 6" motors are the best and that always commands a premium price. Purchase one and you'll know that you have the best available hardware and the assistance of someone who has successfully fired motors of this size. You can buy experience here.
No doubt you have the best 152mm EX hardware on the market right now. As I said before, all of your products are top notch.
For me, part of the fun of all of this is trying new designs and (again) doing it yourself. I surely hope I didn't sound like I was disrespecting you or your products with my previous post.
Was that $150 piece of 6" tube you saw any good?
Haven't actually seen it yet. I just called up the supplier and said, "I'd like a quote on some 6" OD x .25" wall drawn 6061 aluminum tubing, please."
He said, "Well, there's a minumum 12' order. We can cut it into 6' sections for you for free. The tag on that looks to be $25 a foot. If you get 2 lengths, I'll discount you 20%"
So, spec wise, it's what I'm looking for. I'll let you know when I pick it up next week...
Will it hold the pressure?
Dunno... This year, we intend to static test.
Loki 6" motors are hydrostatic tested to 1.5X operating pressure.
Each motor is tested before leaving the shop? Wow... I guess that would play into the price a bit. That's a good tip... I just googled and found a place in Portland that can do it... looks like it will cost about a hundred bucks or so. I'm definatley going to do that on these casings.
There were four 6" motors fired at BALLS last year. One was professional (Kosdon) and of the other three one worked and two catoed. Not a very good track record.
One could argue that the motor Mark made was professional, considering what he does for a living.
In short, you can spend less but you won't save.
Buy LOKI!!! It's great hardware... Didn't mean to imply otherwise!!!
--Alex
