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National Association of Rocketry Dallas Area Rocket Society
applying epoxy to the motor mount and centering ring Well, here I am setting a bad example by applying epoxy without wearing gloves. Actually, this is a reenactment, intended to show my application technique.

March 15, 2002
Bonding the Forward Centering Ring
Before bonding any part of the motor mount, I sand it with and 80 grid sand paper. Then I set the motor tube next to the airframe and mark off where I intend each ring to be in relationship to the airframe, fins, fin slots, shockcord, and motor retention.

  1. Mix up 4 drams of 30 minute epoxy.
  2. Apply sparingly enough epoxy to cover the areas you intend to bond
  3. With a gloved finger, quickly work epoxy into the surfaces.
  4. Add a thickening agent like West Systems 403 Microfibers to the remaining epoxy.
  5. Apply liberally the area to be bonded.
  6. Shape and even the epoxy with a large tongue depressor.

 

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epoxy technique Once the epoxy is applied, I keep a careful watch on it. I will occasionally invert the motor tube like an hourglass to keep the distribution as even as possible. If your easily distracted or have tendency to doze off, you might want some wax paper and newspaper under this.
  
 
Fin templates  

March 16, 2002
Cutting the fin templates
The SkyPirate's large component fins would need a level of accuracy beyond "eyeballing" it. From the original, full scale illustrations, I added airframe alignment marks and printed out two fin alignment guides. These guides were very carefully spray mounted with 3M Super 77 the edges of a sheet of foam core. The fins sections were cut with and X-acto knife and straight edge, and the airframe was cut with a Pickett 410N compass with and X-acto attachment.

I had a little bit of a shock the first time I tried to align the two templates. They weren't lining up. Eventually, I realized I had forgotten to align the two templates horizontally. A minor adjustment to each template got everything back on track quickly.

Hindsight:
The Intruder is a bit of an unusual rocket. That has some characteristics of both four and six fin rockets.
 
Motor mount and shock cord assembly   Attaching the Shockcord
A 1" tubular nylon strap and nomex sleeve from Giant Leap Rocketry were bonded to the motor mount in standard PML fashion using West System Epoxy. I try to make sure the nomex sleeve extends below the forward edge of the motor tube.
 
 
 
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