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Currently @11:36PM waiting on a test BT-20 ogive NC from my new Volelab Proxima 6, 4K SLA printer. The test deer came out awesome so I tried a nose cone that I designed and have been using. We got 30 mins till it gets cleaned and hardened. Fingers crossed.
Well I am still playing with it but it works very well. I need to design for SLA printing because of the liquid nature and draining it out of prints by design.
 
Just fired up the printer to print some cases for some mini spectrometers that our work-experience students build. Arduino-based and very simple demonstration of the absorption spectroscopy method, done using an RGB LED and a CdS cell on the Arduino Uno.
 
Currently printing this....

WaveLink Cooler - Printing-Small.jpg

It's a fan cage for a Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM (Link) fan that will plug into the front slot of my WavLink Dual Bay Docking Station. That slot will provide the power to run the Noctua. The 2nd slot in the WavLink will be home to an old 2TB 3.5" Seagate Barracuda XT HDD. The Seagate will be used as the primary storage for the OpenMediaVault NAS server I am setting up on a Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q Micro PC I bought on eBay recently.

All this for my wife as she has run out of storage space for pictures on her Pixel 3 XL. She wants to keep them all, along with all the other mixed media she has collected over the years.

Eventually I will swap out the WavLink for a proper RAID 10 array, when I can afford 4x 10TB drives. (RAID 10 uses 50% of capacity for data redundancy).
 
I've been honing my text inlay skills. Especially important if you are using a PEO plate with the cool carbon fiber look. Surface is actually totally smooth to the touch.
20230610_142035~2.jpg20230610_142200.jpg

This is what the plate looks like. Had to buy it and a few others on Alibaba

81rfnf6ZzcL._SL1500_.jpg
 
I took an stl logo I created for my coffe cup

IMG_4192.jpeg

Turned it into a stl and used it as an inlay for an organizer in my rangebox.

IMG_4191.jpeg

Used a PEO plate with a different carbon fiber pattern. I think I like this one more.

IMG_4195.jpeg
 
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Was trying for a payloader for a C, then ended up with a D (barely with a small payload) and into E and Fs. :\

Launched this yesterday with a 1.5oz simulated payload on an Estes E12-6 (which didn't blow up at the pad unlike some other E12s). Overall the flight went well with a good upwards trajectory, and then the descent did well except I didn't quite get the fit right and it ejected the motor at ejection, but the parachute still came out.


View attachment Untitled design.mp4


PXL_20230617_163930110.MP.jpg

Recovery was successful too... alas it would not have passed a Level 1 test as can be seen in the next set of photos. The entire rocket was printed out of eSun PLA+, and while the smaller 18mm motors seem to work fine with the ejection charge, the bigger E12s caused some melting. Additionally the insides of the motor tube we melted/buckled slightly again just the larger amount of heat from the E12s

PXL_20230617_165903298.jpg

PXL_20230617_165907565.jpg

Trying today at another launch a PETG printed booster, with a BT-50 liner, and a body tube in PETG and see how that goes.
 
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Yeah I don't recommend printing tubes I just use the regular body tubes and either make a slip-on fin can or laser cut fins and just use 3D printed parts like nose cones and transitions and couplers

Yeah... that is a good way to go. This was an attempt to see if it could be done, but the laws of thermodynamics with plastic structures that were melted to be formed from filament just don't hold up that well in this environment.

I can say that I tried some updates yesterday with the payloader
  • Liner in motor tube
    • This seemed to show good success and no real heat damage, and the motor was able to removed and a new one inserted without issue.
  • PETG lower recovery bay
    • Unfortunately same result.
    • After some discussion at the field, there were some ideas to try
      • Using a liner.
        • Cardboard tubing, card stock, etc.
      • Printing with other material
        • ABS
          • Maybe this will be slightly better, but really the deflection temp is not that much higher than PETG, i.e. ~78C to ~64C (depending on manufacturer's specs)
        • Other such as Nylon-CF
          • If manufacturer specs are to be believed, its got a really high deflection temp around 200C.
  • Lengthening the recovery bay
    • For the amount of BP used in the E motor for ejection charge, would this give more volume for gas to expand into.
    • Probably works best with conjunction of one or both the above.
So we'll see...
 
