Years back, I bought a few packs of the Centuri Stellar wadding on sale.
https://modelrocketbuilding.blogspo...ri-wadding.html
After getting used to it, I prefer it over the Estes treated toilet paper. I pick it up and re-use it if the upper layaers of wadding aren't charred.

Looks like some of the suppliers are running out of lighter colors. Michael's seems to have a good price on the rolled sheets:
https://www.michaels.com/7.5-ft.-cr...w/D048266S.html
I know you can get narrow crepe rolls at the Dollar Store, but I like to cut larger than 2" squares. I cut my squares at about 4.5".
I know dog barf is cheaper, but this seems to help with ejection charge "blow-bys".

Attached Thumbnails

 

__________________
Hans "Chris" Michielssen
Old/New NAR # 19086 SR

www.oddlrockets.com
www.modelrocketbuilding.blogspot.com
http://www.nar.org/educational-reso...ing-techniques/
Your results may vary
"Nose cones roll, be careful with that."
Every spaceman needs a ray gun.
Look out - I'm the Meister Shyster!

I have never used those but thanks I appreciate you sending those links. I see they have plastic versions as well. I want to start reading over some of the articles in these older magazine. I also found my full set of LAUNCH magazines and some Extreme Rocketry magazines buried where I couldn't easily get to them.

__________________
Steve Naquin
TRA# 677 L2
NAR# 85518 L2
SAM# 0052

🚀 In Construction: Der Blue Maxx/Minie-Magg 5.5” & Vander-Burn MDRM Clone w/Stickershock23 Custom Decals
🚀 In Paint & Detail: USR Banshee
🚀 In Build Queue: Estes Doorknob w/Vander-Burn Rocketry Upgrade Kit [Sport Decor], Semroc Centurion-F, Semroc Egg Crate
🚀 In Repair: SLS Lil’ Hustler, SLS Aero-Dart 1969 Trim
🚀 Stay Tuned For Fall 2021 Launch Dates

I remember way back in the day after cutting my own that I looked at the rolls of crepe paper, thinking that would make the cutting even easier. But, like you, I too decided that those rolls were just too narrow to make effective wadding from.

And it did seem that the used sheets above the one sheet closest to the engine were often not even scorched. If I found them in the field after a flight, I would often try to reuse them. Back in those days, every penny counted because engines to fly seemed so expensive on my meager budget.

Earl

__________________
Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970

Anyone know what that white stuff was that FSI included for wadding in their kits?

__________________
Steve Naquin
TRA# 677 L2
NAR# 85518 L2
SAM# 0052

🚀 In Construction: Der Blue Maxx/Minie-Magg 5.5” & Vander-Burn MDRM Clone w/Stickershock23 Custom Decals
🚀 In Paint & Detail: USR Banshee
🚀 In Build Queue: Estes Doorknob w/Vander-Burn Rocketry Upgrade Kit [Sport Decor], Semroc Centurion-F, Semroc Egg Crate
🚀 In Repair: SLS Lil’ Hustler, SLS Aero-Dart 1969 Trim
🚀 Stay Tuned For Fall 2021 Launch Dates

Believe it or not, I seem to recall FSI used FIBREGLASS... YECHHH.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

I seem to remember that the FSI wadding was cotton balls, soaked in borax. Bought some at one point in the 80's, but maybe I'm suffering from too little memory here as well -

I STILL reuse wadding... I usually wander around the pasture after a club launch here on the farm and pick up a few handfuls of Estes wadding that has wafted down and not blown away. I just wad it up and stick it in my pocket.

Some can be pretty scorched or have a lot of "buckshot" holes burned through it from hot burning particles of BP from the ejection charge, but usually it's still usable in some form. I usually use the worst-blasted/scorched wadding in the rocket closest to the motor, with better, fresher wadding above it... let the scorched stuff take one more beating before it's gone for good LOL Works for me!

Later! OL J R

__________________
The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

Yeah, I seem to remember that too...

There's been a lot of wadding discussions over the years, and as a landowner who allows a club to fly off the farm, the only thing I *DO NOT* want to see is FIBERGLASS... that stuff with NEVER rot, it just lays wherever it lands, eventually gets washed down to the ground by rainfall, and lays there FOREVER. All the various paper products, be it crepe, flameproofed TP wadding (Estes wadding), dog barf shredded paper insulation, etc. will all rot, and the borate flameproofing chemicals pose no environmental hazard, since most soils in the US are boron deficient anyway and boron is a micronutrient in the soil. Of course the reusable wadding in the form of flameproof NOMEX cloth sheets sold by various manufacturers, particularly popular with large MPR/HPR fliers, is a terrific reusable option. Ejection Pistons or plugs are good and "mostly" reusable, but should be tethered to the rocket IMHO... I know that competition fliers often used styrofoam plugs for their lightness, ejected from the model from altitude. IMHO they should be tethered to the rocket, if only by a bit of parachute string or thread, to keep the plug with the model, because styrofoam is another one of those things that deteriorates only very slowly in the environment, and basically becomes unsightly litter until it finally breaks down into dust over a long period of time.

Green leaves, grass, etc. are always good options as well, cheap and of course completely biodegradable. Lettuce, cabbage, heck I've even heard of guy using brussels sprouts one time LOL As long as it's moist it won't burn, and green grass is cheap and readily available.

Later! OL J R

__________________
The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

Sounds like about the only legitimate use for brussels sprouts or leaf cabbage.
That foul reeking stuff will never be near my mouth or nose.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, and HAVOC !

I know the old MPC rocket kits used to come with a square piece of fiberglass for wadding.

Earl

__________________
Earl L. Cagle, Jr.
NAR# 29523
TRA# 962
SAM# 73
Owner/Producer
Point 39 Productions

Rocket-Brained Since 1970