How to make a bottle rocket!

[derekroolz]

Crap I accidently posted a topic in the wrong thread!

 

Sorry to anyone who read the topic before my edit, but here is a tutorial to make up for my stupidity... (Sorry for any incorrect spelling, grammar, or punctuations. I am doing the best I can.)

 

How to make a 1/2" diameter by 2" BP rocket!

 

Ok, materials needed.

BP mix

Water

Ruler (optional you can just eyeball it)

Bentonite clay/or plug mix

1/2" Safe rammer rod (optional have to rods one slightly larger than the other)

Hammer

1 sheet of Computer paper (20 pound is the standard)

Duct Tape

Glue gun optional (If your not a noob)

BBQ skewers

Procedure:

 

Take your 1 sheet of computer paper and fold it into 2" sections. Now take the folded piece of paper and dip your index finger (if you got one) and run your wet finger along the folded pieces of paper. Fold them the opposite way they we're before and do the same procedure. Once you are able to see that both sides have been wetted simply tear down the path of the wet paper. Discard the extra piece that is too big.

 

Next take your paper and align them evenly on them selves and take your rammer rod and roll your pieces of paper around it as level as possible. I prefer to have a rod that is slightly bigger than the rod that will do the ramming, this allows you to rolls the tube incredibly tight and not having to worry about the tube been crimp when inserting the hammering rod.

 

After the paper has been rolled properly take your duct tape and rip it so that it fits the size of the rocket length wise and roll a good 3-5 layers of duct tape around your tube. This enables you to almost ram as hard as you can with out breaking the tube.(still try not to ram it to hard) once this has been completed remove the tube from your rolling rod.

 

Now with the tube completed, take your rammer rod, tube, plug mix and BP. And find a nice flat area that will not spark when hit hard with a hammer. Lay down a piece of paper and insert your rod into your tube. Fill the tube with a small amount of Bentonite clay, ram the tube (a few good hard hits will suffice. Continue until the tube is filled up approx. a 1/2" of your plug mix. Now take your BP mix and fill your tube with small increments at a time and ram. Continue until approx. 3/4" away from the top and begin ramming more plug mix until you reach as high as you can go on your tube.

 

Now the rocket is almost complete. We still have to drill and balance it. So to do just that we will take or tube and set it on a flat surface, and take our drill with our drill bit being approx. 2mm, I just use the smallest bit that I got, while still allowing my fuse to be inserted. (It just happens to be 2mm) Now drill into the side that had was on the ground being first rammed by the rod and hammer. Obviously drill as straight down as possible, drill approx. 1" down into your tube. Once completed slowly remove your drill. If any of the plug mix around your drill hole broke off you can attempt to restore it by putting your drill bit back into the tube allowing the full cylinder part of the bit able to be seen where the nozzle begins. Now using a low temperature hot glue gun to fill the broken pieces take left over paper and cut a square piece bigger then the rocket and push the paper through the bit and onto the hot glue. Try to flatten out the glue best as possible without burning yourself. And stick into the freezer standing straight up so the nozzle faces up toward* the ceiling for a faster cooling time. Once your glue has hardened attempt to remove it by hand by twisting it out, if this is too hard to do take pliers and twist and remove the bit.

 

Now take 3 of your BBQ skewers and tape them side by side onto the back of your rocket being straight up and down. once that is completed you can see if your rocket is balanced, but it shouldn’t be so take 2 more skewers and tape those skewers at the bottom of the three but up from the bottom 1" and tape them down, running straight down with the three skewers, now check if your rocket is balanced. If not continue adding two skewers and the bottom of where the previous skewers end.(You should only need one more increment of skewers.) Now if you over balanced with two or more increments of skewers, just begin breaking the skewers from the end or bottom of the last increment until it fits so that the rocket is balanced.

 

Next, insert fuse as deep as possible into the rocket. Fix in place by inserting a small wad of tissue paper at the nozzle. (Not shoving it in to deep or hard to cause a CATO.)

 

Finally LIGHT THAT S.O.B.!!!!!!!!!

 

Enjoy, Tutorial created from your local SoCal pyro.

Edited December 6, 2009 by derekroolz

[a_bab]

The first rule is to get the expensive stuff, you'd otherwise skip because of the price. Titanium and bismuth trioxide comes to mind.

 

It really is up to you; I'd never buy charcoal for example, but to some it's really difficult to obtain it otherwise. Versatile are the oxidizers, the most versatile one being potassium perchlorate. Ammonium perc is more "exotic" but it can give you effects you can't get otherwise.

