Not the Brightest Bulb

[COSTransplant]

I hate to admit this, but I actually messed up using the Estes Fin Alignment Guide. How so you ask? Well, I've used it like three times now -- last night was the third time, while working on a repair of my ARC 1318 PSR. Every time I use the fin guide, my freaking fins stick to the plastic pieces that slide into the grooves on the base of the alignment guide that are designed to hold the fins straight while the glue dries. And every time, I ruin a set of fins and have to start over again -- and I end up just doing the alignment by hand. After last nights debaucle, I'm sleeping, and I wake up and I realize I dont need to have the plastic pieces right up against the tubing for the guide to work. And wallah, I have solved one of lifes great mysteries. DOH!

 

[NTP2]

I hate to admit this, but I actually messed up using the Estes Fin Alignment Guide. How so you ask? Well, I've used it like three times now -- last night was the third time, while working on a repair of my ARC 1318 PSR. Every time I use the fin guide, my freaking fins stick to the plastic pieces that slide into the grooves on the base of the alignment guide that are designed to hold the fins straight while the glue dries. And every time, I ruin a set of fins and have to start over again -- and I end up just doing the alignment by hand. After last nights debaucle, I'm sleeping, and I wake up and I realize I dont need to have the plastic pieces right up against the tubing for the guide to work. And wallah, I have solved one of lifes great mysteries. DOH!

I just learned how to use it.

 

[cls]

I do not think the Estes fin alignment jig can be used correctly. It never holds the materials straight.

 

[COSTransplant]

I agree -- the fins never seem to be spaced correctly around the tube!

 

[cwbullet]

I hate to admit this, but I actually messed up using the Estes Fin Alignment Guide. How so you ask? Well, I've used it like three times now -- last night was the third time, while working on a repair of my ARC 1318 PSR. Every time I use the fin guide, my freaking fins stick to the plastic pieces that slide into the grooves on the base of the alignment guide that are designed to hold the fins straight while the glue dries. And every time, I ruin a set of fins and have to start over again -- and I end up just doing the alignment by hand. After last nights debaucle, I'm sleeping, and I wake up and I realize I dont need to have the plastic pieces right up against the tubing for the guide to work. And wallah, I have solved one of lifes great mysteries. DOH!

It has heppened to the bext of us.

 

[Hobie1dog]

I do not think the Estes fin alignment jig can be used correctly. It never holds the materials straight.

+1 I bought one and sent it right back.

 

[bjphoenix]

I tried inventing a fin jig. It worked well but was hard to make. Someone pointed out an older much simpler design that had a similar concept to mine so I discarded mine and made one of those. It works very well and is easy to use. You put the fins on one at a time and it requires you to make a paper wrap or something like that to mark the positions around the tube.

https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/lpr-fin-jig.176429/

 

[bad_idea]

After last nights debaucle, I'm sleeping, and I wake up and I realize I dont need to have the plastic pieces right up against the tubing for the guide to work. And wallah, I have solved one of lifes great mysteries. DOH!

I didn't lose any fins over this, but I did make a mess of dried glue all over a few parts before I figured this out. Then, like others, I moved on to better - or at least simpler - tools.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

That fin alignment guide is a POS. One star! Would not recommend! I gave mine away.

 

[COSTransplant]

Sounds like a plant to me -- but then it will just frustrate someone else! I think it is a trash bin candidate!

 

[cls]

That fin alignment guide is a POS. One star! Would not recommend! I gave mine away.

Totally agree. But I couldn't bear the thought of burdening an innocent with such a malfeasant contraption, so I threw both (old and brand new) out.

 

[dhbarr]

That fin alignment guide is a POS. One star! Would not recommend! I gave mine away.

It's pretty decent for kids transitioning away from E2X. Mine had trouble with a Macklin at that stage, and there's no way I'd let them at my Rose/Harrison.

 

[COSTransplant]

Woah! That Rose / Harrison jig is really impressive!

 

[K'Tesh]

I'd be happy to take the dummy engines off your hands.

 

[SolarYellow]

That fin alignment guide is a POS. One star! Would not recommend! I gave mine away.

To someone you don’t like…?

 

[techrat]

The best way to make that fin alignment guide work properly is to chuck it in the trash. I have better results lining things up by eye. Using the guide has just made me snap off fins and re-do them because the fins don't actually seem to "align" with anything. They aren't straight on the tube, and they aren't the proper number of degrees around the tube. And I've tried this several different ways to make it work properly and it just doesn't.

The best way I have found is to draw your lines onto the tube, and tack the fins on with CA, aligning on your lines, and after the CA is holding things in place, use wood glue or whatever you prefer. Take that alignment guide and use it as a spray paint stand. That's about all it's good for.

 

[NTP2]

Take that alignment guide and use it as a spray paint stand. That's about all it's good for.

Or you can do what I do and use the plates to scrape ice of cars.

 

[ThirstyBarbarian]

To someone you don’t like…?

I wrapped it up like a present, and inside the box I put the fin jig, an exploding dye pack, and a dead mouse.

 

[icyclops]

I agree -- the fins never seem to be spaced correctly around the tube!

Without sounding like capt. obvious here….it does depend on which side of the plastic fin aligner you use…one side is if you are using 1/8” balsa and the other is for 1/16” balsa. Agreed, the plastic aligners should be moved outwards and not touching the body tube or glued fin root To prevent glue mishaps….the thing works ok if used properly, otherwise I just eyeball it using pencil marked BT and supports.

 

[COSTransplant]

I am sure that I will keep trying to use it / manipulate it until I decide just to eyeball it!

 

[JimHs1]

If you have access to a 3D printer, here is a fin alignment guide that works great! Open https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2006064 and then go to the "Customizer" and enter your rocket data (tube diameter, number of fins, fin thickness, etc) and it generates the necessary stl file to print.

