Redwood tail cone

I have turned several nose cones and one tail cone from basswood. Basswood has a very tight grain, turns easily, and finishes exceptionally well.
But basswood blocks are hard to find and expensive. So I looked for an alternative...

I decided to try redwood. I found a kiln dried redwood 4x4 at Lowes, that is actually a post for a stair handrail. I decided to try turning a tail cone with it. I was originally planning to turn it for 3.1" tubing, but changed to 3", so I had to switch to a smaller face plate. I drilled the through hole with a 1-3/8" Forstner bit and extension.

It turned easily and sanded smooth. I'm happy with it so far. I'll paint it later today and see how it looks.

Nice!

Redwood...Interesting! How is the weight factor compared to Balsa or Bass?

At least it will be resistant to rot! Kurt

ksaves2 said:

At least it will be resistant to rot! Kurt

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Ha ha! True that. But not resistant to horses. Our pony gnawed the hell out of the redwood picnic table my father built when I was a kid.

Gary Byrum said:

Redwood...Interesting! How is the weight factor compared to Balsa or Bass?

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It weighs in at 4.7 oz. Open Rocket estimated the basswood version would have been 3.5 oz.

Gary Byrum said:

Ha ha! True that. But not resistant to horses. Our pony gnawed the hell out of the redwood picnic table my father built when I was a kid.

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Uh oh. We have horses at both our launchsites!

qquake2k said:

Uh oh. We have horses at both our launchsites!

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Oh well, would be easy to train them to "fetch 'em" if you don't mind a few teeth marks on them. Kurt

qquake2k said:

It weighs in at 4.7 oz. Open Rocket estimated the basswood version would have been 3.5 oz.

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For a nose cone, that's not such a bad thing. More often than not, seems nose weight is always part of the CG equation.

Redwoods density per cubic foot falls in the middle of the range for basswood, basswood weighs 20-37 lbs/cu ft, redwood is aproximately 28 lbs/cu ft, balsa is around 7-9 lbs/cu ft. Of course all those are average ranges.

qquake2k said:

. And it's hard to finish.

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Did those words really come out of your fingers? YOU??? Mr. Top Shelf Craftsman? :surprised:

I've decided to use an aluminum plate for retention. I drilled all the way through with a 3/16" bit, and drilled recesses for t-nuts with a 5/8" Forstner bit. I'll be using 6-32 threaded rod.

ksaves2 said:

At least it will be resistant to rot! Kurt

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And termites!

Gary Byrum said:

Did those words really come out of your fingers? YOU??? Mr. Top Shelf Craftsman? :surprised:

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Craftsman or not (and that's debateable), you know I've always had a love/hate relationship with paint and finishing in general. My one and only balsa turning didn't finish so well.

Gary Byrum said:

For a nose cone, that's not such a bad thing. More often than not, seems nose weight is always part of the CG equation.

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But it's a tailcone.

ksaves2 said:

At least it will be resistant to rot! Kurt

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kuririn said:

And termites!

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Good points!

I'm not ashamed of that at all! I'm very happy with how it turned out.

qquake2k said:

Balsa would have been better weight wise, but it's more expensive than basswood. And it's hard to finish.

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Amen, large chunks of balsa or basswood are hard to come by locally and expensive when they are. Shipping for large blocks generally makes them more expensive than locally sourced wood.

qquake2k said:

I'm not ashamed of that at all! I'm very happy with how it turned out.

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Looks great! Balsa, and maybe even basswood, would have probably been too soft for your retention system. What rocket is it on?

qquake2k said:

Craftsman or not (and that's debateable), you know I've always had a love/hate relationship with paint and finishing in general. My one and only balsa turning didn't finish so well.

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FWIW, I've turned a few transitions and they are by far, some of the hardest turns I've done. Only used balsa though. I imagine a tougher wood would be easier. As for nose cones, I turn those all the time with balsa and rarely a problem.

kuririn said:

But it's a tailcone.

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Of course it is. I was just saying how a heavier wood is fine for turning nose cones seeing how you're prolly gonna need that extra weight anyway.

Almost a shame to paint it. Wonder what a reddish stain would have looked like

Here is a basswood cone I stained red.