I know this is a topic from time to time in the forum, but I kind of want to get everyone's feedback? This is my opinion only, but I always felt that when working with scratch builds and kits in which the materials are wood and cardboard that it's best to use wood glue as the main adhesive because the glue is as strong as the materials itself and doesn't add as much weight. The exception for me is when gluing couplers and motor mounts I'll use some hobby line epoxy simply because its more forgiving and doesn't "lock up" the item being glued and I think we all have been there. Also when making glue fillets it doesn't take as long and there's less prep and sanding work. So you end up with a strong and lightweight rocket. For instance like a Minnie Magg where the kit already weighs a ton.
Now when working with materials other than wood and cardboard, such as fiberglass, carbon fiber and phenolic you would want to use epoxy because of the materials being used it's obvious that wood glue will not work. I think a lot of us like using epoxy because we are going for that really cool looking "blended fillets" that melts into the body tube and I get that and there are applications where it is necessary, but IMO I'm done with all the sanding and prep work and would only use epoxy on the above mentioned materials and small fillets at that. I'm not concerned about breaking a fin off on the dry lake bed, I'll just use a bigger chute if I feel it's necessary and winds are light, but if you think about it, using too much epoxy adds the extra weight which will bring the rocket down faster so what are you really gaining. You're going to break a fin in most cases just because the rocket is descending faster under chute
I think it's about finding the right balance of weight verses the amount of adhesive to use to get the job done.
Now when working with materials other than wood and cardboard, such as fiberglass, carbon fiber and phenolic you would want to use epoxy because of the materials being used it's obvious that wood glue will not work. I think a lot of us like using epoxy because we are going for that really cool looking "blended fillets" that melts into the body tube and I get that and there are applications where it is necessary, but IMO I'm done with all the sanding and prep work and would only use epoxy on the above mentioned materials and small fillets at that. I'm not concerned about breaking a fin off on the dry lake bed, I'll just use a bigger chute if I feel it's necessary and winds are light, but if you think about it, using too much epoxy adds the extra weight which will bring the rocket down faster so what are you really gaining. You're going to break a fin in most cases just because the rocket is descending faster under chute
I think it's about finding the right balance of weight verses the amount of adhesive to use to get the job done.
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