Introduction: Black Powder Rocket Motors.

In this instructable I will show you how to build a Black powder rocket and how to put it onto a car.
This will also outline other things you can do with these rockets
There is always the possibility of using other types of fuel such as the sugar and KNO3 fuel in the same way

Step 1: Materials

You will need the following.

Rocket tube/motor;
An A3 piece of paper
PVA (white) glue
Black powder - https://www.instructables.com/id/Making-black-powder./
Bentonite clay (as above)
A 15mm dowel with 4mm bore (bore optional)
A spindle with 4mm bore extension (optional)
and tube, and ramming device could be used. or if you want you could remove 1/2 the fun and buy your own pre made motor?!?!?!?

Car;''''
Toy car
Straw
String
Tape

Of course you dont have to make some BP you could buy some, or already have some. but the Black powder on my other instructable is well suited to this project and will burn at a good rate.

Step 2: Rocket Tube

Cut your piece of A3 paper into 6cm wide strips. T
ape the end of one strip on the other end of your workbench than you are, and apply PVA glue from the far end to 4cm from your end. Place dowel on your end of paper strip and tightly roll to the end.
Take off the tape at end a glue last bit on, and then take out dowel. Repeat with all strips.
Leave to dry for at least 2 hours before ramming so they have time to harden, but they reach their hardest over night and after this time they work best.

Step 3: Motor Packing

When using these motors, they work best with a bore in it, it makes burning faster and more efficient, for bore you'll need to use a spindle and a dowel with bore hole (see picture). If you don't want a bore, do this step without spindle and drill a nozzle when done, (ram on top of a piece of tape).
First place your tube on the spindle and add about ½ a table spoon of clay, ram this down by putting dowel in tube and hitting with hammer.
Do this until a 1cm depth of clay is formed. Add Black Powder ½ tablespoon at a time and ram after each addition leaving a little over a cm at the top.
Then add more clay and ram until nearly all of tube is full.
(if using spindle pull off tube, if not drill a hole through the bottom of tube, about 2cm deep).

Step 4: Making the Car

Get your toy car and tape a piece of straw, 2cm less than the cars length in the middle of it. Tape or glue a rocket motor on top, run string through straw and tie at both ends to create track, this will keep car on course.

Step 5: Using Car

Set up track with about 10 meters of string (try fisjing line), its more fun to race more than one car at a time.
To start, put a fuse in the nozzle of the rocket and jam with pieces of wood, or blu-tack. NOT GLUE.
Light fuse and enjoy (but stand well clear.
make sure you secure motor and straw VERY well onto car, lots of stress goes on these.

Step 6: Tips and Cautions.

The bore(and nossel) should be about 4mm in diameter, if too small rocket might explode, if too big rocket will get sow thrust. The bore and nozzle increase efficiency of rocket.
Don't ram too much at one time or rocket wont perform as well.
Don't use anything but lead balls in your ball mill, anything else will either create sparks or bee too soft.

You could also use these engines on planes and run them off a ramp without string, or by themselves with stick attached for vertical flight.
In one of the pictures you can see a rocket motor mounted in a paper model rocket and in another a 8cm rocket motor of the same principle attached to a explosive shell which will be observable in action in my video.
Experiment with different lengths of rocket for different effects.
If you add more charcoal to black powder tail will be more spectacular.

Beware; most countries/states ban these unless they stay grounded.
Please do not attempt to use any of these motors in any way near dry grass, trees or petrol stations because they could cause a fire.