Pencil Rockets

[Jase]

As I recall for the metal band that holds the eraser, he used some plastic bottles to get the rounded shapes. And then painted with silver and black to get the effect.

 

[Mike]

I bought the balsa wood I needed today so I can begin.

For the ferrul would it be alright to put a two (or whatever) thin beads of plastacine or modeling clay around the body then put foil on top and smooth it round.

 

[sandman]

Mike that would work. Just be careful about adding extra weight to the rear of a rocket.

Make sure it is balanced when you are done.

sandman

 

[Mike]

I've found that BT-55 fits perfectly around my hexagon BT.

So if I cut a lengthof BT-55 and then paint it silver I can put it partly over the end of the Hex BT for the ferrul.

The rubber can then be a bit of crafted balsa, sanded to look worn. I can then put an 18mm hole in it and insert a friction fit motor mount then painted pink The whole eraser assembly can then be inserted into the over hanging 'ferrul' section and glued.

Does that sound OK, can anyone foresee any gotcha's?

 

[sandman]

That sounds great.

Don't forget the fins!

Just for scale I included this. The caliper is ste at 1".

There seems to be a smaller brass band above and below the ferrul.

This one is a DIXON TICONDEROGA.

sandman

 

[Mike]

I hadn't totally forgotten about the fins, just when I was writing that post.

I'm on the look out for some clear plasticard or acrylic and I'll get brass foil to make that bit of detail. I've cut the central bit of BT and started to cut the balsa to make the hexagon and will continue after I've done my French homework.

Yes I will be taking photos and posting them.

 

[Mike]

I've completed the body tube section, it's now a nice hexagon and all smooth too.

Starting nosecone tomorrow, and I'm looking forward to it. Just how rocketry should be.

 

[Mike]

I've been carving the nosecone and I can't help but feel the carved look makes the rocket seem slightly scrappy.

I think its because I can't get the carves deep enough. With real pencil it takes about 6 or 7 strokes with a knive to sharpen it but with a nosecone its hard to do it in that number of stokes so it loses that scale look.

It also seems like a bit of a cop out to outsiders, as though I couldn't be bothered to make a conical nose (which is not the case.)

I'm going to go back to the original plan of buying a nosecone and cut of sanding bits off.

I will try another carved nosecone in the future maybe on another pencil rocket (somehow I feel this will not be the last pencil I build.)

 

[jflis]

recommendation on "carving" a nose cone. Use a chunk of that dense styrofoam and a hot-wire styrofoam cutter to get the deep, scale-like carve marks

 

[Mike]

Thanks Jim, i'll use that if I ever try this again.

I've completed the nosecone and painted it. I've acctually posted a picture too!

The bodytube is coming along well got one layer of sealer on it but then I ran out so I'll get some more tomorrow.

 

[KenParker]

DUDE !!!! KEWL !!!

Color me impressed. I think it looks awesome. Looks just like a pencil tip that comes out of my electric sharpener at home. Be sure you post a pic of the completed rocket.

Would that be The Rocketry Forum home page on your pc screen in the background?

Keep up the good work !!!

- Ken

 

[Mike]

Thanks Ken,
Sorry to dissapoint you but no it's not, to be precise its Microsoft Picture It.

 

[jflis]

oh man, you did a FINE job! That is Beautiful! Looks like it came right out of the sharpner!

Wanna *see* how good it looks? Check out the attachment... the one on the right is a closeup photo of a REAL pencil....

 

[rstaff3]

It really did turn out great, can't wait to se ethe rest!

 

[sandman]

Mike,

SUPER nose cone!

I couldn't do better with a lathe!

sandman

 

[Mike]

Thanks guys,
Jim:

The body tube is coming on nicely now and the final coat of sealer just needs sanding.

The fins are proving more difficult than I thought, I cracked the plastic when I tried cutting it myself so I'm going to try and do it on my school's bandsaw.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[jflis]

For cutting most plastic sheeting, you should need to do nothing more than score the plastic on one side, then snap it at the score line. Clean the edge with a razor knife or sanding block