Rocket Holder for Spray Painting

[Angel_of_the_Skies]

Looking to build a contraption that would hold a rocket body tube horizontally that would be able to hold the rocket from both ends and possibly even spin manually for spray painting applications

Would like this to be sturdy, and applicable for rockets of different sizes MPR. Has anyone built or know of such contraption ?

 

[prfesser]

If you want the nose cone in place while painting, the following very-barebones support is useless... It was however satisfactory for supporting two tubes being glassed for my L3 rocket.

Ten-foot length of 1" or larger galvanized EMT---PVC is too flexible. Attach a fitting of some sort to each end to avoid it slipping off the supports. Which are auto jackstands placed on a stack of concrete blocks, folding tables, any suitable item to bring the tube to the desired working height.

Rough "centering rings" cut from 1" thick blue or pink foam sheet, sized for a tight fit inside the tube to be glassed/painted. Central hole in rings for EMT. Three or even four rings are recommended. If you have only two rings and one slips out of the tube or breaks or whatever, that's a possible ruined paint job or glassed tube. Voice of experience.

If the EMT and the airframe fit the rings snugly, turning the EMT by hand will rotate the tube. If the fit is loose, push one ring on the end into the tube for a few inches, so your fingers can press against the inside of the tube with enough friction to rotate it.

 

[neil_w]

For MPR a PVC contraption should be fine.

 

[jqavins]

How cheap and dirty do you want to keep it? I've thought about making something with an aluminum rod and two hard rubber cones such as are used for chemical glassware stoppers.

Use, as pictured, the ones with a single hole, and push the rod through. The rod sticks out a few inches on each end, and can be supported by wood bits with V-notches. You can easily turn the tube by turning the rod.

That opens the door to becoming more elaborate if you like. One could replace the V-notches with bearings, add a pully, and drive the thing with a low speed motor, if one wished to. (If one were to make it driven, it would be great for sanding filler.)

 

[JeffBigg]

I just use dowel rods for the motor mount size. Add a little tape tape to the dowel rod to make a good fit. Not easy for large rockets, but works ok for most up to 29/38mm.

 

[lakeroadster]

There is no better way to support a rocket for painting than by the motor mount. That area of the rocket is built strong to handle the forces while the rocket is in flight.

A broom handle or short piece of pipe stuffed in the motor tube works great... clamped in a Stanley Workmate or attached to a step ladder... or both.

The nice thing about the Workmate is it has folding legs, and the entire thing also folds up. So depending on how you set it up it works for small rockets or a 6 tall foot rocket. It's one the 1st tools we bought when we got our 1st home in the 1980's... and it works just as good today as when we bought it.

I make my own nose cones and always turn down the shoulder to use masking tape for a good slip fit. So I just leave the nose cones on the rocket and pull them up a bit so paint gets on the end of the body tube, and also gets around the base of the nose cone.

 

[bjphoenix]

A broom handle or short piece of pipe stuffed in the motor tube works great... attached to a step ladder.

I built a short 4" diameter rocket with 29mm mount. I ran a broomstick through the side of a ladder and stuck the rocket on the broomstick. I had my wife twist the broomstick while I sprayed. My intent was to create a multicolor rainbow scheme that faded from color to color. It sort of came out but wasn't as much fade as I wanted.

 

[gdjsky01]

Folding table. Dowel though the motor mount tube. Clamps for holding the dowel to the table. Stick aka chop stick taped to the open other end to rotate the tube.
If you want to preserve the table, tape newspaper or an old sheet to it.
I used to use a clothing rack. But then clothing got hung on it.


PS: This most likely would have been better in the Techniques forum...

 

[kuririn]

Rocketry Glossary - Rocket Rotisserie

www.rocketreviews.com

From old_dude:

Spray painting long rockets - any tips

I've got an Estes Vapor that I am working on. I normally use spray paints to prime/paint my rockets. Normally this isn't a problem; I put a wand into the engine mount and spray from one end to the other, turning a bit for each pass (usually 6-7 passes on wider rockets), then do the fins...

www.rocketryforum.com

From Nytrunner:

Why Prime?

Unprimed..... Primed, and sanded, and primed, and sanded...... THEN painted. BTW, this is not color-sanded or buffed out, this is just as I sprayed it (yes knowing how to paint is definitely crucial to making all the prep work worth doing all the work). The orange is Krylon "Farm Implement"...

www.rocketryforum.com

From Neil_W:

Why Prime?

Unprimed..... Primed, and sanded, and primed, and sanded...... THEN painted. BTW, this is not color-sanded or buffed out, this is just as I sprayed it (yes knowing how to paint is definitely crucial to making all the prep work worth doing all the work). The orange is Krylon "Farm Implement"...

www.rocketryforum.com

Probably a dozen more out there.

