New High Power Pad

[Johnnie]

...not from PVC!

I have constructed a mid/low power pad, and have constructed a HPR PVC Pad that has proven itself a warrior when lofting lots of J and K motors...These pads all had one thing in common...they were easily made from PVC. Very easy, very convenient.

But this new pad is a "Hoss"

https://www.jcrocket.com/prorailbase.shtml

The supplied link is too John Cokers web site, one of the best informational sites for HPR, and it is of the "Pro Rail base he made many years ago. I have always wanted to build one, and this past week, that dream has come true.

My new HPR pad is made from 2" tubular steel, that has 3/32" wall thickness, and aluminum metal plates are 3/16" thick. The legs are 40" long, for a nice stable 80" footprint.

Pictured is my pad in the travel / storage / carry posistion. (a little more dremel work, and the R/leg will close even further

 

[Johnnie]

...from a slightly different angle.

I must point out that this pad when complete will only use 1010 and 1515 rails.

 

[Johnnie]

...nearly open for business

 

[Johnnie]

You'll notice the steady rest in the rear, and the 4" wide plates for the mast. This pad has a very low center of gravity, great for those biguns...

 

[Johnnie]

Here is a close up of the leg plates, the mast plate with the slot for slight angle adjustment (Very slight) and the mast in the rocket load posistion.

 

[Johnnie]

same view, only further away.

 

[Johnnie]

The pad weighs in the 35 to 40 pound range, so it will be somewhat of a "bear" to tote to an away cell on a sod farm, but thats the way I like em. This one will not tip over or rock on a windy day when I finally finish it up.

Side view of the rocket load posistion.

go to John's site and study his web page on this pad design. He even has a pdf of the pad to build from. I took his idea and modified it a little to fit my needs...great design for those rocketeers that only shoot straight up!!

 

[Johnnie]

AHAA!

I have maybe 12 rocket projects going at any given time, and I have finally narrowed it down to 13

I got "jinky with it." I cleaned the shop, made room, rolled up my sleeves and put the finish on my High Power Pad.

In this 1st picture, I have added wing nut to the adjustment bolt at the mast slot, and this is also a much closer inspect for you all for the brackets used on this pad.

 

[Johnnie]

One of the many items I was looking forward to adding was the blast plate.

15 years ago I found one of those state owned road signs that says "MEN WORKING" ...you know the ones, it can be found next to the five guys smoking cigarettes watching one MAN do all the work.

Anyways, I cut a big chunk out of it 12" wide by 15" long. I cut a notch in it to fit around the mast, and mounted it down with 3-brackets. Since it is made from 3/32nds inch thick aluminum, I did not put a very big bend in it. The bend is to aim the flame away from the bottom of the rocket, but still keep the flame away from the ground.

Here is a pic from the under side of the deflector.

 

[Johnnie]

Here is a side view of the deflector , and a sneek shot of one of my many pride~n~joy rockets...

 

[Johnnie]

An away shot that shows how the rocket rests on the stand-off while you arm electronics, install igniters, etc. etc...

 

[Johnnie]

Taken from the RATT Works idea of rail stand-offs, here JohnnieRKT's rail standoff...fully adjustable up and down the rail.

 

[Johnnie]

"Guard, guard, guard..."

My living pride~n~joy, a pure bred Australian Shepherd named Vincent "Vinny" for short keeps guard of my top secret project...

 

[Johnnie]

In the locked and loaded posistion, this pad is officially open for business and will see action next weekend in Manchester, TN.

 

[Johnnie]

Shy of another angle

 

[Johnnie]

Front side

 

[Johnnie]

Rear view

Future update will include the addition of a mount for the 1,5" X 1.5" HPR Rail.

 

[jetra2]

Sweet! Beautiful pad, and the rocket ain't bad either! Let us know how it works out!

Great documentation...now time to post plans!!!

Jason

 

[Stymye]

very nice ! clean and simple yet sturdy
the rocket too.

 

[wwattles]

That's cool!

Are there any adjustments you can make on it if the ground isn't flat/level?

WW

 

[Johnnie]

Are there any adjustments you can make on it if the ground isn't flat/level?

What I liked best about this pad is that it is a no frills pad, which means all adjustments are manual and cheap. So in the case of un-level or flat ground, I pick it up and move it till I find find level flat ground. In reality, that is about $100 in engineering saved. I do plan to add "feet" to the legs, but they will adjust very little.

As for plans, John Coker's web page has the basics, and you tailor it to fit your needs.

Hey Stymye, I'll need alot of firepower to get those stickers off of my blast deflector, it was made to last forever...Thanks for the kudos on the pad and rocket, that 4" Endeavor has only flown once, I'm afraid I'll break the darn thing...do you know how much a PML Endeavor costs nowadays???

 

[JDcluster]

Originally posted by Johnnierkt
Rear view

Future update will include the addition of a mount for the 1,5" X 1.5" HPR Rail.

 

[JDcluster]

Originally posted by Johnnierkt
Rear view

Future update will include the addition of a mount for the 1,5" X 1.5" HPR Rail.

 

[JDcluster]

Originally posted by Johnnierkt
Rear view

Future update will include the addition of a mount for the 1,5" X 1.5" HPR Rail.

Cool, could you build 1 for me???



JD

 

[Johnnie]

The statement that comes to mind is: "If you want any of this stuff you can have it, otherwise we are just going to throw it away..."

This is what started my HPR Pad. Most of what my pad was built from is scrap, and that makes it a "one-off" pad.

I have a total of $16 bux wrapped up in this pad, that included an $8 all-you can eat Mexican food buffet for the man who did all the cutting for me. The other $8 is what I invested in hardware to put it together.

Review John Cokers original work, he has made a set of plans from which this HPR pad is based on. It is very simplified for guys like me to be able to make a pad like this.

 

[Steward]

I know you stated that the cost was low for you...(already having some of the materials).
Do you, or someone have an actual breakdown? What are we looking at pricewise in either the 3inch or 2inch Aluminum...???

It's a nice looking pad... and I like the fact that it is metal not PVC.

Thanks in advance...
Steward


Edit: BTW I already have the rail...!!!

 

[Johnnie]

My best advice is to hit the scrap metal yards. What kept me away from buying outright all aluminum is the cost.

Lets take McMaster-Carr for an example, I believe 2" square aluminum tube 36" long is $25 a piece. 1/4" thick aluminum sheet big enough to make the brackets can run well over $100...did you want that welded?

I have waited for years for the right materials and circumstances to arise, and what I have presented here are my results. Everyones experience will be different, in my case I had hit it just right, materials and the means timed out at the right moment.

I could make a pdf file of my pad showing dimensens, and materials, but modifying John Cokers design to fit my bill is all I have done.


I debuted this pad at our local meeting, and got a lot of kudos...unfortunately I was not able to attend yesterdays launch to test the pad out...maybe I could bring it to B'Ham.

 

[Steward]

Come on up...anytime...!!!