Time to upgrade the SuperPad!

[n3tjm]

I finally got the ball rolling on something my SUPERPAD!!! really needs. A turrent .

This is one of the designs I came up with. The turrent can rotate 360 degrees, and tilt 0 - 90 degrees.

I am also thinking about making it so it can tilt 0-180 degrees. That way you can load the rocekt with the rail underneath it, and launch the rocket with the rail on the topside.

What got the ball rolling is my Super Glotova project. It is time to install the rail buttons, but I need to use a rail to make sure the booster and sustainer buttons are properrly aligned. But my Blacksky Rail was shot, so I ordered an 8ft rail from McMaster-Carr. It should arrive tomorrow. Anyway it needs some way to attach it to my pad, so I began thinking about how to do that...

And then I found out that my father just added a metal band say to his arsonal of tools to build his railroad. Perfect. I ordered some steel from onlinemetals.com. That should arive sometime in the next three days.

Another update I decided to do is... ADD WHEELS!!!. I ordered a couple 8" wheels with ball bearings from
Surplus Center. I will weld some 1/2" axils to the base of the pad, and have pin holes. That way, I can take the wheels off when I have the pad in my car.

 

[Donaldsrockets]

That's an awesome pad and with the mods, it should be even better.

 

[n3tjm]

Like then weather predicted, it was raining Saturday, so I spent my time in the garage working on the SuperPad Turret. I started out using the abrasion pad on the table saw to cut all my metal to size... I was going to use the new band saw, but it came with a cheap blade that lost off of its teeth...

My initial plan was to weld the shaft to the 1/4" thick steal plate, but I decided that was going to be a pain because our welder is only a 100 amp "crackle box" stick welder. So I decided to bolt the shaft onto the plate. In order to do that... I need to create a flat spot on the round rod.. at least 3/4" wide.

After that, I marked, drilled 1/4" holes, and counter sinked the three holes that will hold the shaft onto the plate.

Then I clamped the plate to the shaft, and used the same 1/4" drill bit to mark the holes in the shaft. After drilling the holes, and tapping them, I put the unit together for the first time . After this photo, I decided to turn the plate around so it faced the other way (left flag instead of right). It fit better that way.

The Rail is connected to a 16" length of angle iron. I decided to use 4 bolts to hold it in place. I had to grind just a tad off the heads of the bolts to get them to slide into the rail. You will note, the rail can be mounted on either side of the angle iron. However, unless you want a high stand off... I don't thing the rocket will clear the angle iron with the rail like that... So either I will move the rail to the other side... or do some grinding. Personally... I think it looks cool like that... and if I keep it like that, I can use wing nuts to hold the rail on.

Before the saw lost its teeth, I was able to cut it in half. So I cam up with this method to join the rails back together. Three Galvanized Steel Plates, Drilled to accept 1/4" bolts. The heads of the bolts are slightly grounded so they can slide into the rail.

And this is what it looks like when the rail is joined.

Only thing left to do is weld the c-clamp onto the rail mount, and weld the wheel axils to the super pad itself .

 

[n3tjm]

To give you guys a better idea what I am trying to do, here are a few more pictures I took today. This is for pratical testing and to decide where I want to weld the c-clamp.

You will note that I did not cut the arch in the plate yet. I thought about leaving it square, but I changed my mind. I want to add a blast deflector, and I need to cut the arch so the deflector will clear the plate no matter what angle it is set to.

Here is the rod lowered to one of its two loading positions.

The rod raised in the typical 90 degree launch position

 

[rocketsonly]

Very nice! I like your method in changing the altitude angle of your rail! Very simple and neat.

 

[edwardw]

Good Job Doug, now where is the box underneath to house the relay launcher box? I like the C-clamp idea - I'm used to the turnbuckle adjustments but yours is nice and easy. I don't know about welding the C-clamp, you might want to see if the metal can be easily welded and if it won't become brittle on you. I'm glad you bolted rather than welded the plate. Ever tried to unscrew a weld? Doesn't work. I'm a fan of bolts vs welds for some applications. Overall, Great job!!

Edward

 

[n3tjm]

Last Night I finally finished the add-on for the SUPERPAD!!!

To cut the arch in the plate, we used the faceplate on the lathe. Two of the clamps hold it on. All the other clamps on the other side of the faceplate is acting as a counter-weight, to help keep the unit balanced.

Wearing an old shirt, I grind away at the metal

Once the metal was cut half way, the faceplate was flipped and the cut was continued on the other side. This created a very sharp edge when the scrap finally fell off.

Cleaned up the sharp edge.

Now that the plate had an arch in it, I marked the shaft and trimmed it. This is so the blast deflector can clear the shaft when the unit is rotated the other way.

Of course I did my welding today. First I welded the C-Clamp to the rail mount, followed by the blast deflector. I also drilled holes in two of the legs for the wheel axils. I lucked out and found 1/2" bolts in a drawer that happen to have a hole drilled for pins. And the hole was in the perfect spot. You can see the wheels attached... to remove them, all I do is pull the pins, and they come off. I may need bigger wheels though...

 

[hokkyokusei]

Please consider getting some better eye protection.

 

[edwardw]

I would agree with Hokky, safety glasses at least! I'll tell you this story and why I now wear a full face shield.

I was in the machine shop at school turning down a piece of steel. I had about 1/4 to go on the diameter so I was making pretty heavy passes. I had a regular pair of safety goggles on. A little chip, maybe 1/2 the size of a rice grain, pops up and heads toward my right eye. I instinctively close my eye, and it lands on the top ledge of my safety glasses...as I open my eye, it slides off and gets trapped between my eyelid that just closed. I hit the stop on the lathe and pulled off those glasses and did a little jig right there. I thought the hot chip was in my eye. Luckily it wasn't. For the next week I had two burn marks and scabs on my eyelids, each about the size of a BB. Now I wear a full face shield whenever I'm milling or turning. Drill press I feel okay with glasses.

Edward

 

[n3tjm]

Originally posted by hokkyokusei
Please consider getting some better eye protection.

Woo! I agree! Normally I wear a nice pair that goes over my glasses that have those cool little vents in them so they don't fog up... but for some reason, I omitted them when I did that ... Thanks for pointing that out .

 

[hokkyokusei]

Originally posted by n3tjm
Woo! I agree! Normally I wear a nice pair that goes over my glasses that have those cool little vents in them so they don't fog up... but for some reason, I omitted them when I did that ... Thanks for pointing that out .

Hey, no problem.
Glad to hear you normally wear something a bit more substantial.