plugger
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Back at Balls in 2013 I purchased a RouseTech 38mm flush aft closure from Jack Garibaldi of What's Up Hobbies. I used this hardware to couple a 38mm to 54mm two stage stack I attempted to fly twice in 2015. That project was unsuccessful and as a result I lost my AeroTech compatable 38mm flush aft closure. Details of that project can be found here.
https://forum.ausrocketry.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=5002
Despite losing that unit and the staging stack with it I've always tried to keep my eye out for another. I think there's a lot of value in coupling stages via the motor casing and I wanted to give it another go, ideally with a HEI forward closure in the sustainer.
Sadly I've never found another one of these RouseTech units; furthermore now that RouseTech has gotten out of the game I figured my chances of getting another unit were slim at best. Given this I started to think about alternatives to achieve this deliverable. I don't own a lathe personally but have a good mate who does and I had the epiphany of "well, if I can't buy one why can't I take a standard aft closure and have my mate turn it down on the lathe to make it a flush closure?" Once I thought of this, I spoke to my mate who said it would be extraordinarily simple for him to accomplish. So I put two standard 38mm RouseTech rear closures and one 29mm RouseTech rear closure into the mail. He's had a go at the 38mm units, results below.
And a couple comments from my mate:
And of course after all of this I had a search here and found this thread from 2008 where Tom Rouse chimed in on these units.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/38mm-flush-aft-closure.119319/#post-1370772
Hopefully this weekend my mate will have a go with the 29mm closure I've provided him. I'll update the thread once he does.
https://forum.ausrocketry.com/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=5002
Despite losing that unit and the staging stack with it I've always tried to keep my eye out for another. I think there's a lot of value in coupling stages via the motor casing and I wanted to give it another go, ideally with a HEI forward closure in the sustainer.
Sadly I've never found another one of these RouseTech units; furthermore now that RouseTech has gotten out of the game I figured my chances of getting another unit were slim at best. Given this I started to think about alternatives to achieve this deliverable. I don't own a lathe personally but have a good mate who does and I had the epiphany of "well, if I can't buy one why can't I take a standard aft closure and have my mate turn it down on the lathe to make it a flush closure?" Once I thought of this, I spoke to my mate who said it would be extraordinarily simple for him to accomplish. So I put two standard 38mm RouseTech rear closures and one 29mm RouseTech rear closure into the mail. He's had a go at the 38mm units, results below.
And a couple comments from my mate:
And of course after all of this I had a search here and found this thread from 2008 where Tom Rouse chimed in on these units.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/38mm-flush-aft-closure.119319/#post-1370772
Hopefully this weekend my mate will have a go with the 29mm closure I've provided him. I'll update the thread once he does.
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