[new2pyro]

i had the same post this help me or check my post for more

I would go with the following.

 

Potassium Perchlorate

Red Gum

Parlon

Strontium carbonate

Barium Nitrate

Copper Carbonate

MgAl -200mesh

 

Calcium Carbonate

Potassium Benzoate

Hexamine

Copper Oxide

Strontium Nitrate

Saran

Sodium Oxalate

Barium Carbonate

Antimony Trisulfide

-200 or -325 mesh atomized Al

 

This list is not all inclusive, but it will provide an excellent start. The first list is what I would consider to be the absolute essentials. It contains everything you need for nice red, green, blue, and purple. The second is the expanded basic set that will give orange, yellow, some more complex glitters, and some nicer colors.

[derekroolz]

The first rule is to get the expensive stuff, you'd otherwise skip because of the price. Titanium and bismuth trioxide comes to mind.

 

It really is up to you; I'd never buy charcoal for example, but to some it's really difficult to obtain it otherwise. Versatile are the oxidizers, the most versatile one being potassium perchlorate. Ammonium perc is more "exotic" but it can give you effects you can't get otherwise.

 

 

 

Thanks for your reply but I accendtly posted this in the inncorrect thread so it will be changed when you see it agian.

 

i had the same post this help me or check my post for more

I would go with the following.

 

Potassium Perchlorate

Red Gum

Parlon

Strontium carbonate

Barium Nitrate

Copper Carbonate

MgAl -200mesh

 

Calcium Carbonate

Potassium Benzoate

Hexamine

Copper Oxide

Strontium Nitrate

Saran

Sodium Oxalate

Barium Carbonate

Antimony Trisulfide

-200 or -325 mesh atomized Al

 

This list is not all inclusive, but it will provide an excellent start. The first list is what I would consider to be the absolute essentials. It contains everything you need for nice red, green, blue, and purple. The second is the expanded basic set that will give orange, yellow, some more complex glitters, and some nicer colors.

 

 

Thanks for your reply but I accidently posted this in the incorrect thread so it will be changed when you see it again.

[Gunzway]

Pictures would be helpful.

[jm82792]

I agree.

[bekzen]

yes pictures would be nice.

[derekroolz]

Pictures would be helpful.

 

 

Allright certainly will, Just have to number them to correspond to certain things. How can I do that though, now that the edit buttons gone. Ohwell I'll figure out a way.

[Swede]

Allright certainly will, Just have to number them to correspond to certain things. How can I do that though, now that the edit buttons gone. Ohwell I'll figure out a way.

 

Cut and paste the original post, and add the pics at the appropriate locations. You can never have too many pictures on APC!

[Mumbles]

Yes, if you cut and paste as Swede said, and make a new post, I can reinsert it into the top post.

[Updup]

Yes, if you cut and paste as Swede said, and make a new post, I can reinsert it into the top post.

 

When i was trying to make a TUT and add pictures, I added one and then it said I used all the upload space... Do I need to somehow squish the picture size (as in MB KB GB)?

 

Sorry, didn't mean to thread jack.

[derekroolz]

Yes, if you cut and paste as Swede said, and make a new post, I can reinsert it into the top post.

 

 

Allright sounds good, but sorry for everyone for the leglection of this thread, I am currently undergoing premid-term and mid-term studying and testing for college and I will try to get the pics up this week. Wish me luck!

[homebrewed77]

Oh come on...I wanna see these duct tape rocket's..Would you say they are on the same level as spiral tube's? Or???

[Updup]

Yes! You saved me! I had gotten some 3/4" tubes from pyro creations for fountains, little did I know that they would just fall apart when I rammed my fountain mix in (they were not parellel wound tubes).

 

However, I read your TUT and thought DUCK TAPE! What a great idea, now I have 10 fountains ready to go for new years, thanks!

[derekroolz]

Oh come on...I wanna see these duct tape rocket's..Would you say they are on the same level as spiral tube's? Or???

 

 

They are on the level of your 5cent rocket

[Yafmot]

Never mind duct tape, fiberglass reinforced strapping tape is far superior, It's lighter, and because it's so much stronger in the hoop direction, you can use less of it, making the final product lighter yet. And with rockets, from Saturn 5s to bottle rockets, weight is everything.

 

I've used bamboo skewers more than once, and for more than just rockets. But STATIC balancing isn't all that critical. I just use a single piece, and give it some tailfeathers. Just wet about an inch of the end until it's good 'n soaked. Then I put it on a hard surface and smash the hell out of the end until it's frayed, looking something like a pygmy broom. Let it dry well (remember we're thinking LIGHT), and if you shoot it out of about a 3' length of PVC pipe, it will be going fast enough by the time it exits that it will have plenty of aerodynamic stability and won't need all that weight hanging off its ass end. Works for me.

