Estes MRN Orbital Transport Laboratory Build, Part 9, Dowel Hole Positioning

The dowel hole positioning is critical. I spent some time making sure of the locations before actually punching a hole in the body tube.

Notice the dowel in line with the center line of the 20/50 centering ring.
The inside tip of the smaller triangle "fin holder" piece is glued to the bottom exposed lip of the lower 20/60 ring.

TIP: Practice punching some holes in some scrap tubing to get the correct height from the bottom of the tube edge.
An "+" was drawn on the tube with a pencil. Using a rotary punch, I lightly pressed the cutting tube on the body, just embossing a light circle on the skin of the tube. Remove the rotary punch and check the position. You can make slight adjustments before punching all the way through the tube wall.

I punched the holes a little small and opened the hole with a diamond rat tail file. I wanted a tight fit around the dowel.







The dowel was slipped in the hole, the inside corner of the small "holder" fin fit just under and against the bottom of the tube.

The picture shows two different holes, the one to the left of the fin was another practice punch.