I made the main parachute from 1.9oz rip stop nylon. It is 9.5 feet in diameter. The shroud lines are made with 3/16ths nylon cord. I had some great pictures of me sewing it together, but due to a camera accident they were lost. I did make a drogue chute and took pictures of it. The drogue is made of 3.0 oz nylon and 1/8 inch shroud lines. After sizing the drogue size, 33 inches, and drawing the pattern onto the material, I cut it out. Then I sewed the two halves together using a surger. Next I went around the entire outside of the chute with the surger. The surger uses 4 spools of thread and puts a nice tight weave and cuts the fabric so that it will not fray. Using a regular sewing machine, I did a small zigzag stitch, then a straight stitch. Here is what it looks like before the shroud lines. I then I cut the shroud lines and sew them on using a small tight zigzag stitch. The finished product.
I started working on the altimeter bay by gathering all the parts. I needed to cut out two bulkheads for the altimeter section. One will be glued in the upper body tube while the other in the middle of a tube coupler. See the altimeter drawing above.
I cut the upper body tube using a table saw for the altimeter bay section. The bulkheads where finished by drilling all the holes and installing the eye bolts and U-bolts. I also glued in the T-nuts and sockets for the upper bulkhead and sockets for the lower bulkhead. I used epoxy in the sockets to glue the T-nut into place on the upper side and to seal the sockets, I used rubber silicon. I wanted to make sure the altimeter bay was air tight. I cut the brass tubing for the altimeter plate guide and the 1/4 inch all thread rod. Then, I soldered some wire leads onto the ejection charge sockets and taped them up. I then cut out my altimeter board and glued it to the two brass tubes. I glued inside to outside to keep the altimeters in the middle of the board and rocket. While that dried, I glued the tube coupler in the smaller piece of body tube that will make up the drogue chute area. Then I put the altimeter section together and measured for installation of the two bulkheads. With everything in place, I epoxied the upper bulkhead in and let it dry. Then I took apart the assembly and added a T-nut to the lower bulkhead for a ejection cup. I then drilled out two small holes next to each other on both sides to allow an E-match wire. Then I epoxied the lower bulkhead in place. I finished by epoxying the other sides of the bulkheads and test fit everything. Next I drilled the four holes to mount the altimeters. I also put a vent hole in the main chute bay and the drogue bay.
Then I calculated the volume in the altimeter bay and drilled the appropriate size hole to vent the altimeters. I did a dry run on installing everything (chutes, shock cords, quick connects and chute protectors) to make sure they fit properly. Everything fit great. I made a small change to the altimeter bay compartment. I wanted to have a removable upper bulkhead to make it easier to install the ejection charge. So I used my Dremel tool flex extension and sanded down the epoxy holding the upper bulkhead. I then knocked out the bulkhead and took every thing off of it. Then I made up a new bulkhead the same size. After installing all the items back on, I used the lower bay with the all thread in place to measure the four holes to be drilled into the upper bulkhead on the side with the assembly inside the body tube. This will allow me to remove the bulkhead. Once the holes where drilled, I used CA to wick into the wood and installed 8/32 furniture nuts. I also wicked CA into the BT holes. This came out nice. This is the switch that I used from Missile works. It will be epoxied on to the altimeter board and turned on through one of the vent holes. On to paint preparation.