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I have had excellent luck with PLA, LWPLA,PETG and SLA printed parts for strength and durability. I have a large fincan for a Enerjet 1340 clone made from PETG that JackHydrazine made and it works very well. of course this is a slipover fincan. Many D and E flights. The nosecone and payload coupler are PETG. the tubes are leftover from vinyl cutting are NOT the lightest but they work.
 
I've given up on model airplane heat shrink covering on body tubes due to melting. Even on BT-55 and BT-60, it gets wrinkly in the inches above the motor mount. On a short, MD BT-20 rocket, the covering on the outside of the body tube up by the nose cone had holes burned in it from the ejection flame (plus remaining delay grain) of an A8-5.
 
I've given up on model airplane heat shrink covering on body tubes due to melting. Even on BT-55 and BT-60, it gets wrinkly in the inches above the motor mount. On a short, MD BT-20 rocket, the covering on the outside of the body tube up by the nose cone had holes burned in it from the ejection flame (plus remaining delay grain) of an A8-5.
Yea I avoid that also, actually never went there at all. Rockets are too extreme for delicate covering such as monokote.
 
Yea I avoid that also, actually never went there at all. Rockets are too extreme for delicate covering such as monokote.

It sure was faster to apply, especially in multi-colored schemes with precise edges, than painting. And the plastic coating certainly does more to reinforce the thin cardboard tubes than paint, same as when applied to model airplanes. That is, unless it's melted by fire...
 
So far, I've printed the Elegoo Buddha that came with my Neptune 3 Plus, and am in the middle of printing a Benchy. Next up is some rocketry related parts using PETG.
 
Nice, I am looking at some mailing tubes here and envisioning a big alpha scratch build for 24 or 29mm motors............with 3d printed parts and lased out bass ply.
 
Nothin today, but I did 3d print a really cool rocket that is a cross between a SpaceX dragon capsule and a mars lander! Really cool print, so here is the link to where you can download it if you want to print it yourself:
Dragon Lander Link
 
Printed this a few days ago.

Anker A2040 Holder-Small.jpg

It is a side mounted holder for Anker's A2040 4-port USB Charger..

s-l400.jpg

I mounted it to the side of the table next to my living room couch, just under the table's top. I used (3x) #6 x 1/2" wood screws to hold it in place.

I'll post the .stl files if anyone is interested.
 
I'm working on saucers that I can fly in the backyard with the grandkids. Still a work in progress as can be seen in the second picture. I'm printing these in PLA to try and get away from warping issues but the one side still pulled up a little. That had a brim around the outside to try and keep it planted on the bed. I may try a brim around all parts touching the bed, inside and outside, or maybe a 1 or 2 layer raft to help keep it down. Since it's PLA, the center tube is like a BT-50 and I'll use a standard motor mount and AR-2050 centering rings to (hopefully) insulate the PLA from motor heat.

Randy

Saucer Top.jpg

Saucer Bot.jpg
 
Just finished this project,

Currently printing this....

View attachment 585072

It's a fan cage for a Noctua NF-A9x14 PWM (Link) fan that will plug into the front slot of my WavLink Dual Bay Docking Station. That slot will provide the power to run the Noctua. The 2nd slot in the WavLink will be home to an old 2TB 3.5" Seagate Barracuda XT HDD. The Seagate will be used as the primary storage for the OpenMediaVault NAS server I am setting up on a Lenovo ThinkCentre M710q Micro PC I bought on eBay recently.

All this for my wife as she has run out of storage space for pictures on her Pixel 3 XL. She wants to keep them all, along with all the other mixed media she has collected over the years.

Eventually I will swap out the WavLink for a proper RAID 10 array, when I can afford 4x 10TB drives. (RAID 10 uses 50% of capacity for data redundancy).


WaveLink HDD Cooler-Small.jpg

Had a slight alignment issue with the SATA connector, but a little tug on it (epoxy was not fully cured) fixed the problem.
 

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