[derekroolz]

Never mind duct tape, fiberglass reinforced strapping tape is far superior, It's lighter, and because it's so much stronger in the hoop direction, you can use less of it, making the final product lighter yet. And with rockets, from Saturn 5s to bottle rockets, weight is everything.

 

I've used bamboo skewers more than once, and for more than just rockets. But STATIC balancing isn't all that critical. I just use a single piece, and give it some tailfeathers. Just wet about an inch of the end until it's good 'n soaked. Then I put it on a hard surface and smash the hell out of the end until it's frayed, looking something like a pygmy broom. Let it dry well (remember we're thinking LIGHT), and if you shoot it out of about a 3' length of PVC pipe, it will be going fast enough by the time it exits that it will have plenty of aerodynamic stability and won't need all that weight hanging off its ass end. Works for me.

 

 

Yeah you can go down the path of getting fiber glass and lighter materials, but the tutorial here is for the 5cent pyro is to show how to make something reliable and just simply flies out of everyday material. But I will try your wetting method for stability

[dagabu]

Just wet about an inch of the end until it's good 'n soaked. Then I put it on a hard surface and smash the hell out of the end until it's frayed, looking something like a pygmy broom. Let it dry well (remember we're thinking LIGHT), and if you shoot it out of about a 3' length of PVC pipe, it will be going fast enough by the time it exits that it will have plenty of aerodynamic stability and won't need all that weight hanging off its ass end. Works for me.

 

Great ideas! It looks like I know what my son and I are doing on MLK day!

 

Thanks!

[Mumbles]

The fiber tape probably isn't much, if any more expensive than duct tape, and sold at all the same places. Just because you don't have it at your house doesn't make it any less "everyday". To improve quality, and keep it every bit as OTC, you may want to try rolling the tube from manilla file folder paper using a glued strip, and a few turns of thinner glued paper on the outside to hold it shut while drying. You can ram to your heart's content and they won't even noticeably budge.

 

I believe people are still waiting for pictures as well.

[PoorBoy]

Just out of curiosity to help keep this thing OTC can kitty litter be used for a plug and nozzle. I have never tried using kitty litter before but i have seen in other forums and places people saying that cheap no name brand kitty litter is almost pure bentonite. Just thought i'd mention it because the only bentonite i have is from pyro suppliers on the internet, making my bentonite not OTC. (Im also asking for my own selfish reason's, i'm tired of paying s&h on clay and marked up prices).

[dagabu]

Just out of curiosity to help keep this thing OTC can kitty litter be used for a plug and nozzle. I have never tried using kitty litter before but i have seen in other forums and places people saying that cheap no name brand kitty litter is almost pure bentonite. Just thought i'd mention it because the only bentonite i have is from pyro suppliers on the internet, making my bentonite not OTC. (Im also asking for my own selfish reason's, i'm tired of paying s&h on clay and marked up prices).

 

OK, where to start on this one....

 

I have bought several bags of kitty litter and have found that on every occasion I have not been happy with the nozzle it makes. The best so far is the WalMart brand with no additives, just clay. That being said, i still have to crush it and add a little wax to get it to work OK.

 

I actually make nozzle mix and resell it to friends, have not sold it online yet. It is a combination of Grog (80 mesh), Kyanite (80 mesh), Hawthorne (80 mesh) and a little Bentonite with 1% wax melted into the mix. It is smooth, gray, and very resistant to wear.

 

I get it in 100% bags from a local clay supplier and mix it myself. I have about 100# left and will make another batch this summer with other rocket guys. It all runs about $.40 a pound when done.

 

Dave

[PoorBoy]

Yea i figured some one would know, i have seen nozzle mixes like the one you described highly recomended by rocket builders. Thanks for the tip on the walmart brand it pretty much answered my question, i think im gonna give it a shot and see how big a rocket i can make out of house held scrap with kitty litter nozzel. I imagine probably not much bigger than a bottle rocket but it breaks the monotany of making bp for 4th of july.

 

 

[TheSidewinder]

Yes, the cheapest kitty litter is usually pure Bentonite.

 

The Wal-Mart "Special Kitty" brand in the red bag is one of the best for this use.

 

Their "yellow bag" variety of the same name has an odor absorbent of some type mixed with it, but a number of people here have said it makes absolutely no difference in its use.