how do i build a simple liquid or solid fuel rocket engine

driveit · Post by **driveit** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 9:10 pm

half have done and still reading lol gonna take a while

marksteamnz · Post by **marksteamnz** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 9:22 am

driveit wrote:half have done and still reading lol gonna take a while

OK, sounds like you are trying, so thumbs up for a better approach. On the other thread you mentioned not wanting to spend a lot on heating the propellent etc. Cool once you really have read and thought about the information on Richard's site come back and the assembled masses will be happy to talk through various, safe and cheap ways of melting candy propellents........... If you still want to go that way. There is a lot of history and developement on Richard Nakka's site that shows other ways of making nitrate propellents. Epoxy etc. Hang in there and keep reading and thinking. If what you are reading is not making sense remember you can always come back to it and trust me you will get it in the end if you are motivated enough.

driveit · Post by **driveit** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 4:23 pm

k read it all but i think ill still go with the KNO3/sugar/sulfur method untill i get my hands on a hot plate

Dang911 · Post by **Dang911** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 6:18 pm

You can make a SAFE fire hotplate using an alcohol burner. Yes I know fire......BUT..... Here is how I do it.

Go out to your local supermarket and get a few of those burners they put under food warming trays in buffets....etc; the ones with the wispy flame. You can buy them in packs of 4 or 6, CHEAP. Anyway, take one of those, and put it under a frame of some sorts. On top of the frame place a sheet of metal, 1/16" (1 mm). Make the sheet slightly bigger so there is no chance of seeing a flame come up around the edge of the metal sheet.

Now just place your melting container, or double boiler, on the "homemade" hotplate, and wait, it works!!!!

under $10 for this rig..........

I use this rig but instead I use a propane camping stove, which has everything but the metal plate.

Just be careful not to over heat anything, or allow the flame to come in contact with the rocket candy goo. Also rocket candy goo is like napalm, so wear protective gloves to prevent unwanted trips to the Emergency Room.

Jim Berquist · Post by **Jim Berquist** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 9:38 pm

Dang : Dang

Give the kid a brake!

He has a attitude! Oh well!

Tell hem that fillings from a rubber tire and saltpeter will get his rocket higher....

All he needs to learn is to contain his self...

OOPs under penalty of a newbee I submit
..................................................................................................

driveit · Post by **driveit** » Sat Oct 29, 2005 10:51 pm

hey man i dont have a attitude i was joking the whole time well exept for the mixture question so sry for once and for i ask is for opinions and ya thats all i have to say

my bad
driveit

Mark · Post by **Mark** » Tue Nov 01, 2005 3:26 am

Paul Skinner wrote:
driveit wrote:mix
SALTPETER..................113.2 GRAMS
SUGAR.......................48.5 GRAMS
SULFUR......................18.0 GRAMS
in a margerin container, break up the lumps and shake for 3 minutes its done and ready to be loaded

WOULD THIS WORK!!!!
It would go "poof" but you need to compact it to extract any sort of impulse, hence why most people use a ball mill and the candy route.

Since you like the odd formulations, here's one using NaNO3.
Mark
http://heritage.dupont.com/floater/fl_e ... ater.shtml

Greg O'Bryant · Post by **Greg O'Bryant** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 9:21 pm

First of all Steve that is a great looking rocket engine and I was wondering if you would interested in parting with it?
I was reading over the web pages lately on rocket candy and feel that i need to say something that may be useful to somebody. When I would make rocket candy i would use a mixture of about 70/30. I saw a lot of guys like to use a 65/35 ratio becuase it makes it easier to cast. Well I found that if you make the recrystalized propellant and add a little ammonium nitrate to it that this drops the melting point quite about and actually may bring up the impluse a bit. I was trying to make a propellant like ammonpulver out of the chemistry of powder and explosives, but instead of using charcol I used sugar and made it using the recrystalization process. I ended up throwing out the whole batch becuase it wouldn't turn into a solid and I figured that it still had water in it when actually it was probably just melted. Maybe a good jumping off point for someone. Oh and I made all of this propellant on an electric frying pan that a bought from a second hand store for less than $5. How is that for keeping cost's down.

driveit · Post by **driveit** » Wed Nov 02, 2005 11:26 pm

could i mix KNO3/sugar/sulfur with a little water to make a paste, and if so would it ignite when it dried?

Dang911 · Post by **Dang911** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 1:20 am

May I just ask WHY with the sulfur? Whats your reasoning behind wanting to use sulfur in your formula?

driveit · Post by **driveit** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 2:13 am

KNO3/sugar/sulfur, from what ive learnt is safer becuase you dont need to cook it and it cant combust with no reason on a heat sourse ( unless expossed to extreme heat or if you smoke) . the only thing i dont like about the method is that you cant cast it like the normal kn/su method in to cylinders unless i can mix it with a syrup or something. i dunno which is better, but im going to get the KNO3 and sulfur tomorrow

Dang911 · Post by **Dang911** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 2:18 am

Why don't you either build the setup I mentioned above very $cheap$, or go to a thrift store.... salvation army, and get a crappy hot plate....... Then your set.

A candle will not get you anywhere because it doesn't produce enough BTU's. You would need a lot of candles all at once. Also, do not apply a flame directly to the bottom of the melting container. You need a metal plate in between to protect from "hot spots" and it also evens out the heat, making it constant and more controllable.

I know the you have the resources to make this work.....

driveit · Post by **driveit** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 2:37 am

i dunno i can make the sulfur type propellent in under 4 minutes and i suppose to work just as good is there any thing to mix the KNO3/sugar/sulfur together as a paste?

Dang911 · Post by **Dang911** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 2:46 am

But in total reality, if the "powder" has no binder, it isn't going to do jack shit, but a poof. Now if you were to take the powder and add a binder, then I think you have a much better shot of getting some* thrust. Possible binders are Rubber, PVC, Dextrin, Shellac, Epoxy, Wax......

Melt/dissolve the binder, add the powder and press that into the mold. Remember a binder just holds everything together (unless its also the fuel) so its not part of the formula LESS IS MORE. You need just enough to hold everything together.

As far as binders, dextrin is pretty easy, you just bake the crap out of cornstarch till it turns brown. You can do a Google on that.....

While you doing that, ebay "hotplate" and end this misery. Again my rig is very very very very cheap and simple to make.......

May I also ask if you "actually" have the potassium nitrate and sulfur. If you do you need to start experimenting. I think I can speak for everyone here when I say, that's how you learn. Just play; you can follow our guidelines but, if you don't have any of the chemicals, you will play the what if game with us forever. Once you have done some experimenting first hand, your observations will be much more valuable than us guys preaching to you.......

driveit · Post by **driveit** » Thu Nov 03, 2005 4:03 am

hmmm. ill experiment with it for a while and see what happends

www.pulse-jets.com

how do i build a simple liquid or solid fuel rocket engine

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