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qquake2k

Captain Low-N-Slow
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Here's a different kind of scratch build. I decided to build a wooden box to transport and store some of my rockets in. I made it out of Masonite and 1 x 2 pine. It's approximately 40"L x 15"H x 12"W. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I still need to put on the hinges, latches, and handles. I might line it with old blanket material or maybe carpet pad. I'm also going to make a lift out tray for smaller rockets. It should protect the rockets very well.

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I'm lazy - I've got four 8" deep plastic bins filled with styro peanuts. I was just using cardboard boxes, but discovered what happens when a rocket built with white glue rests on its fins in a hot car for a while. :eyepop: The styro peanuts support the rocket without putting any pressure on any part of the rocket.
 
Yeah, I see a lot of the plastic bins, too. But they're not long enough for my taller rockets.
 
That's pretty neat. Any idea on how much the box alone weighs?
 
I think we've all done something similar a time or two only to find no matter how large or small, compact, light weight or comprehensive... they all end up being to little LOL!!!

I once built a Huge Car top 1x2 an 1/8" tempered masonite carry all to fit my 64 Ford Fairlane 500. it was 14" x 48" x 96" with side hinged doors and mid span divider wall. The thing ended up weighing a ton, and never quite lived up to the title Carry all LOL!!!

your chest come out very well, Hope it finds good use as time goes on.
 
That's pretty neat. Any idea on how much the box alone weighs?

Yeah i would like to know this too. That box looks mighty heavy. Also how are you planning to move such a box?:confused:
 
That's pretty neat. Any idea on how much the box alone weighs?

No, I don't have a scale. It is heavier than I expected, though. I tried to keep it as light as possible, which is why I used 1/8" Masonite and 1x2. It'll be a little heavier, too, once I get the tray in it and the hardware on it. The weight shouldn't matter that much, because I have a pickup and I'll just leave the box on the tailgate when I'm at the launch site. I don't anticipate needing to move it around that much. (Famous last words!)
 
Yeah i would like to know this too. That box looks mighty heavy. Also how are you planning to move such a box?:confused:

I'm going to put chest handles on the ends of it. I'm hoping I'll be able to lift it with both handles by myself. If not, I will be able to get it into the truck, and I can always get someone to help me carry it if need be at the launch. I thought about putting wheels on one end, and I may still do that. But it's really not all that heavy, and the rockets certainly aren't going to add much weight.

It's really not as heavy as it looks, because of the "frame" style of construction. It would probably be 2 or 3 times as heavy if I had used 1/2" or 3/4" plywood.
 
I built one a long time ago.

I used 1" x 1" strips and luan plywood.

Yea, it weighs a lot more than a plastic box but once I stained and varnished it, then added brass hardware, it looks a lot better than plastic.

It's not that heavy. But it looks cooler than plastic.

I used the thin foam sheet that's used as packing wrap or under flooring, round foam pipe insulation on the cross members and elastic shock cord to hold everything down.

For perspective on size, that's my 168% upscale Orbital Transport on top.
 
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I like it. I use tac boxes that I have accumulated over my time in the service. Every deployment I have to buy one or two to ship stuff back home so I have quite a few. I do have rockets that are too big for them, but I just stick those in the cab of the pickup.
 
Well, I ran into some problems with my rocket box. When I went out this morning to finish it, I discovered that the top and sides had warped. I'm assuming it was the moisture in the glue. None of the 1x2's were warped when I bought them, I checked every one.

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The hinges and catches took care of the top, but what to do about the sides?

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I thought about using angle iron to stiffen the sides, but didn't want to increase the weight. So the best I could come up with was a removable crossbar. I think it'll work fine. (There is some distortion in the photos from the wide angle camera lens. It doesn't bow like it appears in the first photo.) The crossbar pushes the sides out, and I can remove it to put rockets in or take them out.

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I also made a removable tray for the smaller rockets. There should be plenty of room underneath for my biggest rockets.

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Overall I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. My main goal for it was to protect the rockets, which it will do just fine. It's not as heavy as it looks, maybe 15-20 pounds. My next steps will be to install some sort of lid support, and line the inside with something soft to protect the rockets' finish.

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Nice work, but it looks a bit heavy to me.

Two pictures of the last model box I built are attached. Slightly different construction, but I used 1/8" aircraft plywood which is much lighter than you'll find in the local lumber yards. I've taken this thing all across the country, and it's been shipped by the airlines a couple of times.

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Question: how do you fit the rocket box into the back seat of a subcompact sedan?