 

[cwbullet]

If you have access to a 3D printer, here is a fin alignment guide that works great! Open https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2006064 and then go to the "Customizer" and enter your rocket data (tube diameter, number of fins, fin thickness, etc) and it generates the necessary stl file to print.

View attachment 611009

There are several customizers that work Well. Here is another.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4292667

 

[bcook7135]

I have had great success with these…
http://www.qualmanrocketry.com/BT_Fin_Guide_3_32.html
David will also make custom ones if you have an odd project.

 

[jqavins]

Oh, here we go again, everybody pile on the tool that works just great for some of us. I don't know what the rest of you are doing wrong. But this time I think I have a pretty good idea.

I always make it a point to push the vanes snugly up to the body tube in order to assure that the tube is vertical; I've never had them stick. It sounds like you have too much glue so it's squeezing/seeping out of the joint. The root to tube joint is never strong enough to fly, so all you need is to make sure it's strong enough to keep things in place while you apply fillets. The thinnest bead of glue you can manage on the root edge is all you want there, so it doesn't spill out.

That Estes fin guide is one of very few that ensure vertical alignment (the fin is parallel to the body tube's axis), radial alignment (the fin is perpendicular to the body tube's surface), and indexing (the fins are evenly spaced around the body tube) all at once. When I got mine, it was the only one on the market that did that, and it's inexpensive to boot. I've had consistently had great results with it changed my life for the better.

The best way to make that fin alignment guide work properly is to chuck it in the trash.

Umm, that's not any way to make it work properly. If you believe that there is no way then why start to state that there is and then give a bull crap answer? Would you say that "the best way to make the Qualman guide assure vertical alignment is to toss in in the fire"?

 

[bad_idea]

That Estes fin guide is one of very few that ensure vertical alignment (the fin is parallel to the body tube's axis), radial alignment (the fin is perpendicular to the body tube's surface), and indexing (the fins are evenly spaced around the body tube) all at once. When I got mine, it was the only one on the market that did that, and it's inexpensive to boot. It changed my life for the better.

You make a convincing argument. Maybe I'll try mine again when I'm building some park flyers over the winter.

 

[Event Horizon]

I think on page 2 of the Sentinel Upscale 2019 build there's a very simple system of ensuring 100% alignment of fins, at least in groupings of four.
https://www.rocketryforum.com/threads/sentinel-upscale-2019.152917/The entire build is pretty interesting if I say so myself

 

[techrat]

Umm, that's not any way to make it work properly. If you believe that there is no way then why start to state that there is and then give a bull crap answer? Would you say that "the best way to make the Qualman guide assure vertical alignment is to toss in in the fire"?

That type of snarky response originates from car culture as in "The 1985 Yugo came with a rear-window defroster, which was good for keeping your hands warm while you pushed it."

Now perhaps the grey fin alignment tool was good and perhaps it changed your life, but I've tried to use the yellow one and it doesn't work. Now this could be that I'm a bit more of a perfectionist than most. I don't know that the fins on your rockets are actually aligned properly, or at least to my satisfaction, but clearly they are to yours. I'm happy for you. But as I stated in my post earlier, I've tried it on several occasions, in different ways to make sure it wasn't me doing something wrong, and in each case, I ended up tearing off the fins and doing it again, by eye, because that meets my standard.

The yellow fin alignment tool has been broadly criticized in this forum (go ahead, perform a search), so I'm not the only person to bad-mouth it. If there's a way to make it work so that the fins are actually... you know... *aligned*, it hasn't been found by a large number of people. This speaks to a flaw with the product itself or the instructions that come with the product.

 

[SecondRow]

Oh, here we go again, everybody pile on the tool that works just great for some of us. I don't know what the rest of you are doing wrong. But this time I think I have a pretty good idea.

I always make it a point to push the vanes snugly up to the body tube in order to assure that the tube is vertical; I've never had them stick. It sounds like you have too much glue so it's squeezing/seeping out of the joint. The root to tube joint is never strong enough to fly, so all you need is to make sure it's strong enough to keep things in place while you apply fillets. The thinnest bead of glue you can manage on the root edge is all you want there, so it doesn't spill out.

That Estes fin guide is one of very few that ensure vertical alignment (the fin is parallel to the body tube's axis), radial alignment (the fin is perpendicular to the body tube's surface), and indexing (the fins are evenly spaced around the body tube) all at once. When I got mine, it was the only one on the market that did that, and it's inexpensive to boot. I've had consistently had great results with it changed my life for the better.

Umm, that's not any way to make it work properly. If you believe that there is no way then why start to state that there is and then give a bull crap answer? Would you say that "the best way to make the Qualman guide assure vertical alignment is to toss in in the fire"?

+1. I’ve never had a problem getting fins on straight and spaced correctly with my alignment guide. I don’t understand the hate for it. It’s inexpensive and extremely useful.

My only issue with it now is that I rarely build the type of rockets it’s designed to be used for, so it doesn’t get much use nowadays.

 

[NTP2]

A pic of mine, as they say a picture is worth a thousand words.

 

[Dane Ronnow]

I've tried several types of fin alignment guides on BT80 tubes, but was never happy with them. For my 3" scratch build, I tried the downloadable fin guide from Payload Bay, and never looked back. The slots are indexed perfectly, and the only coast is the foamcore—$1.99 for a 20"x30" piece at Hobby Lobby.

https://www.payloadbay.com/index.php?page=Tools&action=FINGUIDES2
I used the alternate fin guide, taped it to a piece of foamcore, then made the straight cuts using a box cutter and heavy straight edge, and the circle cut using an X-Acto knife. (Go slowly and you'll get a nice cut on the circle.)