Fancy-pants Wood MPR & LPR Scratch-Build Launch Pad Build Log in 187 quick & easy steps.

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Paul Howard

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Since I need a bigger & heavier launch pad for my MPR Door Knob and I'm a wood bow-maker, and keep a pile of neat looking woods sitting around, I decided make a bigger fancier launch pad for bigger LPR and smaller MPR (Due to small house-size, I won't be getting much bigger than the Door Knob).

So here's some of the beginning parts-n-stuff.
 

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Here's the parts cut out waiting for filing/rasping, sanding, fitting, glueing etc.

The first picture has my beloved LPR launch pad (minus the rod, cable holder/stand-off and blast shield), similarly made from wood scraps laying around.

The other pictures are the glue-up of the top portion of the Dual Axis Swivel Assembly. The add-on pieces of Zebrawood are on top and are to help prevent the Black Walnut from splitting out when the threaded shaft that mounts the Drill Chuck is placed in. There will be all-thread rods going through later - it will make more sense when you see it.

The MPR launcher will be a bigger 4-legged similar version but with better rod-angle adjustment.

Stay Tuned!
 

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Glue-up of the "base" of Dual Axis Swivel Assembly. I drilled the holes for swivel adjustments with a Drill Press at a nearby friend's wood/metal shop since these holes and hardware need to be pretty straightly aligned, the rest of the holes will be done "freehand" since I want to finish this project sooner than later and if they're not "perfect" it won't matter and will be pretty much aesthetic.

If you notice the Yellow Paper (the stuff with a non-stick side that came with the Estes Door Knob kit and unused up to this point), you'll see 2 layers cut and stacked under the middle piece of the "base" of the Swivel Assembly - that is to make sure that the center portion is raised ever-so-slightly so that when the adjustment & tension screw gets tightened (you'll see what I mean later), the load goes outward to the add-on pieces being glued on in the pictures and is more stable than inadvertently ending up with the middle piece slightly below the others and having the assembly jiggle & wiggle - something I really want to avoid.

There will be all-thread rod going through the bottom pieces to help with fighting any tendency of wood splitting or glue joints coming loose under normal and above-normal loads (like if someone knocks it over accidently) - those holes will be drilled with the aforementioned "freehand" method since I'm wanting to just get this thing done.

I did have to pick up the assembly multiple times to check and re-check for alignment of all these parts and the outer add-ons being in the exact same plane as each other and slightly below the middle upright piece - again, that was to insure having a stable Swivel Assembly to sit firmly and stable on the Zebrawood Platform.

Note the Clear Nylon Mallet, this was used to gently tap pieces into adjustment while clamped, a piece of softer wood will work if you don't have one of these or a rubber mallet.

There will be some "glue fillets" that show up once the finish is applied, but I'm more interested in nice complete sealed glue joints than "perfect appearance" in this case.

Stay Tuned!
 

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Here's some of the recent stuff: Threaded Brass Wood Inserts, the Stainless steel bolts/screws that will go with them, the Casey Birchwood Tru-Oil Gunstock finish, showing off character-wood knots and whatnot.

The 5th picture of the Wallnut piece has some "character wood" - that was first treated by 2 soakings of Thin Wicking Cyanoacrylate to penetrate every possible crack in that gap and stick it together nice and strong, then the Gunstock Oil was applied.

The Brass Wood insert pictured here is one that broke apart but it's there to show what they look like if you go looking for one in the fastener aisle at the hardware store. The one that did install is similarly cracked on top but it's pretty securely in place so I'll keep it there for now unless a problem develops. These are generally meant for much softer woods like plywood, pine, hemlock, etc and so when I drilled the hole to install this Brass Insert, I drilled a hole larger than the "main shaft" diameter of the insert otherwise it would require too much force to get it in, a hardwood like Black Walnut fully cured really doesn't need to have those outer cutting threads dig in very deep at all to get a good solid purchase.

Steel Threaded Inserts for Wood are an option also, but, the main shaft under the threads are usually tapered and either require a special tapered drill-bit or "stepped" diameters of drill bits used and best used with softer woods and/or thicker side walls of wood surrounding the metal than what I have here. There are also Steel Threaded Inserts for Metal that are not tapered which may have worked also, but since I had these brass ones at home already, I decided to use them.

More to come!
 

