The Thrifty Rocketeer

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... You'll have to excuse me this week, as I slip into a rant. You know what really annoys me? Glassine coated body tubes. You know the stuff... usually low power rockets that have a slick plastic coating over the tube, so that they can make the tube thinner and still have some rigidity left. It may make for a slick, smooth surface to paint, but it is absolute hell when it comes to gluing fins and things onto the body tube....especially at a 90 degree angle. Now, I know what you're thinking....  "That's not so bad.  You can rough it up with a bit of sand paper and break the surface." Right. Except, remember that the paper tube is so thin, it doesn't have a lot of body left to it, and any scratch or abrasion into the tube weakens it. I find this not only annoying, but short-sighted of Estes to be producing these in traditionally popular kits. I've run into this in the Commanche 3, and most recently the Goblin which I bou...

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... One of the issues that pops up after a person starts to build more than a rocket or two, is where to build it?  The dining room table or the kitchen counter usually is not appreciated by others in the household, who can't stand seeing cardboard tubes glued together drying while the rocketeer is off doing other things. Also, women seem to have this inborn fear of their table being scarred for life by a razor blade. So today's tip is very handing to solving this. Women have a cutting matt which they used to measure, layout and cut pieces of cloth for various sewing projects, and that works really well. Rocketeers have taken to this mat, and some even claim that the mat is "self healing" in that it will close and reseal any errant slices that may occur over time. Recently a fellow rocketeer has pointed out that the mini version of this mat has come up for sale for just a buck at a Dollar Tree store. (This is a store that generally...

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues.... One of the most common discussions among rocketeers is "Which glue do I use?" The obvious answer is "Whatever the manufacture recommends in their instructions." But sometimes that doesn't quite satisfy the curious or the adventurous rocketeer who wants to build their own, or vary the design somewhat. Now, from personal experience, I can tell you that yellow wood glue has always been my preferred go-to glue for low power rocket builds.  And, I have never had one fail because of the use of that glue. (Oh sure, a glasine coated body tube is a slippery surface and will always create problems, but that's another story.)  Today, I'd like to discuss BSI 15 minute epoxy, which is my go-to for builds from mid-power to high power.  For even higher power, I'll spring for BSI 30 minute epoxy. By the way, BSI stands for Bob Smith Industries... but I really can't tell you more than that cause I haven't researched t...