Spruce Goose Build Thread

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I need to learn how to get the burl on one, and use it properly, I've had less that complete success with mine.

But very neat project, this one is different, and I like it.
@mbeels Here a decent YouTube video on putting a burr on a cabinet scraper. It's actually pretty easy, but you need a fine file and a burnishing tool. Like in the video you can grind the edges of the file to get a curved smooth surface and use that to burnish the scraper.
 
@mbeels Here a decent YouTube video on putting a burr on a cabinet scraper. It's actually pretty easy, but you need a fine file and a burnishing tool. Like in the video you can grind the edges of the file to get a curved smooth surface and use that to burnish the scraper.

Thanks Greg, I'll give it a try. I also found an article in Fine Woodworking magazine that had some helpful illustrations and tips.
 
I also took the opportunity to smooth out the side of the fin stock that I epoxied. I decided to go old school and break out a cabinet scraper. I had forgotten what a joy it is to work with them as opposed to sanding. 15 minutes of work took a 7x12 piece of stock to nearly perfectly smooth, all with no noise and no dust. Just a big pile of epoxy shavings. This is what it looks like partway through the job.

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@boatgeek I also have a Kunz #80 two handled scraper. Very nice with good control.11_Kunz_80.jpg 11_Kunz_80_3.jpg
 
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@mbeels Here a decent YouTube video on putting a burr on a cabinet scraper. It's actually pretty easy, but you need a fine file and a burnishing tool. Like in the video you can grind the edges of the file to get a curved smooth surface and use that to burnish the scraper.

A broken tap works well as a burnisher, when the threaded part breaks I just epoxy the leftover threaded section into a wood handle, the round section is super hard a will probably never wear out.
 
That's really cool, but I'm somewhat disappointed that the output isn't a rocket-powered Hughes Hercules... :D
That would be crazy...cool!

It's worth thinking about, but to really do it up right, it'd have to an RC plane/glider that takes off from a pond. Then you'd have everyone up in arms about launching a rocket motor that doesn't start vertical. :)
 
It's worth thinking about, but to really do it up right, it'd have to an RC plane/glider that takes off from a pond. Then you'd have everyone up in arms about launching a rocket motor that doesn't start vertical. :)
Mindsimed an 8 motor version taking off vertically. 6 in wing pods and two upper mid cants. Flying boats are fun.
 
Progress was made! Starting off, a week or two ago, I got the coupler and motor mount stock from my buddy with all the good power tools. I had previously glued up a block of wood from spare strips that weren't needed for the body tube. He took that down to an octagonal shape for the motor mount and nose cone coupler. He also clipped the corners of the coupler down a little bit so that it starts fitting into the nose cone and drilled out the hole for the motor mount. I took the nose cone coupler a little further with my trusty low angle block plane so that the coupler gets a little more glue area on the nose cone. After that, it was a matter of choosing the "right" orientation so that the nose cone has the best possible alignment with the body tube. Then we made sure everything fit nicely and potted it all up with some T-88. The last picture is what it looks like all assembled. I need to clean up some glue on the inside of the body tube so that the nose cone fits all the way on.

IMG_2629.JPG IMG_2633.JPG IMG_2631.JPG

Then it was on to the motor mount. We still had a little fitup to do with the plane, plus I made a slot for the shock cord. I wrapped a piece of 29mm LOC motor mount in parchment paper and stuck it in the mount so that I knew it would all fit well. The shock cord was tacked down with 5-minute epoxy, then the bottles of T-88 came out again to glue the whole shooting match into place.

IMG_2632.JPG IMG_2634.JPG

Here we are with an all-up-ish weight. I haven't cut out fins yet, so there's some weight savings there, but I also haven't glued fins in or done the internal fillets (see below). Nor do I have the JLCR that I'll use in place yet. On the whole, I expect to get a little lighter before being done. I'm in good shape to be under 1500g at the pad, since I only need to reserve about 150-200g for motors.

