Making your own launcher

First of all, a confession: before I made the launcher shown on the previous page, I
made a launcher similar to those featured below. However it didn’t work very well.
So these instructions are not based on what I have done, but rather on what I would
have done if I had been clever enough to consult my colleagues before I started
building. Launchers are more complicated than water rockets, and if you are
attempting this, then you are probably quite good at DIY, and won’t need complete
instructions. So in this section I will only describe those parts that I think are not
obvious. I will describe two designs, one without a launch tube (Design A) and one
with a launch tube (Design B). If you attend any water rocket gathering, you will see
that these designs are simply two stars in a galaxy of possible designs.

When completed your launcher might look something like…

Below: Schematic of the main components of a launcher.

Below Left : A typical rocket launcher without a Below Right : A typical rocket launcher with a launch
launch tube: we’ll call this Design A. tube: we’ll call this Design B.

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 The launching Mechanism
Connecting the rocket to the launcher and designing a launching mechanism is
probably the trickiest part of the construction. Let’s look at how the two designs
approach this.

Design A
Design A is Jaco Stander's version of the Ian Clark’s cable tie launcher (see Section 9
for a web link), and is constructed out of standard 15 mm copper plumbing tube
soldered together. Soldering is probably quite hard for beginners, so as an alternative,
the launcher could have been made using either compression fittings (which can be
made pressure tight with spanners) or ‘push fit’ fittings (which require no additional
tools). However, the design depends on small details of the fittings so you will need to
check what will and won’t work with the particular fittings you choose.
In this design, the screw thread on the outer Before Sanding After Sanding
part of the bottle is removed with sand paper
to make a smooth surface. This can be done
by hand, but a much better finish can be
achieved by spinning the bottle and applying
gentle pressure with sand paper.
The launcher and launching procedure is illustrated in the Figure below.
The launching technique for Design A (a) The bottle fits into a 28 mm to 28 mm ‘straight through’
connector, attached to a 28 mm to 15 mm reducing adapter, which in turn is attached to 15 mm
copper pipe. (b) The modified bottle-end is fitted snugly into the 28 mm throat of the adapter. The
pressurised seal is achieved by the use of a thin 28 mm diameter ‘O’ ring. Notice that at this point all
the pipework visible in the illustration will be filled with water. (c) The bottle is then locked in place by
cable ties, which in turn are held in place by large diameter plastic plumbing tube. At this point the
rocket can be pressurised, and will not launch until (d) the large diameter plumbing tube is pulled
away. This allows the cable ties to move outwards permitting the rocket to launch.
(a) (b) (c) (d)

The major problem with Design A is that the rocket is only supported at the neck, and
since a large rocket can weigh several kilograms when filled with water, this makes
the rocket liable to ‘sag’ before launch. This could be overcome by the addition of
either a launch ramp to support the rocket, or a launch tube. A photograph of the
launcher in action can be seen in the collection on Page 5 (one down from the top
right), where Jaco has used an improvised launch ramp.

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 Design B
Design B is by Dave Lowe, and uses a launch tube to add support and give extra
momentum at launch. It is constructed out of two types of plumping pipe: standard
22 mm diameter plastic plumbing tube, and undersized 21.5 mm plastic ‘overflow’
pipe. It is assembled using simple push-fit plumbing connections.
In this design, a 22 mm diameter hole is drilled
through a standard bottle cap. Be careful when drilling
because any drilling operation could be hazardous!
The plastic of the cap is soft, and we recommend the
use of wood bit rather than a conventional high-speed
steel drill. The cap can now be slipped over the
21.5 mm overflow pipe trapping an ‘O’ ring between
the bottle top and the tube. This should form a
pressure-tight sliding seal against the wall of the tube.
• Standard 22 mm plumbing tube will not fit inside
the neck of PET bottle. To make sure you get the
correct type of pipe, take a bottle along to the shop
to check the pipe will fit before you buy it!
• If the bottle is a tight fit on the tube, reduce its
diameter slightly using sandpaper. One technique
is to fit the tube into a drill and rotate it, and hold
fine sand paper against the tube.
• You may need to add a small amount of
lubricating oil or grease to allow the bottle to slide
easily along the tube.

The launching technique for Design B (a) The bottle with its modified cap slips over a piece of
polished 22 mm plastic pipe. In this design, the pipework visible in the illustration extends far enough
into the bottle to prevent water overflowing into the pipes. (b) The bottle is then locked in place by
cable ties, which in turn (c) are held in place by large diameter plastic plumbing tube. At this point the
rocket can be pressurised, and will not launch until (d) the large diameter plumbing tube is pulled away.
This allows the cable ties to move outwards permitting the rocket to launch.
(a) (b) (c) (d)

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Designs A and B both use cable ties as a key component in the launching mechanism,
but as the photographs below show, they adopt a what I can only describe as different
design philosophies. Dave has gone for the minimum of three cable ties, and Jaco has
gone for the maximum number of cable ties that can be arranged around the rim of the
bottle. Which is better? I don’t know: they both work very reliably!

Photographs of Designs A and Design B

Details of the launch mechanism of Design A. Below.
The cable ties loosely arranged around the 28 mm to 15
mm plumbing adapter. Right. The large diameter
plumbing tube has been lifted up to clamp the cable ties
over the neck of the rocket.

Details of the launch mechanism of Design B.

Right. The arrangement of the bottle, the sealing

‘O’ ring and the modified cap used to clamp the ‘O’
ring against the launch tube.

Far Right. The three cable ties held loosely

arranged around the neck of a bottle. The large
diameter plumbing tube has not been lifted up
completely to clamp the cable ties over the neck of
the rocket. Notice that launch tube continues inside
the water rocket

2. Pressurised connections & the pumping valve

Both designs A and B use pipework systems that are readily available from plumber’s
merchants and DIY stores. However one part of a rocket launcher which is not
available from shops is a component to allow connection between these pipework
systems and a bicycle pump. Both designs tackle this by installing either a bicycle
tyre valve or a car tyre valve. The Figure over the page shows details of Design A’s
connector.

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Details of the pumping valve in Design A. Left. The valve is shown disassembled, showing (from left
to right) a standard 15 mm compression fitting (called a ‘union’); a car tyre valve; the compression nut.
Right. The valve shown assembled.

A similar arrangement can be made with 22 mm

plumbing fittings, but there it will be necessary to drill
a hole in an end-cap, and to fit the car tyre valve in
place. Glue or sealant should not be necessary, because
the tyre valve fitting is designed so that as the pressure
increases, the seal will improve. A similar design can
also be made using bicycle tyre valves

Pump types
One last feature of launcher design concerns the choice of pump used to pressurise the
water rocket. There are broadly three types of pumps available: Hand pumps, foot
pumps, and stirrup pumps. Any of these can be used, but the ‘must have’ feature for
any pump you choose is a pressure gauge: if the pump doesn’t have a pressure gauge
then you will have no idea how your rocket will perform and be unable get it to
behave reproducibly.

Having said that any type of pump can be used, I would definitely not recommend a
normal bicycle hand pump. The amazing performance of water rockets comes from
energy stored in the compressed air, and the source of the work required to compress
the air is your arms and legs. Aside, from normally lacking a pressure gauge, hand-
powered pumps are very hard work. Stirrup pumps (which allow the work to be
shared across both arms), and foot pumps (especially dual-piston pumps) are both
popular, but amongst the people who do a lot of rocketeering, the stirrup pump seems
to be the preferred choice.

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