 

[kuririn]

I have two galvanized steel T posts in the back yard that used to hang clothes lines but are no longer being used. So much more convenient to use the electric powered clothes dryer than the solar powered one. ( )
I was thinking of stringing up a line and sliding a rocket airframe on for painting.
Cheap and simple.
For rotating the tube, just put two fingers in the open end, open to contact the inside of the tube and twist your hand.
Voila! No paint touched, no paint on fingers.
No ventilation needed. No overspray worries.
You do need the cooperation of Mother Nature however.

 

[Grog6]

I have a vertical pipe, about 6 feet tall, in my backyard courtesy of the lady that built the house. I think it held a birdhouse at one time. It works great for painting stuff.

 

[David Schwantz]

Easy to do.

 

[roc_boy]

Yep, the rocket rotisserie. Using a couple of stepladders (that you don't mind getting overspray on) and 2x4 blocks, you can get the steps at the same height. I've got several different diameter wood dowels, from Home Depot. I use the largest one that'll fit thru the motor tube, then stuff packing paper (newspaper) into the tube around the dowel, just packed enough to hold the airframe. Using cardboard from a cereal box, roll it, stick it in the open tube end, roll it out to fit the inside of the tube, then tape the ends of the cereal box cardboard and it'll keep you from painting the inside of your tube.

 

[roc_boy]

For nose cones, I start off by masking the nose cone shoulder. I use an empty, small moving box as a holder - cut a hole in one side, just large enough for the nose cone shoulder to fit tightly into. I place the box on top of something that puts the nose cone at eye level. After a few nose cones, you get the hang of it, steadily moving around the cone laying on each coat. Works great.

 

[teepot]

I have used a large dowel rod on a step ladder held in place by sand bags. I've done that a few times. I have three 4' lengths of rebar with a cross piece near one end and have them stuck in the ground that I use most of the time. If I remember to do it. I spray the bottom of the rocket on a workmate covered with a foam board.

 

[bjphoenix]

I painted, or tried painting, 3 long rockets today. I was doing multicolor paint jobs with one color in the front and another color in the back. I had masking tape around the tube to mask the color and paper wrapped around the end that wasn't getting painted. I would just hold the rocket by the papered end then clamp the paper to something handy to hang the rocket while it dried.
(Tried painting- I had 2 almost new cans of black paint and neither one would work, they acted like most of the propellant had leaked out.)

 

[jbr]

I clamp an old broomstick in my workmate and slide the rocket on it to paint

 

[John Kemker]

Rohn 25G with a broomstick sticking out of one of the uprights, sitting on the back porch.

 

[Titan II]

Broomstick

 

[Dave S.]

I use a wooden dowel that’s almost the diameter of the motor mount. It’s long enough that it sticks out both ends of the rocket. If I need to, I cut out a cardboard centering ring type of thing to put on the dowel just inside the mouth of the body tube to prevent it from rattling around. I use blue tape to prevent paint or primer from getting down into the mouth of the rocket. Also around end of the motor mount at the aft end to prevent paint or primer from getting on that end of the motor mount tube before the retainer has been installed.

[The rocket is attached at both ends to the dowel w the tape. The dowel is sticking out of both ends of the rocket because it’s essentially taped in the middle part of it.]

I just hold the dowel upright when I’m applying paint or primer outdoors and then put it into one of those rocket rotisserie things between two empty cardboard boxes for it to dry and cure in my basement.

 

[Steven]

I'm getting there.

 

[David Schwantz]

You're gonna need a bigger brush!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Steven]

You're gonna need a bigger brush!!!!!!!!!!

So that's where I've gone wrong.

 

[AfterBurners]

Pretty cool techniques. What I do is just take a wood dowel depending on how big the rocket is determines the diameter, but basically I make center rings that fit different diameters and then drill or cut a hole in the center that fits the wood dowel and glue them in place. It's like an engine, but instead of having a motor tube you have a solid wooden dowel instead. From there you can fasten it to a jaw stand table or just prop it up in a box or what I use are plastic milk crates.

 

[BWP]

Here's my rocket rotisserie. It's just 2 boxes taped together and then cut appropriately, that is a wooden garden stake running through my Aerotech 3" IRIS lower section. I've used this type setup before for my LOC Precision LOC-4 and Aerotech Astrobee D and it worked fine. The nice thing about using the box is if the weather conditions aren't good (low temp or high humidity), I can shoot the rocket outside then bring inside.

 

[BWP]

I failed to mention that's about 3.5 ft of rocket. The box is about 4.5 ft long.

 

[Dave S.]

I failed to mention that's about 3.5 ft of rocket. The box is about 4.5 ft long.

Do you use that rotisserie setup to paint indoors? Or is that just to put the rocket in while it’s drying?

 

[BWP]

I paint outside, then take the whole thing, box and all, inside to dry.

 

[Brent]

I use an old cymbal stand.