SStS motor casing

This new casing is a bit longer than the previous casing that I made and it really dwarfs my lathe.  It's coming along nicely though.  In the top photo you can just make out the Dremel attached to the tool post, it holds a #1 center drill that I use to mark the hole locations in the casing.  The Dremel isn't the ideal tool for this; not enough power and the #1 bit is so small I'm always concerned that it'll break.  It is enough to mark the locations though.  The next step, seen in the 2nd photo, it to use my little drill press and a larger #3 center bit to drill through the casing.  Then it's just a matter of enlarging the holes to the final diameter.  I like to do this in two steps, drilling to nearly the final diameter, then finishing off to the required diameter as the final step.  This results in clean, accurate holes.

SStS Motor Casing

I have purchased a piece of tube to fabricate a new motor casing for the Sugar Shot to Space DSS effort.   The DSS motor and test setup were among the finest I've ever seen, it's a shame that the motor failed but the team has a good idea of the failure mode and how to avoid it.  Here is the tube before being cut to length and drilled for the nozzle and bulkhead.

Just when I thought I was working on a large motor, I saw this truck on the freeway hauling a large number of Titan strap-on booster motors.  OK, fine!  Maybe this is just a sprinkler system for a new industrial building.  It's all in how you  use them...