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Here's a LOT of drilling pilot holes, then bigger holes and flipping side to side to avoid splintering as the bigger drill bit otherwise would possibly tear out wood as it drills through the bottom surface of the wood. As you can see, I have 2X4 "backstop" but it's sooooo full of holes already but flipping side to side is even better.

If you look at the picture with the 4 legs and their attachment bases, 3 are the same type of 3-lobed smaller knobs - those will eventually get a Cotter Pin for having the same placement "detent" when the launch pad gets set up. 1 of the legs has a bigger 2-lobed knob to get more leverage to be tighter and that leg will be adjustable for uneven ground (which is all ground and grass fields) and not have pre-set "detent".

2 of the Leg "Bases" have some neat "character" spots that I'm making sure I'll have visible, and again, those spots were soaked with 2 applications of Thin Wicking Cyanoacrylate to fill all gaps inside and bond everything together. The "Bases" are pretty good dense Red Oak that I've made a really nice bow from the same plank (that was all the non-character portion - "plank wood bows" cannot have "character wood" or they'll snap") - it's sooo nice and dense I sorta wondered if I should keep it for add-on bow handles, but I have too many bows around the house already, so no real loss there.

The Legs are Mahogany remnants from our prior window-sills. I'm glad I kept the wood since it's been fun using on other projects like vertical platform for digital TV antenna, it's nice and heavy which is what I want for this launch pad.

Drilling the holes to connect the Zebrawood Platform to the Bases of the Legs is a bit of a slow careful chore in aligning, marking, pilot-hole drilling, then re-drilling the Zebrawood a little bigger to accommodate the Brass Wood-Screws bigger diameter non-threaded section under the heads, etc.

Because everything is being drilled with a handheld drill and marked "close enough but not identical" each leg, it's base and where it attaches to the Zebrawood platform are all slightly different, thus each is getting labelled "A, B, C & D".

The legs still need a bit of shaping, then the legs and their attachment bases will get sanded and finished with either the Gunstock Oil or Shellac.

Hopefully all of that makes sense.
 

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Paul:

That's going to be way too nice to take out to the middle of the mud field at Crescent Valley...

Hans.
I know?!?!?!? It's kinda funny how I got on a roll with this thing, it's going to look so nice that it could sit on the dining/living room table as a display stand to put other showy things on, ha,ha.

Glad you like it! - Paul
 
Here's a partial assembly as part of fitting, drilling pilot holes and the bigger "real" holes for screws and such, getting the level out and cranking all the knobs on the legs nice and tight for more drilling to place Cotter-Pins for easier quicker setup and stability when in actual use (and making it easier on my arthritic thumbs and index fingers) later.

All the above is being done now with the legs "roughed out", I'll be rounding edges and applying finish to the legs and their bases hopefully soon.

I used a Countersink Bore so that when I slide the Cotter-Pins in, it will make the job a little easier to start the pins then wiggle-n-jiggle the legs to get the pins in then tighten the knobs.

I am on a Roll!!!

More to come!
 

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Now all the rasping, filing, scraping and sanding is done on the legs and bases of the New launch pad and the Gunstock Oil is going on! I'm also adding Gunstock Oil to the older LPR 3-legged launch pad on the tips of the "feet" where the Shellac has worn off over time, so I'll see if the Gunstock Oil is more durable for that or not. Plus I'm adding few more coats to some other parts while I'm at it.

It's really helped a LOT to have all the holes already drilled to hang all these doo-dads with the "hangers" I made from the Spines of Used Windshield Wiper Blades, plus the holes are nice to put screws in temporarily to use as "handles" while applying the finish. 3+ more coats to go then let it all sit for a few days to harden/cure more.
 

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Here's the drilling of a small vent hole for air and possible excess epoxy to escape when I put epoxy in the top hole to install the threaded screw that the drill-chuck will mount onto. Plus, I finally got out and had a night-launch for the first time this Fall/Winter. I had a half-plus moon, very little air movement, and everything went off perfect. C5-3's were used.

Also, here's the older, smaller (and a wee bit simpler) LPR Fancy Pants Wood Launch Pad in action!

Fun Time!!!
 

