Apogee's Ultimate Rocketry Glue Guide... Is It?

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lakeroadster

When in doubt... build hell-for-stout!
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It was recommended to me in my introduction thread to read through the Apogee Peak of Flight newsletters for tips and tricks regarding rocket construction. I've done a lot of reading...

Kicker is some of these newsletters are 18 years old. For instance the "Ultimate Rocketry Glue Guide" was written in 2007

I need to buy supplies and before I do so I wanted to see what you guys are using.

The rocket I'm scratch building is balsa cone and fins with cardboard body tubes.. nothing exotic.

Here's my shopping list... what would you do different?


  • For filling the balsa woodgrain use: Carpenter's Wood Filler (Elmer's brand)
  • For gluing the fins, launch lug, and external tube fins use: Titebond II
  • For fin fillets use: Titebond Molding and Trim Glue
  • For reinforcing ends of body tubes: Gorilla Super Glue

Thoughts?

Titebond Molding and Trim Glue.jpeg

Titebond II.jpeg

Super Glue.jpeg

Carpenters Wood Filler Elmers.jpeg
 
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For couplers, I highly recommend two-part epoxy. I use 5 minute. If you try and glue a coupler in with wood glue, you can get the dreaded "grab", where the glue grabs before the coupler is in all the way.
 
good choices, plus what qquake2 added, hobby shops will have 1oz bottles of thin CA for less per ounce than the tubes of gorilla brands.
 
I use exactly that except I use Tite bond II for my filets too. What you mentioned is probably better though. Also I use super thin CA for reinforcing. I think the brand I use is BSI for that.
 
For couplers, I highly recommend two-part epoxy. I use 5 minute. If you try and glue a coupler in with wood glue, you can get the dreaded "grab", where the glue grabs before the coupler is in all the way.

Just curious. For cardboard tubes and couplers, would plain old Elmer’s white glue work? Doesn’t grab as quick as wood glue, and easier to use than (and doesn’t need the ventilation and gloves compared with) epoxy?
 
I believe the answer is”yes”. I’ve had the same thought and asked this question too.

And yet I haven’t tried it yet, for whatever reason.
 
Just curious. For cardboard tubes and couplers, would plain old Elmer’s white glue work? Doesn’t grab as quick as wood glue, and easier to use than (and doesn’t need the ventilation and gloves compared with) epoxy?
White glue works just fine, it does grab just not as quick and hard as wood glue.
 
Just curious. For cardboard tubes and couplers, would plain old Elmer’s white glue work? Doesn’t grab as quick as wood glue, and easier to use than (and doesn’t need the ventilation and gloves compared with) epoxy?

FWIW.. from the afore mentioned "Ultimate Rocketry Glue Guide"... "Avoid the wood glues that are intended for indoor use. While they may appear to work satisfactorily in the short term, they will not withstand the test of time as well as the more moisture-resistant exterior formulations."
 
FWIW.. from the afore mentioned "Ultimate Rocketry Glue Guide"... "Avoid the wood glues that are intended for indoor use. While they may appear to work satisfactorily in the short term, they will not withstand the test of time as well as the more moisture-resistant exterior formulations."

My gorilla wood glue says on front
“Indoor/outdoor”
 
I would second the epoxy for couplers or anything where you need some working time to position before the wood glue grabs..

I would also suggest if you are doing engine blocks, I use epoxy here too, as I have had too many black powder motors melt the wood glue just enough to grab the motor and prevent removal of the used motor for a second flight!
 
I've had success with Gorilla polyurethane for couplers and motor mounts as on alternative to epoxy. Good old Elmers (pva) is less "grabby" than wood glue (aliphatic resin) as well. One thing to be aware of with wood or white glue is the visible pucker you get sometimes on thin LPR airframes around the centering ring joint.

Original-Glue.png
 
The rocket I'm scratch building is balsa cone and fins with cardboard body tubes.. nothing exotic.

Here's my shopping list... what would you do different?

  • For filling the balsa woodgrain use: Carpenter's Wood Filler (Elmer's brand)

If you use wood filler, make sure to get the one marketed for "interior" use. T
he "outdoor" and "environmental friendly" types are far too grany and coarse, and are much harder to sand evenly.

Also, I've learned to avoid water-based fillers on balsa fins, as water is liable to warp balsa.
Even if you apply to both sides evenly, balsa will warp ~ 1/3 of the time. It can be straightend back out later (subject of another thread), but all that adds time and complexity.

Instead, I'm now using Bondo glazing putty:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002JM8PY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Use described here:
https://www.apogeerockets.com/education/downloads/Newsletter454.pdf

  • For gluing the fins, launch lug, and external tube fins use: Titebond II
  • For fin fillets use: Titebond Molding and Trim Glue
  • For reinforcing ends of body tubes: Gorilla Super Glue

Thoughts?

I am not familiar with Gorilla Super Glue, and whether it's is think or thick flowing.
For reinforcing body tubes and impregnating balsa fins, you want think CA.
You can get all flavors here:
https://www.hobbylinc.com/cgi-bin/s8.cgi?str_s=super+glue

Otherwise, Titebond II is great for gluing porous paper & wood surfaces.

a
 
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The thin CA I use is Hobbytown branded BSI (Bob Smith Industries) and the bottle says Insta-Cure on the label (blue label) and in little letters on the label "super thin", the magenta labelled bottle is Maxi-Cure and is "extra thick". I keep both bottles in my assembly arsenal. The Gorilla branded tubes viscosity is somewhere in the middle of the the thick and water thin varieties.
 
I use medium CA for reinforcing BT ends. I find the thin stuff is so watery that it often flows where I'm not intending it to. And that is not good. Plus it fumes especially hard and fast.

For doing a tube end, I squeeze a pool of medium CA (I use the standard Loctite CA I buy in HD) onto a plastic baggie, then dip a cotton swap and run it around the tube. Works fine, and the CA stays where it is supposed to.

Thin CA I reserve primarily for hardening up balsa nose cones.
 
IDK, CA is CA is CA ? For cardboard and balsa strengthening I just use generic thin:


superglue.jpg
 
[/LIST]

If you use wood filler, make sure to get the one marketed for "interior" use. T
he "outdoor" and "environmental friendly" types are far too grany and coarse, and are much harder to sand evenly.

Also, I've learned to avoid water-based fillers on balsa fins, as water is liable to warp balsa.
Even if you apply to both sides evenly, balsa will warp ~ 1/3 of the time. It can be straightend back out later (subject of another thread), but all that adds time and complexity.

Instead, I'm now using Bondo glazing putty:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002JM8PY/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Use described here:
https://www.apogeerockets.com/education/downloads/Newsletter454.pdf


a

As an old school hot rodder... there's just something inherently cool about using "Bondo" glazing putty on a rocket!

Thanks for the tip.... having worked with filler though, for a flight application it would be excessively heavy, no?
 
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As an old school hot rodder... there's just something inherently cool about using "Bondo" glazing putty on a rocket!
Thanks for the tip.... having worked with filler though, for a flight application it would be excessively heavy, no?

It depends entirely on how much you lathe onto the fins!
Any and all fillers will add weight.

Unless you are in a pure competition mode, your primary concern is not weight, but strength and integrity of balsa fins (that crack far too often). Bondo is a stronger reinforcement layer than the alternatives, so it works well in that mode. It also lays evenly without warping the wood, so that's a huge plus as well.

If you are in competition mode, then 1/64th plywood or near-faultless balsa sheets are what you are after. If you don't have access to those and are trying to smooth a crappy pitted balsa fin, you should probably throw it away and cut out a new one.

a
 
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