Kit Bagging The Odd'l Rockets Sputnik Part 5

The kit antenna legs were 1/8" X 12" dowels.
I've since changed to bamboo skewers.

This was for two reasons. Bulk dowels were inconsistant. Some broke on landing and many were warped.

The bamboo skewers are very strong! They are also sharpened on one end which makes it easier to insert into the pre-drilled holes in the styrofoam ball.
Bamboo also adheres well using white and yellow wood glues.

Those tapered ends are very sharp.
I sell a lot of Sputnik kits to school groups. I don't want a young builder to hurt himself with the sharpened bamboo.

The sharp tips are taken down by sanding four at a time on some 100 grit sandpaper.

Here's a hundred or so of the skewers with the tips sanded down to a blunt end.

I'll go through the bunch and throw away any rough and warped antenna.
Any discolored sticks are also thrown out.



This is only a small part of kit production.

Instructions have to be drawn up - the hardest and most expensive part of the kit. I save money on that, I draw up my own.
But there's more - Print the instructions, print and cut out the header cards and buy the correct size kit bags.
Add in shipping boxes and packaging supplies. And, I'd better renew my business license, too.
That check I just got in the mail goes right back into another parts order from Semroc and BMS for more laser cut fins.

Looking at all that is involved, I don't complain about kit prices anymore.
Oh, I didn't mention, you sell your kits to distributors at a wholesale price. There goes the bulk of the profit!

Compared to the large vendors, Odd'l Rockets is a small operation. I read somewhere that each Estes kit is produced 10,000 units at a time. When you deal in large numbers, bulk parts are cheaper and your profit is higher - if the kit sells.

If you want to go into kit production, you'd better love this hobby. After you've bagged a few hundred kits, the "glow" fades away! I still enjoy doing most all rocketry related activities.

Doug Pratt said it best years ago: "Do you know how to make a small fortune in Model Rocketry?
Start with a large fortune."