Fillet up~ An Update!

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues...

The topic of how to make a filet and what to use has probably been one of the most discussed topics in all of rocketry.

Let's just agree that it's important to make a filet between the body tube and the fin if you want to keep your fins attached longer.



Everyone has a different technique on how they apply their glue... by a needle-nose applicator...smoothed with a wet finger... or maybe smoothed with a melon ball scoop.

Well here's another tip:

If you're going to be mixing epoxy, try using a small pop-cycle stick or tongue depressor as a mixing stick.  But before you get to carried away with stirring, trying to limit the amount of glue or epoxy that gets splashed up the paddle or face of the stick.


By keeping the epoxy relatively close to the end of the stick, you can then re-use your mixing stick as an applicator... letting the epoxy flow off the end of the stick into the seam or joint that you are trying to re-enforce.

But here's the trick.  Once you've got that glue in place, swipe down the length of the joint with the tip of the stick to spread the epoxy down into the crack and smooth the excess along the seam. If you time it right, your epoxy will tend to flow and you can spread it like butter or frosting on the end of a butter knife... the radius of the end of the round tip of the stick creating the perfectly shaped filet.


This has been the Thrifty Rocketeer blog...

Don't forget to keep your glue capped and save your scrap balsa!

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