Note: Rocket Factory-1 Kit is intended for experience rocket engine builders, experienced pyrotechnicians, or those familiar with high energy pyrotechnic mixtures, chemistry and required safety procedures. These are not toys for children.
They DO NOT include a step-by-step rocket making guide or any information for the novice.

With our new Rocket Tooling Sets you can build your own reliable rocket engines for use in small hobby model rockets,
larger high power rocket airframes, or high flying skyrockets.


Our 1 pound (3/4" ID) Rocket Engine Tooling Set

Our Rocket Engine Tooling Sets are custom made using the most reliable and sturdy materials available.
Interchangeable Spindles are made from aircraft grade 6061-T6 Aluminum stock. We use only non-sparking metals for our
Rocket Spindles and this is the toughest Aluminum alloy you'll find.
 The Bases are fabricated from thick solid steel plate,
laser etched and pre-drilled for those who want to bolt the unit to a more permanent fixture.
Most important is the Ram Rod material. Ram Rods that are made from aluminum, wood, or garden variety plastic will quickly deform. After just a few dozen rocket engines or so, you'll start having trouble with things fitting together. Our Ram Rods are precision milled
from Nylatron®-GS . Nylatron®-GS is a super-tough exotic Nylon that you can relentlessly beat on - and it will remain undamaged.
Ideally suited for use as a Ram Rod.

Using our Rocket Tooling Sets you can manufacture dozens of Rocket Engines in a single evening.
Custom fabricate the engines to your exact specifications for whatever power level you desire - or produce 'special effect'
engines that leave long spark or smoke trails for visual tracking of your rocket.

Our Rocket Tooling Sets produce core burning Black Powder type rocket engines. By making adjustments to the propellant mixture or with the introduction of various additives, a wide variety of engine power levels and effects can be obtained. You'll find it to be a fascinating and exciting hobby.

Tooling Set includes removable aluminum spindle, steel base plate, two Nylatron®-GS ram rods and powder scoop. 

Note: These tooling sets are intended for experience rocket engine builders, experienced pyrotechnicians, or those familiar with high energy pyrotechnic mixtures, chemistry and required safety procedures. These are not toys for children.
They DO NOT include a step-by-step rocket making guide or any information for the novice.

1 Pound (3/4") Rocket Tooling Set: $75.00

Rocket Tooling Components

General Rocket Information

Rocket builders all have their own methods & formulas for producing Black Powder (BP) rockets.
The majority of them use a slightly 'detuned' BP mixture (a Black Powder mixture that burns slower than normal) as the propellant.
Since we find Black Powder useful for so many other forms of fireworks, we prefer to simply make standard BP and slow the burning down for rocket propellant use by other means. This way if there is any BP left over, we can use it for a variety of other pyrotechnic applications instead of just for rocket engines. Instructions for making Black Powder can be found Here
We've made hundreds upon hundreds of BP rockets over the years and have used a simple method.
To start with, we use standard finely powdered BP (also called Meal Powder). To this we add 5% to 7% (by weight) of motor oil.
The motor oil slows down the burning rate of the Black Powder so the rockets produce thrust and fly as opposed to just exploding.
The addition of the oil also makes the rocket engine somewhat waterproof and allows the BP to pack very well.
Taking a large mixing bowl and adding the proper amount of oil while mixing with a flat wooden stick seems to work best. It will take some time for the BP to absorb the oil. Once the Black Powder has been properly mixed and the oil uniformly absorbed, the powder will hold together if you squeeze some in your hand as well as appearing a bit darker black in color.
Expect it to take about 10 to 15 minutes of mixing to get it properly blended and absorbed.
If you're using new rocket tooling, don't forget, the absolute first thing you'll want to do with your rocket tooling is place marks on the ram rods
so they won't get jammed on the spindle. Place an engine casing on your spindle and slide each end of your ram rods inside the casing making a mark where they stop on the spindle. If you change the length of your engine casings don't forget to mark new stop points. 
Most people like to use 3/4" ID x 7 1/2" long parallel wound, thick walled cardboard tubes - however they tend to be expensive.
We've had excellent luck with plain 3/4" ID schedule 40 PVC pipe. 10 foot lengths of 3/4" PVC pipe are inexpensive, readily available and make quite a few rocket engines. We just rough up the inside where the nozzle is going to be to give the nozzle mix a rough surface to press against and lock into place.
After your 1 scoop of nozzle mix is rammed into place with the largest ram rod, just proceed as normal, one scoop of powder at a time, ramming it firmly into place with a leather or rubber mallet going through the different sizes of ram rods.
Continue until the engine is complete and top off with a final scoop of nozzle mix to act as a plug.  Your engine is then ready to fly.
No drying time, no waiting - as you would for those methods that have you add water to the mixture.
For effect, adding a few % of granular Titanium to the mixture will produce a gigantic trail of sparks for visual tracking.