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Old 04-20-2007, 01:00 PM
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Doug Sams Doug Sams is offline
Old Far...er...Rocketeer
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Plano, TX resident since 1998.
Posts: 3,965
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Solomoriah
Indeed... so many companies I never even heard of.
Let me throw in my 2 cents worth on Mach-1. I never knew about the kits. Apparently they had already come and gone before I BAR'd in 1999. But I knew about the company. They made a product called Balsa-Ply. BMS used to offer rings made with it, and that's where I discovered them. So I bought a few sheets of it, and still use a piece now and again.

When I called to place the order, I got the impression that they were more of a farm-like family that did entrepreneurial/industrial work on the side. As I recall, Grandma answered the phone, and then had to run down to the barn to find (let's call him) Clem to see if he had any more in stock. Talking to her I learned that there were three generations living there, and that they had invented and patented the manufacturing process for their balsa plywood.

Grandma told me that they really didn't want to be in the business, that they wanted to sell the machine to someone who could run with it and market the product. Given that I don't see any Balsa-Ply on the shelf next to the Midwest and Sig stuff, I gather they weren't very successful. I suspect the rocket kits were an adjunct to the plywood business in an attempt to proliferate the material.

The call didn't instill much confidence in me. I had my fingers crossed that the order would make it, but it did.

Anyway, if you want to play around with it, try making some. I do that for rings and occasionally for fins. I've learned that making up full sized (eg, 36" long) sheets is a PITA, but that you can make smaller pieces fairly easily. I get 1/32" thick balsa for the outer two layers and 1/16" for the inner with each layer's grain rotated 90 degrees from the previous.

I liberally apply yellow glue, clamp it to a flat surface and wipe up the excess. I use layers of tin foil so that the plywood doesn't get glued to my radial arm saw deck. It makes awesome fins and rings.

The actual stuff is a bit different. It's more of two outer layers with a composite fill layer in between. It's still strong, but I think my homemade stuff is even better.

Doug
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