I use a set of smaller boxes that can fit through the rear doors and then be stacked up on the back seat in any way that best fills the space. Each box holds several rockets, most of them (the painted ones) wrapped in bubble wrap. Long, narrow high-sided boxes for longer rockets with broad fins, square boxes for gliders, etc. Really small boxes for micro rockets. All of them are sturdy yet lightweight and are made from a durable natural material, so they are easy to lift and load into the car. The rockets all go in the back seat. The motors, launch equipment and tools go in the trunk. The great thing is that rocket vendors and manufacturers send these specially-designed transport boxes to me all the time, and never ask for them back. In fact, I have so many that I can afford to leave some at home. And, as a bonus, these transport boxes always come stuffed with rocket kits, components and motors. Who could ask for more?

MarkII
 
Question: how do you fit the rocket box into the back seat of a subcompact sedan?

I use a set of smaller boxes that can fit through the rear doors and then be stacked up on the back seat in any way that best fills the space. Each box holds several rockets, most of them (the painted ones) wrapped in bubble wrap. Long, narrow high-sided boxes for longer rockets with broad fins, square boxes for gliders, etc. Really small boxes for micro rockets. All of them are sturdy yet lightweight and are made from a durable natural material, so they are easy to lift and load into the car. The rockets all go in the back seat. The motors, launch equipment and tools go in the trunk. The great thing is that rocket vendors and manufacturers send these specially-designed transport boxes to me all the time, and never ask for them back. In fact, I have so many that I can afford to leave some at home. And, as a bonus, these transport boxes always come stuffed with rocket kits, components and motors. Who could ask for more?

MarkII

I don't know what kind of kits you order, but most of the kits I order come with two or three short body tubes, that are put together with couplers. Even with the nose cones off, once built, they won't fit in the shipping boxes. The biggest rocket I have, the Highjacker, is about 34" long without the nose cone. We have 36" long boxes at work, but I wanted something a little more substantial to transport it in. I have a full size pickup, so the size of the box isn't an issue. But if I did have a car, I would have made two or three smaller boxes instead of the one big box.
 
Granted, my packing needs and constraints may be different from yours. I have to be able to fit everything that I want to take into the back seat of a small sedan. Rather than using one big crate, I use a bunch of smaller boxes so that the stack can conform to the contours of the space better. If I had a van or pick-up, using a crate would make more sense and would probably be more efficient for me.

Most of my current fleet is composed of scratch-built clones of vintage OOP designs. Several are in the 30"+ range in length, and currently, my longest rocket is 43" long. The largest diameter of what I have built so far is 2.6". Most of my rockets are in the 1" to 1.6" range in diameter. My micros are a little bit smaller. ;) Most of my boxes range from 12" square up to 36" x 6" x 8" at the largest. I have several that are 18" and 22" long. I use shoebox-sized containers for my micros. I separate longer rockets at their separation points and then pack each half individually in the same box. I do the same with the individual stages of my larger multi-stagers. I place the booster stages into the boxes standing up, because they are usually not as tall as they are wide. I have a few rockets that are just a bit longer than the boxes; removing the nose cones and packing them in alongside solves that problem. I don't use any special padding, other than wrapping the painted rockets with bubble wrap. I will throw in a bit of plain paper (saved from the shipping box packing material) if there are a lot of unprotected rockets in it, just to keep them from banging into each other too much. None of my rockets have been damaged from being packed this way. They are light enough in weight that they don't impact each other with any significant force, and they rarely shift inside the boxes anyway. Because the boxes are stacked well to fit the space, they don't shift during transport either.

My boxes don't have to be moisture-proof or impact-resistant, because the automobile body and frame that contains them takes care of that. I would need to use something that was quite a bit more substantial if I were carrying them in an open truck.

Whatever packing method you use should be tailored to fit the mode of transport. I wasn't criticizing your crate design; I was just presenting a different approach, designed to fit into and take advantage of a different space. My method won't work for very large rockets, of course. If I had them, I would need to look into getting a van or at least a trailer. Your crate is well-suited for carrying a large amount of rockets (or a few large rockets) in the box of a pick-up truck or in the back of a utility van.

MarkII
 
I'm sorry if I came across as confrontational, that wasn't my intent at all. I was just explaining my position. I'm glad you found something that works for you, and apparently works well. I know my box wouldn't fit in my son's Honda DX! LOL
 
I got to use my rocket box for the LUNAR launch yesterday. It worked really well!

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