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  #1  
Old 10-13-2012, 10:26 AM
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sandman sandman is offline
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Default Now for a project I always wanted to do. The Wood Sprint

Bear with me, this may be long and drawn out but what the heck, this is a hobby and you guys don't have anything better to do so read on.

Between the decals and custom orders I seem to have lost a bit of creative urge with my rocketry hobby.

I need to renew and restore that before I'm tempted to dig out my Model Railroad stuff.

As most of you probably know, I'm a woodworker.

I love wood and over the years I have accumulated a nice collection of different exotic woods.

With that in mind I always wanted to do a "wood" rocket but never really sat down and figured out exactly what I wanted to do.

The past week or so I was doing my annual fall shop cleaning so I could make room for my wife's car to fit in my shop for winter.
In the process of cleaning I found some very nice veneers I had that made me pause long enough for the creative light bulb to flicker on over my head.

What I found is a very beautiful but rare wood veneer called "Macassar Ebony". Very very pretty.

http://www.thewoodbox.com/data/wood...rEbony-info.htm

This wood was the inspiration for this project.

Now...What will the rocket be??

I decided to pick my absolute favorite design..The Astron Sprint!

I've always loved that design. The elliptical nose cone, the tapered tail cone, and most of all the clipped elliptical fin with their root to tip taper and pleasing elliptical shape reminiscent of the Supermarine Spitfire.

I decided to use my upscaled design version with the BT-56 main body tube. 1.34" O.D. but it will be a bit bigger with the veneer added.

OK not that much bigger. The veneer is 0.021" thick.

I needed to search through my collection of material to find some different but matching woods for the various elements.

The main body tube will be covered with Macassar Ebony. The nose cone and tail cone will be Osage Orange (yea, it really is orange colored wood!) and Black Walnut.

Actually I am making two models one for me and one for Gus.

Most exotic woods are quite heavy and dense. The nose cone is not a problem, the Sprint needs nose weight anyway, the tail cone is drilled out for the motor tube so weight won't be an issue there but the fins are a bit problematic.

The fins will be shaped with the taper from root to tip and the fillet will be actually sanded and formed as part of the fin.

I don't want a lot of excess weight in the rear so I think I may go with balsa fins stained but I haven't decided yet.

The biggest challenge is the actual first step. Covering the body tube with veneer.

Macassar Ebony is somewhat stiff and brittle and does not like to bend.
I solved that easily enough by just a light spray of window cleaner to one side of the veneer.

The sprayed side will be the outside.

As the window cleaner soaks into the veneer the wood fibers begin to expand and the wood naturally curls. I persuade it along so that it curls at least enough to bend completely around a BT-56.

I put a few tie wraps on the wood to hold the curve while the window cleaner dries.

About an hour later the wood was dry. I return to apply contact cement to the tube and the inside of the veneer. I had to be careful on this step. I needed to open the curl up enough to apply the glue but not so much as to crack the thin wood.
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  #2  
Old 10-13-2012, 10:30 AM
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OK, another hour past and the contact cement is ready.

This is the really tricky part. Once the veneer touches the tube it is in it's permanent location and WILL NOT MOVE!!!!

Well, some people are afraid of contact cement but not me!

No problems! I made a straight line on the tube and carefully aligned the edge of the veneer on the line pressed gently then began to roll the wood onto the surface.

The next difficult step is getting the butt edges of the wood to mate perfectly.

Gentle persuasion with a sharp knife and BADA BING. A perfect seam!

Now, I have to go make the nose and tail cones...back later!
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Last edited by sandman : 10-13-2012 at 02:47 PM.
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  #3  
Old 10-13-2012, 11:08 AM
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If you were worried about weight, (and to be faithful to the wood working ways), why not just form the veneer into a Body Tube without the cardboard one?
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  #4  
Old 10-13-2012, 11:29 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bernomatic
If you were worried about weight, (and to be faithful to the wood working ways), why not just form the veneer into a Body Tube without the cardboard one?


The tube alone is 21 grams.

The tube covered in veneer is 42 grams. About 1.4oz vs 0.7oz.

Not a big enough difference to sacrafice the strength.

The veneer is fairly brittle so alone it wouldn't be durable enough.

I'll just use a bigger motor!

I'm concerned about weight in the tail of the model so I won't need to add more nose weight for stability.
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  #5  
Old 10-13-2012, 11:31 AM
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The wood for the nose and tail cones are prepped and ready for the lathe.

The wood in front is Black Walnut.

The wood next to it is Osage Orange.

The small piece of Osage Orange at the top will be carved into launch lugs.

This is the fun part.
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  #6  
Old 10-13-2012, 02:34 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sandman

Well, some people are afraid of contact cement but not me!
D

ME, ME, ME! Pick me!

I hate contact cement.

"Contact cement" is just the polite name. The real name is "Satan's Mucous", invented by the devil to stick things in hell.

I either misalign things, or I get a little hard glue ball under one spot which causes a lump, or the stuff oozes out the edge and I mar the surface trying to clean it off, or when I'm brushing it on I don't quite get all the edge and a piece pops back up, or when I'm brushing it on I overlap the cement onto the nearby surface and then the piece I want to glue shifts and gets stuck to the surface, or the glue bottle lid gets stuck and trying to get it off I spill glue all over everything, or the stuff comes alive at night, sneaks across the room and glues my nostrils and eyes shut.

Even thinking about contact cement makes me shake and lose continence a little.

Oooh, I hate it, I hate it, I hate it!
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  #7  
Old 10-13-2012, 02:39 PM
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Beautiful rocket, Gordy. I never cease to be amazed by your woodworking skills. Just when I think I've seen all of your techniques, up pops another. Just amazing. And the Macasser Ebony is just too beautiful. Wait til Vern and Gleda see this one!
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  #8  
Old 10-13-2012, 03:44 PM
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Doug Sams Doug Sams is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gus
Even thinking about contact cement makes me shake and lose continence a little.
ROFLMAO!!!

FWIW, I've done a little laminating (think kitchen counter tops). It helps to have two sets of hands. Also, try to set things up - using a jig, fixture, tooling, whatever - so that you can line up the piece to be glued, then drop it in place holding it against the guide/jig. After that, trim to fit.

In the case of the Formica, after it was glued in place, we cut it to fit using a router bit. That won't necessarily work in Sandman's application, but you get the idea

Doug

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  #9  
Old 10-13-2012, 08:23 PM
A Fish Named Wallyum A Fish Named Wallyum is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sandman
The wood next to it is Osage Orange.

Known locally as "monkey brain". We have a rich and varied history with them. (Rolling them into traffic. Monkey brain wars. Toxic fumes from when Mom was on her pine cone wreath kick and decided that she could slice them and dry them to put on the wreaths.) Last weekend after B6-4 Fest we had my whole family here to celebrate my Sam and my Mom's birthdays. While I was grilling, my brother-in-law took his kids back into our woods to hunt snakes. They didn't find any, but my niece did come back with some pretty leaves and a monkey brain. I got a kick out of that.
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  #10  
Old 10-14-2012, 12:26 PM
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The tail cones and nose cones are finished.

The Black Walnut will look much better when it's covered with finish.

Black Walnut finished nice but as you can see in the pics it picks up sawdust pretty easy.

Next up is the fins.

I'm not sure about them yet.

I'll probably go with balsa and some walnut stain.

We'll see.
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