1/16" Balsa
 

Next time you guys use 1/16" balsa for large fins, don't use thinned F-n-F to fill the grain. I made it thick as I could and still brush it on and it still warped the fins. I got them straight after the first application and I will after this one, but it is a pain in the butt to fool with. Just thought I'd vent a bit.

Cool! A home made wacky wiggler. Someone should build a rocket using the 1/16" balsa and purposely warp the fins to see how it wobbles going up.

:p

It would be easy to wet the wood and make some interesting fin designs. :cool:

And to think I had everything so well aligned before I started filling. I told Kody that the Apogee fins were closer to perfect than any fins I had done before. :rolleyes:



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Apogee II? And you used balsa? 1/16" fins are a poster child for basswood. The only time I would consider using balsa is in a glider.

I used 1/16" balsa for my EAC Viper clone. I papered them with Avery Labels. They are super strong and have been holding up quite well.

I had to. :rolleyes: It's a re-build of my best friend's rocket. ;)

He gave me all his old stuff when he got out of rocketry and the original nosecone and payload section was still in there including the lead weights. Yep, I could call it a clone, but I'm going to call it a restoration. Heck, those guys replace most of the metal with fresh stuff in those classic car restorations. :eek: :p


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I didn't have any trouble with warping at all with my EAC Viper rebuild. Those fins were smaller and the balsa was a little more dense to boot.

I was mostly just yanking your chain. But I did recently complete an Apogee II clone and I used basswood for those fins. It worked out very well.

I'm pretty much a total basswood convert, purging my stock of the evil balsa whenever I can :)

I've never tried basswood. How does it cut and sand relative to balsa?

I imagine the density was a key factor. It likely limited the absorption and thus minimized the warping.

I rarely use 1/16" preferring to instead upgrade most of my clones to 3/32" for the sake of durability. That said, I still use it on occasion and don't see many problems. I normally lay down a coat of Zinnser primer first, and I wonder if that averts the warping by limiting the absorption of the thinned FnF.

Doug...thinking out loud...

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