What's the Force ???

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RandyUnderwood
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What's the Force ???

Post by RandyUnderwood »

Ok wierd question here guys - I am looking into building an autowinder that mounts to the start gate (so you place the rockets in the start gate - flip a switch and all rockets get wound the same number of times at once) - I am trying to build it out of hobby gears, sprockets, and chain that's only rated at 7 pounds max (but recommends no more than 4 pounds) - well what's the force applied by a fully wound (@ the recommended 100 winds) rocket - I am hoping it's less than 1 pound or I'll have to find another solution.

Anyone have any idea ??? Anyone have a rocket they can test and post the answer ??? I don't have a rocket for testing (yet). This is our pack's first year doing a space derby and I drew the short stick because I am the PWD guru - (I am kidding I volunteered). I have to build everything and this would really help.

Thanks in advance to anyone that helps out !!!

Randy (yes another one)
Pack 190, Easton MD
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TurtlePowered
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Re: What's the Force ???

Post by TurtlePowered »

Not sure if a autowinder like that will work do to differences in the slot the round plastic piece that hold the rubberbands taunt. I have seen slots that barely hold the peg, we like to completly bury ours.
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RandyUnderwood
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Re: What's the Force ???

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TurtlePowered wrote:Not sure if a autowinder like that will work do to differences in the slot the round plastic piece that hold the rubberbands taunt. I have seen slots that barely hold the peg, we like to completly bury ours.
I believe you think I am planning on winding from the back - I am planning on mounting it so it winds from the front - drops down on rails to keep clear from the race area. The rockets will be in front of the start position slightly (so the peg doesn't interfere with the winding); the winding device will be movable so that once wound the rockets can be slid back into the start position and then the device will moved down out of the way. I am thinking about mounting it with a couple of those shocks from an SUV tail gate (so I won't have to hold it up while it's winding).

Now this may be a pipe dream - as I said in my first post - this is my first space derby and I could be way off base - our pack traditionally lacks adult volunteers - so individually winding the rockets seems beyond around volunteer and time allotments - i am trying to mak it run quickly (I figure winding four at once is quicker).
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TurtlePowered
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Re: What's the Force ???

Post by TurtlePowered »

RandyUnderwood wrote:
TurtlePowered wrote:Not sure if a autowinder like that will work do to differences in the slot the round plastic piece that hold the rubberbands taunt. I have seen slots that barely hold the peg, we like to completly bury ours.
I believe you think I am planning on winding from the back - I am planning on mounting it so it winds from the front - drops down on rails to keep clear from the race area. The rockets will be in front of the start position slightly (so the peg doesn't interfere with the winding); the winding device will be movable so that once wound the rockets can be slid back into the start position and then the device will moved down out of the way. I am thinking about mounting it with a couple of those shocks from an SUV tail gate (so I won't have to hold it up while it's winding).

Now this may be a pipe dream - as I said in my first post - this is my first space derby and I could be way off base - our pack traditionally lacks adult volunteers - so individually winding the rockets seems beyond around volunteer and time allotments - i am trying to mak it run quickly (I figure winding four at once is quicker).
Things don't go to bad if you have the winder they sell in the scout shop. They do a 4 - 5 to 1 with the gears they use. Maybe you might want to use their gearing and just come up a attachment that would wind multiple winders.
Do you have your track made yet? You will want to test out the track to make sure certain lines don't always win. We have our scouts run against one particular scout instead of trying to race 4 derby rockets at once to minimize differences in line tension that would favor certain lines. Make sure you have a nice soft padding at the finish, would recommend something on the floor as well, sometimes derby rockets pop off the carrier at the end.
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Re: What's the Force ???

Post by jrz_dad »

Things don't go to bad if you have the winder they sell in the scout shop. They do a 4 - 5 to 1 with the gears they use. Maybe you might want to use their gearing and just come up a attachment that would wind multiple winders.
I'd be alittle careful of those plastic winders the scout shop sells. We used them last year and they stripped out on us by the end of the derby. We were trying to get 125 winds on each rocket and they still failed. Fortunately we had enough foresight to buy a couple extras. We're planning on using a "threaded rod" type winder with varible speed drills this next go-around....
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Re: What's the Force ???

Post by TurtlePowered »

jrz_dad wrote:
Things don't go to bad if you have the winder they sell in the scout shop. They do a 4 - 5 to 1 with the gears they use. Maybe you might want to use their gearing and just come up a attachment that would wind multiple winders.
I'd be alittle careful of those plastic winders the scout shop sells. We used them last year and they stripped out on us by the end of the derby. We were trying to get 125 winds on each rocket and they still failed. Fortunately we had enough foresight to buy a couple extras. We're planning on using a "threaded rod" type winder with varible speed drills this next go-around....
Do you recall how many rubber bands you were using? Don't think we were using quite 125 winds and we were using 3 rubber bands.
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Re: What's the Force ???

Post by jrz_dad »

We used three rubber bands as well on ours - however, there were several ships that had 4 bands on them. If I remember correctly, it was a fairly even split between 3 or 4 bands - we did not place a restriction on the number they could use....

We did try using a lesser number of winds but the ships would not make it down the wire with less then 125. Added to that, we did not run the recommended 50ft track but set ours up at 40ft due to space limitations.
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