Stir Sticks and Other Delights

The Thrifty Rocketeer continues...

Our tail of the construction of the fins for the Bunny Rabbit Goonie (thank you, Peter Alway) will continue next week....

But first, another side diversion into stir-sticks and other delights.

Last entry, we talked a little about what to mix your epoxy in, and I mentioned the humble Popsicle stick.  Well, here's a little too much discussion about alternatives on a very simple topic.

First, when spreading Elmers' Wood Glue inside a body tube, there are a couple of things that work, and several that DON'T.   What doesn't work well?  Q-tips and ear swabs.  While you might think that these would be perfect, let me assure you that they are not. The cotton either holds too much glue or doesn't release it.  Unless you're doing a very short tube and can re-dip into the glue bottle easily, don't consider Q-tips.  They're good for other things.

Here we have an assortment of items that have been used to mix glues. Not all work, but some better than others.  Let me discuss them from top to bottom.

• The Pur-Wraps sterile Dacron polyester tipped applicator is my favorite for inserting wood glue far down inside a body tube. (See above. It's an overgrown Q-tip that doesn't unravel when it gets wet.)  If you want a giant Q-tip, this is it. This one was taken borrowed from a doctors office when the nurse wasn't looking. They use them for throat swabs. (the swab stick is directly below the paper wrapper at picture top.)
• The thing that looks like a curved bass drummer's mallet is a larger swab that also was liberated from a clinic. THIS one is used in women's health care, and I have never used it for glue yet.  See my comments about the lowly Q-tip above. I have my doubts.
• The third item down is a sliver from a paint stirrer stick from Lowes. You can see how it split and is a short paddle.  This is a great idea for stirring and applying epoxy. You cut your own sliver from the stir stick seen two items below.
• To the right of that sliver is a dowel from a corn dog. Really. It's not much use and rolls.
• Below that are two coffee stir sticks that have been saved. They don't have much lifting strength, but they do reach far down into things like glue bottles and into body tubes.
• Let's skip the Lowes paint stir stick for now. It's about a foot long and broad. I slice them up with a carpet knife or a box cutter when I need a long straight piece of scrap.
• Now here's an interesting shaped paddle. It's actually a skibob skewer. I think this either had an h'ordurve or a piece of shrimp on it. I think it came from Applebees. I LOVE this as a potential stir stick and mixing paddle for small amounts of epoxy.
• Next to it is the humble Q-tip. The less said about it the better, so let's skip it.
• The next to the last is the tongue depressor, or as we used to call them as kids, "a BIG Popsicle stick".  Again, a great wide stirring paddle, but pretty big for glue application.  I have heard rocketeers speak of using the round end to smooth fillets.
• And last in the picture, a fragment of a yard stick. This was one cut up to use as a furring strip, and this is all that remains.  Yes, they can be split like the paint stirrer, but the graduated markings make the much more useful in other ways.
• LASTLY, not pictured, a thin strip of balsa flashing left over from another kit. This works well, but I like to save my balsa for scratch builds and emergency repairs.

What I haven't demonstrated here is the humble Popsicle stick, which is my favorite. WHY haven't we shown it?  Because I've used all mine up, and when the epoxy on it cures and hardens, I throw them out, as I would with most applicators. I didn't have one to show at the moment....

We'll return to the construction thread of the Cottontail Rabbit rocket, I promise... unless I get another inspiration for a side trip, like the one that just occurred to me.

Until then, keep your glue capped and save your balsa scrap.  You never know when you'll need them.