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It’s about damn time you got on the forum Bill! See you soon!Art

Bill, great to hear from you — I’m not going to be there, but wanted to extend a big howdy! How is life?You can get me at john.wilke (at) beckerunderwood.com Take care!J

Bill,Glad to hear you are not abandoning the hobby and I look forward to seeing you out on the range.(Pray for more rain as it’s getting really dry out in the fields….)Ed

I have had a couple drilled slightly off center as well as a couple with slight off angle with very little ill effect. Those nozzles where only used on the test stand. I have not flown one in a rocket.

I’ve never really encountered that problem, though I can see that if you did do one on a lathe that if you turned the OD down and didn’t drill out your throat before re-chucking to turn the other face down…   Read more»

Im very careful to drill the nozzles I have strait. Any of the bigger ones I need of I have done on a lathe. besides I can have ANY size pretty well on a lathe done vs specific sizes of…   Read more»

I use a nomex square for my chute protection.When converting my 5.5″ rocket to duel deploy, I see the weightof the 78″ cute settles down onto the charge holder.I am a HUGE fan of pistons for just this reason. Plus,…   Read more»

Very cool :)What motor did it have, and how high did it get?

The kitchen sink is a dangerous place for a married man with hobbies…

Not to mention ferric chloride poured in the toilet after use for etching circuit boards.

The kitchen sink is a dangerous place for a married man with hobbies…W

The kitchen sink is where the action is.My ideal is cleaning them in the kitchen sink BEFORE my wife gets home after launches. Ha, ha… Otherwise, well, I’m trying to come up with something else. The vinegar, dishwashing liquid and…   Read more»

Funny, I’ve always used elbow grease and sweat to clean up the propellant residue. And maybe a few wet wipes and WD40, or carb cleaner or CLP, whatevers on hand and then whatever liquid dishwashing soap is on the counter…   Read more»

If I don’t clean them onsite during a launch, I throw them into a tupperware with a mix of white vinegar, Zep de-greaser, Simple Green and water overnight. Next day I use a kind of bottle brush (I have sizes…   Read more»

Bruce, I have a seal disk if you need one…

Thanks, Ken. I have an extra one from another casing. I’ll get another one from Tim. Don’t you hate it when that happens?

I use a bottle brush sprayed with simple green. Takes about 2 minutes to clean the entire tube. I then rinse really well with water. Bruce, I have a seal disk if you need one…kp.

Okay, depending on what type of anodizing is done on the motor casings, one type–can’t remember which–is second only to diamonds in hardness and strength. Anodizing hardens the aluminum oxide. However, it is still porous. Thus, acetic acid can still…   Read more»

Actually personally I have had a case eaten by Vinegar. I also know James has had one eaten by Simple green. Both cases were longer term exposure for a day or 2. So it can happen. Unfortunately Wikapedia is not…   Read more»

Hmmm… good evidence, Ken. Thanks!

I haven’t seen any evidence of this bath causing any change beyond the cleaning. From the Wikipedia: Aluminium, when exposed to oxygen, forms a thin layer of aluminium oxide on its surface which is relatively resistant, so that aluminium tanks…   Read more»

Do you have a problem where the vinegar eats into the anodizing after such a long bath?Not yet… and, honestly, that’s my only concern. Acid and metals, even anodized ones, aren’t a good combination. Don’t want microscopic pits that will…   Read more»