Page 1 of 1
FIN GUIDES
Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2014 10:05 pm
by bugwubber
Best method I've seen yet for marking fin lines on your rocket body.
http://www.masa-rocketry.org/tech/Fin%2 ... 0Guide.pdf
This template generator makes it easy to print your rocket body and fin cross section. Use spray contact cement to apply the paper to foam board and then cut out the cross section to make a nice fin holder.
http://www.payloadbay.com/index.php?pag ... =FINGUIDES
Re: FIN GUIDES
Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 11:27 am
by Water Rocket Expert
Thanks for these!
Re: FIN GUIDES
Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 2:21 pm
by bugwubber
Water Rocket Expert wrote:Thanks for these!
Make sure when you print the pdf from payloadbay that fit to page isn't selected. My printer tried to scale it since the orig page is 11×17
Re: FIN GUIDES
Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2014 4:27 pm
by Water Rocket Expert
bugwubber wrote:Water Rocket Expert wrote:Thanks for these!
Make sure when you print the pdf from payloadbay that fit to page isn't selected. My printer tried to scale it since the orig page is 11×17
Thanks for letting me know, I just did that!
Re: FIN GUIDES
Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2014 12:36 pm
by U.S. Water Rockets
Doesn't everyone do it like that?
Re: FIN GUIDES
Posted: Sun Nov 23, 2014 3:59 pm
by bugwubber
U.S. Water Rockets wrote:
Doesn't everyone do it like that?
Haven't seen that particular method referenced on utube. In the past, I just folded the paper in thirds or quarters. That usually had a little bit of error in it.
Re: FIN GUIDES
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 9:33 pm
by U.S. Water Rockets
bugwubber wrote:U.S. Water Rockets wrote:
Doesn't everyone do it like that?
Haven't seen that particular method referenced on utube. In the past, I just folded the paper in thirds or quarters. That usually had a little bit of error in it.
We created our box fin design to eliminate the guesswork. The trick with paper seems really obvious, but it does little to get the fins perpendicular to the body tube. That's why we designed the box fin method.
Re: FIN GUIDES
Posted: Mon Nov 24, 2014 10:53 pm
by bugwubber
U.S. Water Rockets wrote:
We created our box fin design to eliminate the guesswork. The trick with paper seems really obvious, but it does little to get the fins perpendicular to the body tube. That's why we designed the box fin method.
Definitely, the box fins worked really well for us this summer. My daughter decided to dispense with the calculations and found if she folded a piece of extra long fin material into a V shape and then placed it over a bottle laying on the table, she could cut the V at the point where the ends touched the table, and then just cut the 3rd fin to the same length.
Re: FIN GUIDES
Posted: Sun Nov 30, 2014 10:55 pm
by U.S. Water Rockets
bugwubber wrote:U.S. Water Rockets wrote:
We created our box fin design to eliminate the guesswork. The trick with paper seems really obvious, but it does little to get the fins perpendicular to the body tube. That's why we designed the box fin method.
Definitely, the box fins worked really well for us this summer. My daughter decided to dispense with the calculations and found if she folded a piece of extra long fin material into a V shape and then placed it over a bottle laying on the table, she could cut the V at the point where the ends touched the table, and then just cut the 3rd fin to the same length.
That sort of thing definitely works, but we found over the years that some people actually hated it if we suggested "eyeballing" a measurement in our tutorials, because they were afraid of getting it wrong. So we try to give detailed measurements where possible. Everyone is happy then, and people who are comfortable with making up their own dimensions will do so anyhow.