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So here's installation of the Drill Chuck Post Screw, Imagine Blue Masking Tape placed on top with a hole in the tape cut with a sharp Exacto Knife sorta like the blue masking tape below on the side over the Vent Hole - those were to prevent JB Kwik getting all over where I didn't want it. I mixed the JB Kwik, thinned it a little with Denatured Alcohol so it would fill spaces and spread nicely and smeared it into the hole walls and onto the Screw Post threads then carefully inserted it to the depth I wanted, cleaned the excess JB Kwik that came out of the vent hole and off of the masking tape on top, then took the tape off for a nice clean surface.

Note the Heat Gun - I used this to heat up the Post so that the JB Kwik would cure faster and harder. Since I thinned the JB Kwik with Denatured Alcohol, it tends to remain sticky and take longer to cure, heat helps a LOT, like a LOTTA LOT. I put extra nuts and washers on while did this for extra heat capture to drive heat down the shaft of the post and into the JB Kwik.

The Post is set so that I can put washers and a nut for slight snug compression onto the wood for more stability and sideward stress reduction - this will make any sideways forces less likely to wear anything out or split the wood. The Drill chuck will then snug down on top of the nut.

I then placed the All-Thread Rod through the top and bottom pieces of the Swivel/Tilt assembly for more split resistance. I used 2 nuts per side of each All-Thread as "Jam Nuts" and then put Thin Wicking Cyanoacrylate on the ends to keep them from coming loose, since this is all stainless steel, it's sorta slippery with itself and needs a little help. If I were to do this again, I'd probably use Nylon Insert Locknuts. The CA bottle says "Trump's Hobbies", nope, not "that guy". Sadly Jim Trump retired and Trump's Hobby Shop closed. Jim had a wide variety of CA and epoxies from Bob the Epoxy Guy who labels things with your shop's name when requested.

Where the Tilt adjustment goes (and everywhere else with anything with Knobs for articulation) there's a Black Rubber (Neoprene?) Disk for (a) better grip and (b) so the Gunstock Oil finish won't bond to itself and get stuck over time.

Stay Tuned!
 

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Really amazing, Paul. You'll have to dress your rockets in suit and tie to be worthy of this pad.

Hmmm.... Rocket idea.... A "Tuxedo" rocket.

Hans.
Good one! It's coming together nicely, I've been waiting for the last (4th?) coat of Gunstock Oil to fully dry/cure/harden on the Mahogany Legs since they were coated last and that way they don't get stuck on their "base attachments" of Red Oak.

It's nice and heavy which was one of the goals and hopefully not too heavy or bulky to transport by bike - I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Glad you like it! - Paul
 
Almost Done! A few more details to chase down such as a stiff wire "Stand-Off" to hold the ignition wires.

I put some Green Felt Self Adhesive Pads on the bottom of the Tilt-n-Swivel assembly for (a) better footing and (b) avoid scratching anything and (c) avoid the Gunstock Oil finish from possibly adhering to itself.

3 of the 4 legs have smaller 3-prong Knobs and Carriage Bolts plus washers to distribute any stresses and lock in place with a stainless-steel Cotter Pin and don't need to be super-tight, just tight enough with the Cotter Pins. 3 legs will find stability no matter what the ground is doing. All 4 legs have a Black Rubber (neoprene?) disc for extra grip when clamping down the knobs.

1 of the 4 legs has a larger 2-prong Knob on it's Carriage Bolt to squeeze down with more force to adjust for uneven ground, but it also has a Cotter Pin to lock it in place if that works out with the ground being even enough.

I put Eyelet Screws in to attach lanyards to not-lose the Cotter Pins and the Key to the Drill Chuck and keep them right there handy. The lanyards were made from pieces of cord laying around on a bike path - I find a LOT of useful things riding my bike.

Funny now seeing the Door Knob on this bigger launch pad and there's this surreal sense of "Wow, this business of rockets is really getting sorta bigger and more sophisticated!!!".

Also shown is the 2-Piece Estes 1/4" x 5ft rod, home-made blast deflector made of scraps of Hardi-Plank Siding and scraps of Sheet aluminum obtained dumpster-diving at a construction site. The Hardi-Plank takes the blast, the Sheet Aluminum just prevents motor smoke fog from getting all over this nice launch pad.
 

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Almost Done! A few more details to chase down such as a stiff wire "Stand-Off" to hold the ignition wires.

I put some Green Felt Self Adhesive Pads on the bottom of the Tilt-n-Swivel assembly for (a) better footing and (b) avoid scratching anything and (c) avoid the Gunstock Oil finish from possibly adhering to itself.

