Building the original Juice-Can Rocket
This story started a long time ago, in 1965. Mike H. and his father
built the first "two juice-can rocket."
Wooden dowels provided the fin
rails, and used tag board for fins. This contraption sparked quite a
bit of interest from Mike's first grade class. The first "two juice-can
rocket" never flew.
(Each picture is linked to a large-scale JPEG file)
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Here is the raw material for our "Juice-Can" motor: a
32 oz juice can. These are hard to find, but in 1964 they
were in every home. |
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You can see in this photo the seam that runs the length of the can.
This seam makes the motor much weaker than the modern deep-drawn soup can.
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Here I am forming a dome in the end of the can, like my father did, using a
wooden tool padded with a towel. I am pounding the can on the tool end.
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The result is a dome on the end of the can that is ready to hold the pressure.
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Here is the finished motor. Note that the nozzle is a 1/2 inch
copper tube soldered into the bottom can before the two cans are
soldered together. A flange on the tube, inside the
motor, helps make the solder joint stronger. |
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