"Premification" continues...

"Premification" of the Starhopper continues...

I made a tube-length sliding balance system yesterday using a 7/16" OD dowel--it was light and cheap and was right in front of me at the store.

It works great, but I want something either pure black or unfinished aluminum in color. Because you slide weights up and down it, painting it seemed out of the question, so I blackened it using wood dye-stain, but I can still see a bit of underlying wood color. Maybe Sharpie marker ink?

Better yet, do any of you keen thinkers know of a ready source for 3/8" to 7/16" OD hollow, lightweight, aluminum rod without going to sources like McMaster-Carr and Texas Towers? I confess I'm being cheap with this and grunging it out in the true spirit of ATM'ing ;^)--I know I could spend $25 on a piece of aluminum rod and be done with it.

P.S. I drilled out and filled the nylon counterweights with BBs. Ever hefted a small carton of BBs?

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A study in sliding counterweights, continued...

I found some .035" wall 3/8" OD "rigid" (Alloy 3003-H14, extra manganese) aluminum tubing priced at $4.77 for 6-feet at McMaster-Carr and ordered it. Specifications say it can't be flared or bent.

The other option was "general purpose" 6061 tubing in various wall thicknesses-- .035", .049", .065". These could be bent and flared, would be heavier, and cost $9 to $12 for a 6-foot piece.

So the stuff I got sounds more brittle, and I wonder how it would compare to the other options? Specifically, I wonder how it will do suspending approximately approximately 3 lbs. of counterweight compared to typical 6061...

Any thoughts?