Need To Replace My Launch Pad---It's One Of A Kind I Guess

[tfrielin]

Some years ago---probably twenty years by now---I bought this launch pad from a guy on Ebay. I think. He was from Huntsville, as I recall.

After all this time I've lost his contact information burt would like to replace this one with something similar---As you can see it's a home-built job consisting of sand-filled PVC pipes and a drill chuck for launch rod insertion.

The drill chuck took rods up to 1/4'' size and that made it really convenient.
I used it for D, E, and F-sied engines, plus F composite size for rockets like the Nike Smoke, Doorknob, Super Big Bertha.

Aybody know anyone selling anything like this?

Or, failing that can recommend a good launch pad that's better than the Estes one I bought that's marginal at best?

Thanks.

 

[T-Rex]

Why not use what you have as a guide and build a new one? By the looks of it, you need to add a blast deflector of some kind.....

 

[rcktnut]

Reverse engineer it, easy enough to build. Cross post!! See DIY!!

 

[kuririn]

Build your own.
PVC pipe, elbows. and a tee are available at any hardware store.
Also drill chuck, bolts and wing nuts.
Drill a hole in the tee, glue the elbows on with PVC cement, put a bolt through from the bottom, secure on top with the wing nut, and screw in the chuck.
Optional, add a Panavise or similar for tilt/pan capability.
Or do the same with your existing Estes PVC pad.
I would add a blast deflector and/or flower pot to protect your pipe and hardware.
Are those legs extendable?
If not go with a wider footprint for the larger, heavier rockets.
Legs are not glued into the elbows, so easy breakdown for transport.

 

[JimByrne]

I have built several using a modified version of John Coker's design (check out his website).
I have one with a drill chuck for 1/8, 3/16 & 1/4' rods and another with a block drilled for 1/4'
rods and a third with a 1010 rail. The legs are 1 1/2" square tubing. They fold up easily and are sturdy.

 

[SolarYellow]

Something like this would be cheap, light, and easy to use. A 1/4-20 screw through whatever the tripod structure is holds it on. A 1/4-20 coupling nut can be used a few different ways to hold launch rods, or you can adapt rails in various ways. Sandwich a blast plate between the top platform and whatever you're threading onto the stud.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08K4TMYLF/

 

[BEC]

Something like this would be cheap, light, and easy to use. A 1/4-20 screw through whatever the tripod structure is holds it on. A 1/4-20 coupling nut can be used a few different ways to hold launch rods, or you can adapt rails in various ways. Sandwich a blast plate between the top platform and whatever you're threading onto the stud.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08K4TMYLF/

Oh....I like that idea. I have a bunch of pads (both for my own use and a 10-pad club system) that use the two-eyebolt pivot. But a full ball and socket like that might well be worth doing. It wouldn't be strong enough for bigger stuff like the Panavise head @kuririn shows, but it would be great for LPR/MPR stuff that uses a 1/8 or 3/16 inch rod.

Added: here's a similar thing for half the price: https://www.amazon.com/VIELKNOV-Pro...s&qid=1692060273&s=photo&sr=1-9&ts_id=3347671

Here's what I mean by a two-eyebolt pivot. In between the fender washers are 1/4-20 eyebolts. Inside them are stacks of smaller washers to keep the fender washers from being squashed and to keep the 10-24 screw/locknut centered. I tighten that assembly to where it's not too hard (but not too easy) to adjust the angle. For the other axis, the assembly is turned inside the top of the tripod or the whole tripod is just turned on the ground.



Here's a longer view of the top of the tripod showing the electrical couplings used to make the legs screw-on. Just press fitting gets frustrating after a few assembly/disassembly cycles. This fixes that problem.



By flipping the gender of one of the leg attachments you can use two legs as a launch rod holder as well without any additional parts.

A version of this using two-inch pipe was published in Sport Rocketry a few issues back. That pad used adjustable length legs as it's intended for a six foot 1010 rail, and the two-eyebolt pivot doesn't scale up to that size well and handle the weight of the rail. I tried and failed.

 

[Sooner Boomer]

I built a simple launch stand from a keyless chuck a 5/16 fine thread bolt, and a cheap music stand. After seeing how gunked up the chuck got from black powder exhaust, I started covering the chuck with a tin can that had a hole punched in the bottom.

 

[brockrwood]

Build your own.
PVC pipe, elbows. and a tee are available at any hardware store.
Also drill chuck, bolts and wing nuts.
Drill a hole in the tee, glue the elbows on with PVC cement, put a bolt through from the bottom, secure on top with the wing nut, and screw in the chuck.
Optional, add a Panavise or similar for tilt/pan capability.
Or do the same with your existing Estes PVC pad.
I would add a blast deflector and/or flower pot to protect your pipe and hardware.
Are those legs extendable?
If not go with a wider footprint for the larger, heavier rockets.
Legs are not glued into the elbows, so easy breakdown for transport.
View attachment 598140

View attachment 598141

Oooo! I am loving this.

 

[86mustang408w]

Awesome. I've been gathering parts for something new. But I'm hooked on an old flower pot stand, lol.

 

[BEC]

I have replaced the two-eyebolt pivot with the tripod top I linked to in post #7 above, but I haven't yet used the pad configured this way. Will report back (if I remember) after I've used it some.

 

[Henry Walker]

here is our pizza pan launch rail. we had the smaller 1010 rail and connector pieces and I ordered the 6ft piece. the pizza pan is from Dollar Tree and was $1.25. Easy enough to drill a hole in it and use some tin snips to make it square. so far so good it has survived 2 H motors and several mid power launches. it could be better with some more modifying and weight added to it though.