IMG_2638.JPG

Finally, when I glued up the staves into a body tube, I didn't get 100% glue coverage on the inside. On some of the joints, I didn't get 10% squeeze out. I want to make sure this is plenty strong and that the stave corners don't snag the chute, so I poured internal fillets along each of the stave joints. This was pretty straightforward--mix up a small batch of laminating epoxy (I use System 3 Silvertip, fantastic stuff), tip the tube up about 45 degrees, and slowly pour the epoxy in and wait for it to flow all the way down to the motor mount. Then prop up so that corner is down and let it set up. I put in about 2 tsp per fillet and could do one about every 2 hours. This is what it looks like now. The very top of the tube is cleaned up for the nose cone coupler and had good glue coverage. I'll need to take the fillets back a little to get the nose to fit again.

IMG_2662.JPG
 
That is one way to save weight.

But seriously, beautiful work. Are you a professional woodworker?

Thank you! I am an amateur wood butcher. I like to say that I'm a carpenter, not a cabinetmaker so my tolerances are around 1/4". The parts fitting so nicely is mainly down to my friend, who builds furniture for fun.

That said, I am good at keeping epoxy where I want it and also at filling and glassing. The rest is just trying to be patient.
 
Nifty. I forgot the extra work you would need to do as a result of having no stuffer tube. Those interior fillets are pretty!

It isn't the easiest or lightest way to do it (cutting out plywood centering rings would be both), but it's a lot of fun. :)

I'm on track to finish the rocket with no metal parts, and no bought parts other than the motor mount and shock cord. I'll need a little bit of fiberglass to reinforce the motor mount for long term use though.
 
(got me thinking that a 5-sided rocket would be cool)
You think too much. ;)

(But what about a star cross section? I could make each star point separately then attach them to a central stuffer tube. Get the points sized right to fit around a standard tube size... Damnit, now you've got me doing it! And yes, I'm aware of this one. And this.)
 
(But what about a star cross section? I could make each star point separately then attach them to a central stuffer tube. Get the points sized right to fit around a standard tube size... Damnit, now you've got me doing it! And yes, I'm aware of this one. And this.)
Could be done! The nose cone would be a heck of a challenge, unless you 3D-printed it.*



3D printing is amazing and I have used it but sometimes I fear it is becoming too much of a crutch for solving certain build challenges. I have a love/hate relationship with its growing role in rocket building. Also, GET OFF MY LAWN.
 
You think too much. ;)

(But what about a star cross section? I could make each star point separately then attach them to a central stuffer tube. Get the points sized right to fit around a standard tube size... Damnit, now you've got me doing it! And yes, I'm aware of this one. And this.)

Could be done fairly easily, with the back end looking kind of like Lakeroadster's F-79. Lots of base drag, so it should fly nicely.

Could be done! The nose cone would be a heck of a challenge, unless you 3D-printed it.*



3D printing is amazing and I have used it but sometimes I fear it is becoming too much of a crutch for solving certain build challenges. I have a love/hate relationship with its growing role in rocket building. Also, GET OFF MY LAWN.

I feel like this is an area where one could get something that looks pretty good without too much trouble, or one could go mad trying to make it perfect. It would probably be easier with a balsa nose cone than a plastic one, and definitely easier (though maybe not the desired look) with a conical nose cone. One could also cheat and end the star below the nose cone break.
 
3D printing is amazing and I have used it but sometimes I fear it is becoming too much of a crutch for solving certain build challenges. I have a love/hate relationship with its growing role in rocket building. Also, GET OFF MY LAWN.

How can you do that and NOT expect me to immediately click on it!?! But I agree with your statement and I feel similarly. I feel like 3D printing is best suited to solve a small niche of problems where something needs to have an odd and precise shape. But I don't get the affinity for 3D printing simple parts like cones, cylinders, simple fin cans, or regular boxes.
 
