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Fri Apr 26 12:24:20 2024 GMT

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)
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. A large juice can
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. Inside of Juice Can
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. Forming the end of the can
The result is a dome on the end of the can that is ready to hold the pressure. Resulting domed end
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. Finished Juice Can motor

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