complete noob to this

[lovage666]

Hi all,

new to the hobby and new to this forum.

I recently started doing research and educating myself on this wonderful hobby. Thank you for having this forum, I cant seem to stop reading lol. Just wondering if someone might take a moment to just give me a point in the correct direction of where to begin? I really enjoy rockets, and have launched many model rockets so I have a pretty good understanding of them. Is there a good place for me to "jump right in"?

 

Thanks for the time and any direction is greatly appreciated.

 

 

[Merlin]

I think the first most fundamental step is to learn to make black powder. As for rockets there are many types such as nozzled, nozzleless all in various sizes. Caleb is probably the rocket expert. There are whistles, strobes, and BP and others. Start with BP. Research the types of BP used in the various configurations, pick one and work on it til you get it right. As for me I only make BP rockets because of the hazards of pressing whistles. You can ram BP rockets with very little cost in equipment. First step is learning to make BP.

[MadMat]

Don't forget about RCandy instead of black powder (BP). One advantage to Rcandy for noobs is that you don't need a ball mill for making your BP. Many newbies have trouble making GOOD BP at the start. It's not all that difficult, you just need to learn the proper techniques and have the right charcoal. To make RCandy, all you really need is an electric hot plate (something with a thermostatic control is better but not absolutely necessary), an old pan and the chemicals (potassium nitrate, sugar and optional red iron oxide.) There is a lot of information in the rocketry forums, plus there are a lot of good websites dealing with the subject. Take your time do some reading and if you have questions, there are many on here more than willing to help. Welcome!

[lovage666]

Don't forget about RCandy instead of black powder (BP). One advantage to Rcandy for noobs is that you don't need a ball mill for making your BP. Many newbies have trouble making GOOD BP at the start. It's not all that difficult, you just need to learn the proper techniques and have the right charcoal. To make RCandy, all you really need is an electric hot plate (something with a thermostatic control is better but not absolutely necessary), an old pan and the chemicals (potassium nitrate, sugar and optional red iron oxide.) There is a lot of information in the rocketry forums, plus there are a lot of good websites dealing with the subject. Take your time do some reading and if you have questions, there are many on here more than willing to help. Welcome!

I have been doing tons of reading and research. I have looked into the sugar rockets a bit. They seem pretty boring, as i have yet to find one that has any kind of display after the flight. Maybe I am wrong. Are stars or anything able to be attached with sugar rockets?

[MadMat]

Yes, you can attach a header to a sugar rocket just like a BP rocket. I have done a number of times myself.

[rogeryermaw]

Start with the safety section and fully read about some of the mishaps that have occurred. After that, if you haven't fled, screaming, into the horizon, too scared to ever light another fuse, black powder basics is a good place to start.

 

Everyone here has a method and mostly, have tuned it out to make excellent powder. Some get high and mighty over their methods. If your powder meets your needs and you don't get hurt making it, you're off to a good start. There are some true pros here so you are likely to get excellent advice but make safety instinctual. Practice safety rules and make use of p.p.e. 2nd nature.

Edited August 6, 2017 by rogeryermaw

[Wiley]

All you need is screen-mixed ingredients to make nozzled, charcoal-tailed motors. Good, powerful powder is only needed for nozzless motors.

[MadMat]

I didn't want to make it seem that making good BP is an option for pyro work. You CANT do pyro without being able to make good BP. Well, you can buy commercial BP, but I suggest learning to make it. I may be a little jaded against BP rockets, as I have had trouble making them, but my RCandy rockets flew perfect from the very first one I made. Either way, RCandy is just another option.

[Baldor]

I didn't want to make it seem that making good BP is an option for pyro work. You CANT do pyro without being able to make good BP. Well, you can buy commercial BP, but I suggest learning to make it. I may be a little jaded against BP rockets, as I have had trouble making them, but my RCandy rockets flew perfect from the very first one I made. Either way, RCandy is just another option.

I had the opposite experience. BP its easier for me. I started trying both RCandy and BP rockets, and after loading a few RCandy ones I decided against them, too messy to make. I had some CATOs at first with BP, but this was because I was making to powerful BP with a very simple ball mill made from scrap.

 

I go BP any day, as it will tell you the basics for later try other mixes, like any kind of charcoal based stars. Also, you can´t break a shell without BP.