3 of the 4 legs have smaller 3-prong Knobs and Carriage Bolts plus washers to distribute any stresses and lock in place with a stainless-steel Cotter Pin and don't need to be super-tight, just tight enough with the Cotter Pins. 3 legs will find stability no matter what the ground is doing. All 4 legs have a Black Rubber (neoprene?) disc for extra grip when clamping down the knobs.

1 of the 4 legs has a larger 2-prong Knob on it's Carriage Bolt to squeeze down with more force to adjust for uneven ground, but it also has a Cotter Pin to lock it in place if that works out with the ground being even enough.

I put Eyelet Screws in to attach lanyards to not-lose the Cotter Pins and the Key to the Drill Chuck and keep them right there handy. The lanyards were made from pieces of cord laying around on a bike path - I find a LOT of useful things riding my bike.

Funny now seeing the Door Knob on this bigger launch pad and there's this surreal sense of "Wow, this business of rockets is really getting sorta bigger and more sophisticated!!!".

Also shown is the 2-Piece Estes 1/4" x 5ft rod, home-made blast deflector made of scraps of Hardi-Plank Siding and scraps of Sheet aluminum obtained dumpster-diving at a construction site. The Hardi-Plank takes the blast, the Sheet Aluminum just prevents motor smoke fog from getting all over this nice launch pad.
That's..... Really.... Impressive, Paul.

Would some of that gun stock oil fix up my Estes pad?

Hans.
 
That's..... Really.... Impressive, Paul.

Would some of that gun stock oil fix up my Estes pad?

Hans.
Actually, it does stick to plastic to varying degrees, so yes, if you want a nice shiny look to your Estes launch pad, it probably would do that, Kinda funny thinking about that, or taking it into a Gunsmith and asking them "Hey, what you have make my launch look like some of those nice looking gunstock on the wall there?"
 
Here's the initial start of making a Removable Wire-Standoff to hold my cables for my Ignition system. The Standoff slides into a hole, pivots into place and rests against the Brass Eyelet Screws and is held in place by it own weight and the weight of the ignition cables. The first clip closeup (with clear tubing) is for this launch pad, the smaller clip with black plastic heat-shrink tubing is the standoff clip for my smaller older LPR launch pad.

The nice thing about this Standoff is that it is mounted to the Tilt/Swivel assembly on the "Tilt" portion, so it moves the launch cables with the launch angle and azimuth changes.

While I was at and had my Launch Control/Ignition stuff out, I took some pictures of that also.

More to come!
 

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I decided to put a layer of White Enamel on the bent-wire Launch Cable Standoff plus some heat-shrink tubing over it where it contacts the brass eyelet "stoppers" and on the end where the Alligator Clip is crimped on to help protect the paint that's protecting the metal underneath and hopefully prevent oxidation/rust. Also, It will make it much easier to find in the grass or in my bag of launch-controller stuff.

After looking at the peeling yellow electrical tape on my Launch Control System on the "big clips" that connect to the battery pack, I decided to tidy that up by removing the tape, cleaning the wire and insulation with Naptha, then peeled more wire to wrap the screw and around the neck of the clamp and solder it together for better contact and add layers of heat-shrink tubing over the ends of the wire and over the crimp spots. I actually now get a slightly improved reaction on my multimeter as a result.

Getting closer to "Launch Day"!!!!
 

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I went out this afternoon after the fog lifted and by then it was above freezing and everything worked Awesomely with the new Fancy Pants MPR Launch pad and the 2 piece Threaded 1/4" by 5 ft Estes Launch rod. I am SOOOO pleased with this Launch Pad and Rod. The DoorKnob was my first MPR with E20-4W's used. I'd include the video but it's too much data.

This is only the 2nd time I've ever driven to launch rockets in the past decade or more, kinda odd for me but I had limited time and too much distance for that amount of time. But now I kinda have a feel for how to pack this launch pad and bigger rocket in the bigger box I just made. I may actually coat it in several layers of Shellac.
 

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Funny how pics with wide angle lens work. It looks like Crescent Valley is the ultimate High Power site!

Hans.
Yeah, for those of us who go there, we Know Better, ha, ha.

That Door Knob isn't "huge" or very big but, it and the launch pad both look smaller than they really are in those pictures.

Adios! -Paul
 
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