Yes..finally a successful rocket :)

[Sparx88]

This was #4, took a couple tries but I got one. More to come for sure. I can't describe the feeling I got when this worked out, even better than my first shells. It was a 7/16 ID tube I rolled with 2 layers of 60 lb kraft for an approx 1/8" wall, it was 3.5" long. And the header was 7/8" od x 1.25" long and was filled in layers of bp and small chunks of winokur 19. I'm all excited again heres the pic and video. I forgot to take a pic of it right before lighting it. I'll make sure to do that on the next one. This is cool since my shell shooting won't be for a couple months I got this to mess with.

 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHOI3lEU0x0

[pyrokid]

It's a great feeling to get rockets working for the first time!

 

A few layers of strapping tape around the head of those wood drifts will slow down the wear on them.

[braddsn]

Very cool Sparx!! Well done!

[mikeee]

Making rockets is discovering a 100 other ways on how to make an M-Ate-E. :-)

[FlaMtnBkr]

There's nothing like that first 'whooosh' of a successful rocket. Luckily all the ones after are almost just as exciting.

 

Good job

[Sparx88]

Thanks yall. Preciate it.

I'm going to make a few more of that size and get all the numbers finalized and maybe have some consistency. I feel like I could squeeze a little more thrust and a little bigger header on em. It's hard to see on that video but about a third of the way through I changed to an end burner. I hand drilled a short core for liftoff:)but I feel like maybe I can go a little deeper to half way up maybe. The bp I used is my normal bp, well I only make one kind, but I added some large flake alunamum to the comp used past the core for some tail. There was'nt much of a tail so maybe a little more alum. I can't run a core past half way up or bang. There are a couple other comps I can try so maybe I can get it to where I can have a longer core section because well, you know, it's the need for speed

 

Pyrokid thank you for the heads up on the tape idea.

[FlaMtnBkr]

If you are using wood dowels for rammers you can tape a washer to the end or better yet, get a copper end cap and wrap tape around the dowel to get a tight fit. This will help stop deforming and cracking the dowel when ramming.

 

If you have a sign or plastics shop in town you can also get plastic dowels that seem to last a bit longer. I've used nylon with good results but supposedly there are better materials though I don't remember what. You can do the same thing with the copper end cap to keep it from deforming. Just about everything will mushroom in time.

[Shunt]

Nice rocket Sparx

 

It's a great feeling to get rockets working for the first time!

 

A few layers of strapping tape around the head of those wood drifts will slow down the wear on them.

 

A good coat of thin superglue might slow down the wear on the other end of the wood tooling as well, works pretty good for me to waterproof wood dowels I use to roll smaller tubes. I dress it down with fine steel wool, then apply another coat. It gets expensive for coating large case formers though, might as well cough up the cash and buy a quart of good wood sealer for the big jobs.

 

Also copper plumbing caps sold in the plumbing section of your local home improvement store are good to fit over the hammer end of wood tooling to make it last longer.

 

Hope this helps, look forward to a vid of your next creation!

 

Dang it, FlaMtnBkr. You and I must think alike and be on the same time schedule, you beat me to the punch on the copper caps + offered other good info before I got my post up... + to you, we all are here to help each other in our hobby.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Shunt

[mikeee]

If you are using wood dowels for rammers look around for some hard wood dowels. Or you can always buy a solid piece of aluminum rod which comes in many different diameters which just happen to match up to most popular sizes of rocket motor tubes. (1/2, 5/8, 3/4, 7/8, 1") etc. The hard part is drilling a centered hole in the rammers for a spindle. There are many tutorials that show how to make rocket tooling, spindles, rammers etc. An electric drill or drill press and a file you can make a basic spindle. Some people start off with a piece of wood and a nail or screw or bolt filed and sanded smooth. Or you can always buy some quality pyro tooling from one of the Pyro tool builders. You can also cast fuel grains out of R-Candy. There are endless possibilities depending on the research you do and the time and money you have. If you really like the rockets there are a number of good websites hosted by long time rocket builders many of them specialize in different types of fuels.

[MWJ]

Nice rocket Sparx, thanks for the video and share with us.

[Sparx88]

Preciate the feedback yall. A lot of info here.

 

I got some 5/8 dowel and am rolling a couple tubes and make the tools tonight. Can't wait to see how high they will go. I imagine that I would need to add another layer to the 5/8 tubes . Gonna try to have a longer core on those too.