What is the difference between Quantum and Blue Tube?
I heard something about it being made of " fish paper" whatever that is
Paul t
According to the Apogee website, Bluetube looks a lot like vulcanized cellulose fiber (fish paper is another name for certain vulcanized fiber products).
Go here for more information:
https://www.apogeerockets.com/blue_tubes.asp
BTW, Randy at ARR is awesome! Great products, pricing, and support.
-Ken
Randy sold the company back in May, the new owner is Dave Ebersole of Skagit Rocketry. Randy was awesome to deal with, you'll get the same treatment with Dave.
back to op
i like glass over bt for anything i want to go fast its just lighter ill break out the scales to prove that tomorrow. nose cones usually have a smoother fit into glass than they do bt because of bt's robustness. and glass finishes much quicker no filling. bt is good stuff tho and price wise its tough to beat. good luck on your build
My last 4" FG was perfect... Tried to cut some weight and cost and tried Blue Tube 2.0. Well you need to understand I like a nice finish on my fleet and BT you really got to work hard to get those spirals out. This being my first time with non-fiberglass I really didn't know what I was getting into, my bad, So worked it as directed by a lot of you out there, for way too much time (coat-sand-repeat) and then was on my final coat and I left it outside under cover and the cool damp air (phx, arizona) warped it and reveled all the spirals from both the interior and the exterior that I worked so hard to remove... majorly my bad, but having the interior larger spiral telescope though to the outside, just wrong... Still my bad. So I weight the black brant II vs. my basic blue 4" and yes it's 1.8 pounds lighter so it does have that, but in my opinion saving a few bucks is not worth the possibility of what I did and the outcome that happened. I'll stay with glass... still wish I didn't mess up though because it was perfect up to then.
So are you sure you had Blue Tube 2.0 and not Blue Tube 1.0? Most people say the warping was confined to the first version... I ask specifically because I just picked up this pack on discount at LOC-Precision and have some plans for a nice fun, small field, dual deploy flyer (a semi-4X upgrade of the OOP Rockethead Rockets Battle Axe).
yes it was 2.0... and still my fault... and still sore.
one thing i wish i did was to coat the inside of the BT2 to help prevent warp and telescoping of the joints to the finished exterior....
Once BlueTube is finished properly ,there is no way you will see the spirals ,but indeed it does take a bit of work ,but not much more than say LOC or phenolic.I first sand the entire tube with 220 grit and then vacuum and wipe down with a tack cloth ,then fill the spirals with good old Bondo Spot Putty and let dry (one hour) and sand with 220 grit.
I then re-apply more Bondo (as it does shrink a bit) to the spirals and then sand w/ 320 grit.I then vacuum the dust off and go over it with a tack rag.I then apply a nice coat of gloss lacquer clear and let dry for an hour and sand again with 320 and done.The lacquer seals the tube and Bondo in the spirals to give a glass smooth body tube that`s ready for primer and paint.
It really sounds like more work than it is ,but in reality ,this whole procedure takes a couple of hours ,most of that time is waiting for stuff to dry.
But yah ,nothing faster than building with fiberglass or even Quantum tubing for that matter.I would like to use more fiberglass in my projects ,but cost and shipping to Canada is a ball buster ,and cutting slots is a chore, but i do love it ! I do however use fiberglass and Phenolic for my motor tubes.
Paul T
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