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Rocket headers 3" to 5" diameter. Where do you get them?


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Posted

Hello I was wondering where are people getting their 3 to 5" rocket paper headers? I havent found any good sources. Woodys seem to only have 1.4" ID

Posted

Are you talking about the header containing the pyrotechnic effect, or about a nose cone? For the pyrotechnic header I usually use a ball shell, since that is what I'm most familiar with making but I am starting to get into making cylinder shell headers as well. Just make a normal shell and rather than using a spollete or 1/4" fuse just put a hollow tube in the shell pointed at the perforated bulkhead of the rocket motor. I like to put a few strands of blackmatch in the tube. 

For the nosecone, if I bother with it, I take one of the cheapest unwaxed paper plates you can buy cut a segment out and fold it into a cone and glue it over the header.

Posted

I got some 2.5 OD casings from pyrobuild to put on my rockets. IIRC when spiked and pasted these are the size tubes you'd use for 3" shells. These are similar to the bottom shot casings from woodys but with a slightly thinner wall thickness. IMG_20240612_124646983.thumb.jpg.ad067f9f336cf18ef1ede4f613b49fc8.jpg

Posted

If you really want a 5" header then I hope your rockets are perfectly reliable.

When you buy food, look for cans and packets that might make good cylinder tooling. The former should be about half to three-quarters of an inch smaller than the header size to allow for pasting and stringing. Card comes from cereal packets.

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