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  #21  
Old 03-31-2023, 05:59 PM
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BEC BEC is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Austin
Happened to be in our local Hobby Lobby today as well. Nothing really out of the ordinary, except that a bunch of motors were on clearance as well as several Estes altimeters. Still have a couple of the Leapers as well (they have been on the clearance shelf for a long while - months!)

No clearance at mine. What motors?

The Leaper went on clearance after last year's stock reset!
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  #22  
Old 03-31-2023, 09:04 PM
Bob Austin Bob Austin is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BEC
No clearance at mine. What motors?

The Leaper went on clearance after last year's stock reset!

It was the pack with an A8-3, B6-4 and C6-5. Hadn't seen them on the hanger with the other packs in a while, then suddenly a couple packs in the clearance bin. Who knows, someone may have found them in a corner in the stock room. But they were 50% off
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  #23  
Old 03-31-2023, 09:55 PM
SolarYellow SolarYellow is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Austin
It was the pack with an A8-3, B6-4 and C6-5. Hadn't seen them on the hanger with the other packs in a while, then suddenly a couple packs in the clearance bin. Who knows, someone may have found them in a corner in the stock room. But they were 50% off


I happened to get the two packs of that SKU that my HL put on 50-off clearance, too. Have been back a couple times looking for more, haven't seen any.

My wallet was itchy the last time, so I picked up a 220 Swift to bash into a tiny Alpha.
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  #24  
Old 03-31-2023, 10:29 PM
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BEC BEC is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Austin
It was the pack with an A8-3, B6-4 and C6-5. Hadn't seen them on the hanger with the other packs in a while, then suddenly a couple packs in the clearance bin. Who knows, someone may have found them in a corner in the stock room. But they were 50% off

Ah, right, the Rocket Science pack. I didn't see them today at my local HL....and haven't for awhile. I always wondered why they carried that one, since they never carried the Rocket Science Starter Set that that motor pack was, it seems to me, aimed at.

I'd forgotten about that one.
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  #25  
Old 03-31-2023, 10:48 PM
Initiator001 Initiator001 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SolarYellow
There was a recent post about the state of the body tube supply that was very enlightening. Discontinuing most of the lower-volume tube sizes once they sell current inventories may not be a move the rocket companies have any ability to decide; the supplier is making the decision for them. It's possible that we are currently in the sunset of a golden era with respect to cardboard tube rockets.


Correct.

Paramount paper tubing is not interested in running small lots of off-size paper tubes.

It takes away production time when a machine has to be shut down, a new size mandrel installed, test batches of tube made then inspected. Lost production time = lost money.
Paramount would rather make large batches of standard/popular tubing sizes.

One small rocketry manufacturer tried to get a run of Centuri ST-18 tubing made. Paramount told them the mandrel to make that tubing had been 'lost'.

eRockets/Semroc is not going to make balsa nose cones and fins for tubing it can no longer acquire.
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  #26  
Old 03-31-2023, 11:09 PM
Bob Austin Bob Austin is offline
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Could we see a changeover to 3D printed tubes? I typically use my printer for nose cones and transitions, still use balsa/bass for fins and cardboard tubes. But using 'vase' printing you can get a very thin tube wall that is very light weight. Using a higher heat resistant plastic or some type of interior coating to protect from the ejection charge. Now you can recreate any model you want.

Chris Taylor has been talking about doing just that over on the NAR forum. His "Trust in Thrust" YouTube site (https://www.youtube.com/@trustinthrust7847/videos) is dedicated to rocketry and 3d printing. Plus his other site "Today's 3D Print" (https://www.youtube.com/@nerys71/videos) includes a number of rocketry prints as well.

Not being able to get something as basic as body tubes could open up a bunch of new avenues and ideas to fill that void.
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  #27  
Old 03-31-2023, 11:24 PM
SolarYellow SolarYellow is offline
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There are many vendors making reasonably good quality carbon fiber tubes in China. At least one of them makes walls down to 0.5mm and the parts look nice. But that's high speed, MPR and HPR stuff. I think they will always be better than 3D printing.

If an order was big enough, you could probably get them do make a mandrel to make rocket sizes. But the cost basis and the weight will never be anywhere close to cardboard.
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  #28  
Old 04-01-2023, 08:11 AM
Tramper Al Tramper Al is offline
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A single manufacturer, with the monopoly, now dictating what they will and will not make? That sounds like an opportunity, in a free market society.

A (model rocketry) world without cardboard tubes? That sounds positively post-apocalyptic. It would be bad enough to be limited to just a handful of Estes and Quest diameters, which seems to be where we are headed. What if we were stuck with making Centuri/Enerjet models with Estes/Quest parts only, how depressing.

It may be time to become proficient at both tube construction and balsa turning.

Last edited by Tramper Al : 04-01-2023 at 08:38 AM.
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  #29  
Old 04-01-2023, 08:33 AM
Bill S Bill S is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Austin
Could we see a changeover to 3D printed tubes? I typically use my printer for nose cones and transitions, still use balsa/bass for fins and cardboard tubes. But using 'vase' printing you can get a very thin tube wall that is very light weight. Using a higher heat resistant plastic or some type of interior coating to protect from the ejection charge. Now you can recreate any model you want.

Chris Taylor has been talking about doing just that over on the NAR forum. His "Trust in Thrust" YouTube site (https://www.youtube.com/@trustinthrust7847/videos) is dedicated to rocketry and 3d printing. Plus his other site "Today's 3D Print" (https://www.youtube.com/@nerys71/videos) includes a number of rocketry prints as well.

Not being able to get something as basic as body tubes could open up a bunch of new avenues and ideas to fill that void.


I'm dealing with a custom kit that uses 3d printed parts in ABS (for heat resistance), and sanding the parts to something resembling smooth is time consuming. I would NOT be interested in having to routinely process body tubes in the same way. Heck with that.
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  #30  
Old 04-01-2023, 09:52 AM
PaulK PaulK is offline
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Will this apply to Brick & Mortar shops too? Guess I'll find out soon. The LHS around here usually take 10-20% off retail.
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