Quadradent - a somewhat experimental build

[les]

Oh - I left the epoxy for the first tube to cure overnight. This morning I partially took apart the jig and actually epoxied the second tube I had installed in the foam board jig. No new pix as it now looks the same....
Since I feel secure in the alignment I hope to get the other 2 epoxied on later today.

 

[les]

All tubes glued on. There are a few gaps that will be covered by the fillets. Need to install lugs as well. Waiting on the Tri-Trident to have only 1 batch of epoxy to mix up

 

[les]

When I applied the epoxy, I used a tool to smooth the edges.
And since I was using Rocketpoxy, I could do all of them at once.

However, I missed smoothing one set of joints...



I will grind it down and do better...........

 

[les]

Lugs installed and fixed fillet

But I need some advice.

I installed the nose cone and did a puff test. Cone came out fine (Note - no chute was installed)
I then wanted to verify the overall integrity. So I held the nose cone on - I even wrapped it in a nitrile glove to ensure it was airtight and blew into motor mount. Somewhere there is an air leak. I did a visual inspection but I do not see any openings.

Any suggestion on how to locate the leak?
Or since the cone comes out should I not worry about it??
On the other hand, a leak could be an indication of a weak point that could fail with a full ejection charge................

 

[mjennings]

Pretty sure a bubble check is right out. You could tape tuft's of threads over the joints and rotate the rocket for several blows. See if that reveals anything. You might need a partner to help watch.

 

[neil_w]

Pretty sure a bubble check is right out.

I am only half-jokingly thinking that if you fill a room with smoke and then blow in, you'll see where the air is coming out. Not very practical.

However, if you could fill something like a jug or a pail with smoke (maybe throw in a piece of dry ice and let it sublimate for a while?) then you could stick one end of the rocket in and blow, then reverse with the other end. Perhaps this would at least make it possible to narrow down which end the air is escaping from, and maybe it'll show it even better than that. I would *guess* that the leak is somewhere around the joints, rather than the tubes themselves, since the tubes are easy to inspect.

 

[mjennings]

@neil_w I like the dry ice idea! @les if you know someone with a fog machine that would work too. Maybe even blow the fog into the rocket.
Another idea is powdered paint, or eyeshadow. Put it along the seems and do a blow test.

 

[BABAR]

.
Another idea is powdered paint, or eyeshadow. Put it along the seems and do a blow test.

I was thinking this, or colored chalk.

just be careful.

you heard about the glass blower that inhaled?

now he has a pane in his stomach.

 

[les]

Found the leak with my daughter's help. (Un)Fortunately, she smokes. Got her to light up a cig and blow into the rocket.
It is coming from the motor mount and not the tube joints. With the square tubes, they sometimes bow out in the center. I generally do a heavy glue fillet to avoid this, Guess I missed a spot.
I used some thin CA and pressed in. It appears to have fixed the leak. Tomorrow I should doing some epoxy work on the Tri-Trident. I will use some to help reinforce the joint.

 

[les]

Added a touch of epoxy to reinforce the joint. If you look close you can see it just on the rim of the joint.



Also thinking of injecting some epoxy into the rocket and swirl it around to improve the joint internally.
Thoughts? Overkill?

 

[les]

And back to gray primer

 

[les]

Then white


Quite frankly, I don't feel the paint job came up to my preferred standards, but it still looks pretty good at 5' and great at 10'




But the more I look at it, the more I feel the need to fix at least the worst spots...
Need to let it sit for a few days before I can add any more coats.....

 

[les]

Touch up areas - before

 

[les]

and after. Still not perfect, but good enough

 

[les]

Been away a bit.

Added the red marking on the engine "radiators"

 

[les]

Looking for opinions (besides your old, your fat, your stupid - I get those all the time )

I ordered some Trident decals and trying to decide how best to use them.
These are photocopies held on by tape

OPT 1 - Install on outside tube. Get to see them from both sides


OPT 2 - Apply on Inside. Issue is from the "narrow" side you don't see anything until you get a bit of angled view. But the people can wave to people on the other side.......





OPT 3 - Alternate outside and inner side



Thoughts????

Honestly, 2/3 of my other Tridents tend to be OPT 1, but one was sort of OPT 2 (more because I got lots of extra pieces so I could do BOTH sides)

Without more decals, I can't really do both sides. Otherwise I don't like having nothing visible for OPT 2

Opt 3 seems a little off....

 

[neil_w]

I vote “outside”

 

[Colorado Mike]

Option 1 - and thanks for sharing this build. Very interesting

 

[les]

Unanimous decision for Opt 1 Outside.

I went to apply the decals and had all sorts of issues where they kept curling up on themselves. I actually had another project in mind so I had a spare set. Good thing as I ruined so many pieces. I still need to come with a "title" for the fins. I may try to make my own decals for the very first time...........

But this is how it looks at this point. Came out pretty Denty to me!
Our club launch scheduled for this weekend got cancelled due to weather, so there will be a delay before it flies.

 

[les]

The club was going to hold a make-up bonus launch to replace the rained out one - until it also got rained out.
Next (and last for this season) launch is this weekend. Weather looks good.

And tried something new. Made my own decals for the very first time. The directions said to spray with Acrylic Clear after printing. I used an enamel clear. Appears to have worked OK......

 

[BABAR]

4 pronged trident is a nice touch!

Well played.

 

[Back_at_it]

Nice build. Do you know if there are any plans to for New Way to produce this? This would be an excellent kit and I'd be in line right away to buy one.

 

[les]

I know he is having difficulty sourcing square tubing. Part of the reason why the small tubes are made up of 4 pieces glued together.
I felt those tubes came out great, and if anything I overdid beefing them up. But hopefully this weekend I'll get to launch it!

 

[les]

Flew the Quadradent at the URRG launch today on a D21. Motor was a bit much, as the rocket really zipped off the pad. Flew straight as an arrow. Good deployment, safe return.



I really want to thank Rick for coming up with the parts to build this. I do think I over did it in strengthening the ducting tubes. I believe the machined parts to glue up into a square tube worked out real well.

 

[BABAR]

Very nice project. Original thoughts, well-demonstrated build and discussion, and successful flight.

wins in every column. Thanks for sharing it. Hope it gets “kitted”!