Soda Bottle Water Rocket

Step 7: Attaching the Fins

Ok, this is the tricky part. Open your adhesive (or glue of your choice). Squeeze out a small amount (enough to do one fin). Mix the epoxy with a scrap piece of foam core (this will be your "brush" too). PRE-Mark your bottle (with the marker) where you want your fins to line up. Make sure the fins fit your bottle BEFORE putting any glue on them. Trim, or adjust if needed. Apply the Epoxy to your fin, and attach it to the bottle. WARNING: This step requires patience! 5 minutes is a LONG time. If you can figure out a way of setting up some clamps, more power to ya. While holding the fin, don't let it shift... you will be able to move and adjust the fin while the epoxy is drying, but once it starts to set, it gets difficult to adjust. You'll feel it start to set. Once it gets to the point where you can't really adjust it anymore, you can place the bottles and fin, on the table to set without holding it.
Prepare your next "glob" of glue for the next fin. REPEAT for all of your fins.

Comments

[jalin9]

For some reason our school has asked that the fins don't go beyond the fat part of the bottle. Would the rocket still work if I moned the fins up on the bottle?

[cyenobite]

I seriously doubt that it would work. I can't understand why they would require such a strange rule. I would double check with a teacher to see if that is correct, and if it is, get a science teacher to explain why this is a horrible rule when it comes to designing and rocket construction. If your science teacher is the one who came up with the rule, then it's time to find a new science teacher :)
Good Luck!

[instructa-fan]

wouldnt low temp. hot glue work?

[cyenobite]

sry instruct, a little late in replying here. I thought of using hot glue, and yeah it might work just fine, but I've worked with hot glue using cardboard before and it doesn't always hold a strong bond. I can tell you that the epoxy really held up well considering it's basically a .25 strip along the foam (which is somewhat porous too). But hey, try it out - post a follow-up if you do.