Creating the fins

Traditionally, fins for model rockets were cut from thin balsa sheets and glued to the body tube of the rocket. Early kits provided cut-out patterns from paper that were traced onto the balsa sheet and cut out with a sharp hobby knife. When laser cutters became available, these fins were pre-cut out of balsa sheets, making it faster and easier for the kit builder to build their model rocket.

Still, the challenge with balsa fins was in gluing them to the body tube as they took a long time to dry. Getting the fins straight also proved to be difficult at times.

Plastic fin cans (fins pre-attached to a tube) make putting fins on a model rocket much easier. Armed with OpenSCAD and a 3D printer, we can easily create our own fin cans.

Let's do that now.

Designing the fin can

Our fin can will be designed such that we may alter the number of fins generated. A "launch lug," or small tube to hold the rocket on the launchpad for the first meter...