Who
doesn't love pyrotechnics? Ever since I was little I've looked forward to every
4th of July with great anticipation. I dreamed of creating my own beautiful,
powerful, and ever so temporary art in the sky just as the pro's did.
Then
one day my dad bought me my first model rocket kit from the hobby store. My
dream was finally realized. Sort of. Putting together the kits only satisfied
me for a short time. Soon I began looking for a similar but more involved
project. Then I found this guys page:
He
does some really cool stuff, but one of the coolest things he's done is laid
out instructions for building rockets from scratch. That's right. Even the
engines. With a minimal amount of materials too.
Making the rocket itself is quite easy really. It’s basic paper craft. Making the engines is a little more tricky because involves getting the water content in the fuel just right. That’s really the hardest part. If you dry it out to much it’s unworkable and is quite a pain in the ass to rehydrate evenly. If you leave to much moisture in it though it’ll inhibit the burn too much. Plus it’s hydroscopic, which means whenever it’s exposed to open air, it’s absorbing moisture. Since you have to heat it up to make it pliable enough to load into engines, it’ll dry out a little every time you heat it up. This means you basically have to practice until you’re really comfortable with the process. He covers this all in greater depth on his site.
Another problem I often encountered was having my nozzles blow out. This can be caused by a combination of factors involving the fuel grain itself, but I found that lining the inside of the end of the engine with glue before pressing the bentonite into a nozzle helps hold it in place.
Here are a few I made back in high school.
Making the rocket itself is quite easy really. It’s basic paper craft. Making the engines is a little more tricky because involves getting the water content in the fuel just right. That’s really the hardest part. If you dry it out to much it’s unworkable and is quite a pain in the ass to rehydrate evenly. If you leave to much moisture in it though it’ll inhibit the burn too much. Plus it’s hydroscopic, which means whenever it’s exposed to open air, it’s absorbing moisture. Since you have to heat it up to make it pliable enough to load into engines, it’ll dry out a little every time you heat it up. This means you basically have to practice until you’re really comfortable with the process. He covers this all in greater depth on his site.
Another problem I often encountered was having my nozzles blow out. This can be caused by a combination of factors involving the fuel grain itself, but I found that lining the inside of the end of the engine with glue before pressing the bentonite into a nozzle helps hold it in place.
Here are a few I made back in high school.