Could be done!
I thought about it more, and came up with using card stock for the star points. All one would need is the ability to make the long line bends with great accuracy; I'n make a special tool like a light duty brake press.
The nose cone would be a heck of a challenge, unless you 3D-printed it.*
I hadn't got that far, but that's probably the way to go. One of the downsides of 3D printed parts is their weight; since I don't have even a half baked concept for fins, nose weight isn't necessarily a bad thing.
SPOILER="*Don't read this"
Of course I read it!
3D printing is amazing and I have used it but sometimes I fear it is becoming too much of a crutch for solving certain build challenges. I have a love/hate relationship with its growing role in rocket building.
One person's crutch is just one more tool in another person's box. It depends greatly on what one wants to get out of building rockets. You seem very much to enjoy the meticulous crafting process, and I can see where 3D printing would seem like a cheat. I enjoy taking a design idea and making it real by whatever means seem best suited considering expense, weight, build difficulty, and other factors. So I'd naturally be a lot happier with lots of 3D printing than you, when there's not a clearly better alternative.

I feel like 3D printing is best suited to solve a small niche of problems where something needs to have an odd and precise shape.
For example, a stellated pyramidish nose piece. (I refuse to call it a cone.)
 
I recognize this is my own hangup, which nags at me all the time. Probably a good topic for a new thread, don't want to derail this one.

Ah, no worries. I've certainly derailed yours enough and I'm stuck on Spruce Goose until I can glass the tube. Maybe this weekend, but it depends on progress digging things up in the garden.
 
It's a sign of changing skills and capability in the population. Kids learn graphics and modeling more than shop and woodworking.

What is more accessible to someone with limited resources?
-Download this free software, spend some time learning how to model what you want, then send the .stl to a print shop!
-Find someone with the tools and experience to teach you how to make it manually and is willing to let you use their stuff, and go through the waste of failed attempts trying to wittle it out on your own
-Buy the various tools and equipment plus raw materials for your part, and have somewhere to store and operate them.
-Spend weeks watching DIY videos to make the necessary homemade rigs and jigs and power tools that you need to make your part (and have somewhere to store/build/operate them)
 
Could be done! The nose cone would be a heck of a challenge, unless you 3D-printed it.*



3D printing is amazing and I have used it but sometimes I fear it is becoming too much of a crutch for solving certain build challenges. I have a love/hate relationship with its growing role in rocket building. Also, GET OFF MY LAWN.
Actually, could potentially be done for pennies, and not so hard as you might think. Go with Card Stock. Use a central paper (or plastic or wood) central cone, and cut bi-folded triangles that continue from the base of the nose cone mated up with the forward ends of your “Star” contours to the nose cone point.

I use paper nose cones on all my helicopter and airbrake builds. These are square based pyramids. I like them for multiple reasons

Easy to customize
Easy to make
Cheap
Fit perfectly
Easily replaced
Easily painted or decorated
Knock wood I have yet to have one of my rockets hit anyone or anything, but if one did I would HOPE it was one of these rockets, the paper is easily crushable so the force would be spread out along the base of the pyramid (basically the forward end of the rocket body), so much less likely to cause a penetrating injury than a typical wooden or plastic cone.
 
Did it go somewhere nice? ;)

Hey, man it's COVID. Nobody's going nowhere nice! (Just kidding, last weekend we went canoeing on Lake Crescent, which I will posit is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. 500-600 feet deep in the middle, crystal clear water, and solid second-growth forests all around.)

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Hey, man it's COVID. Nobody's going nowhere nice! (Just kidding, last weekend we went canoeing on Lake Crescent, which I will posit is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. 500-600 feet deep in the middle, crystal clear water, and solid second-growth forests all around.)

Oh goodness, that's beautiful. I've been to the San Juan islands, that entire part of the Pacific NW is just amazing. It reminds me of canoeing through the boundary waters, except bigger mountains.
 
Hey, man it's COVID. Nobody's going nowhere nice! (Just kidding, last weekend we went canoeing on Lake Crescent, which I will posit is one of the most beautiful lakes in the world. 500-600 feet deep in the middle, crystal clear water, and solid second-growth forests all around.)

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Beautiful. Olympic Peninsula?
 
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