How Many Here Sew Their Own Chutes???

Today, my Mother dropped off her Machine for me to borrow. I have not used one since 8th Grade Home Ec, but it's pretty easy and I am getting back into the swing of it.
How many others here sew their own Parachutes? Obviosly it is a money saver to make your own.

I sew up to ~18" myself. Aesthetically they leave a lot to be desired, but work fine. Since bigger rockets require more $ and time I only trust those to TFR stuff. I have a full array of quality TFR stuff up to 50" fitted with swivels, the upfront cost is more, but it's cheaper than 1 HPR coming in on stripped lines. These interchange between all my MPR and HPR rockets with quicklinks. I only trust myself so far, but you can save a lot of money making the small stuff yourself. Also, check the remnants bins at fabric stores. I got close to a yard of nice ripstop for $2.

Cl(VII) said:

I sew up to ~18" myself. Aesthetically they leave a lot to be desired, but work fine. Since bigger rockets require more $ and time I only trust those to TFR stuff. I have a full array of quality TFR stuff up to 50" fitted with swivels, the upfront cost is more, but it's cheaper than 1 HPR coming in on stripped lines. These interchange between all my MPR and HPR rockets with quicklinks. I only trust myself so far, but you can save a lot of money making the small stuff yourself. Also, check the remnants bins at fabric stores. I got close to a yard of nice ripstop for $2.

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Thanks for the Tip about the Remnants Bins.
I don't do High Power yet so for my MPR stuff I think I can make this work pretty well.
I realized that I don't have materials to make shroud lines from and I'm out of Swivels, so I'm gonna' get that stuff this week.

Actually I have the better 2/3rds do the actual machine sewing. I usually cut the Gores for my Nylon hemi Chutes and the flat panels for the X-forms. We've leaned to use Kevlar thread for most of the construction and heavy Nylon sewn in shrouds on chutes 24" and larger.
I also make my own fused Plastic/mylar Hemi chutes from smaller LPR and competition models.

That X Form Chute is interesting. What is its feature?

I've made my own chutes for quite a while. Largest I've made is a 9 foot X, 5 3' x 3' squares sewn together with 550 paracord shroud lines. It's no longer an X, I needed more resistance for a heavier rocket so I filled the spaces between the panels, it's now a semi-hemi chute A colorful red, white, and black it looks like a homage to the German flag

Micromeister said:

Actually I have the better 2/3rds do the actual machine sewing. I usually cut the Gores for my Nylon hemi Chutes and the flat panels for the X-forms. We've leaned to use Kevlar thread for most of the construction and heavy Nylon sewn in shrouds on chutes 24" and larger.
I also make my own fused Plastic/mylar Hemi chutes from smaller LPR and competition models.

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You could sell these....


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TopRamen said:

That X Form Chute is interesting. What is its feature?

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X-Form Chutes Are a cross between a Streamer and Chute. well sort-of. They are really an open sided chute giving the decending model a bit faster rate then either Flat or Hemi chutes. They also tend to rotate as they come down. They Are an Excellent option on small fields where a streamer is a little to fast but you need to get the model down quicker then with a conventional flat or hemi chute with or without spill hole. I have found the adding a small spill hole in the X-Form Chutes helps stabilize them as well on the way down.
They take a little be more in folding and packing then flat or hemi's but seem to be fairly tangle free unless one really just jams them in


Nope Conner! if I tried to make and sell my Hemi's the Better 2/3rd would stop making Chutes for me LOL! If it became a Business I'd have to hire someone to do the sewing. It just isn't worth it. Besides I'm happy to share any and all hints and tips so just about anyone can make there own. I think the biggest hang up is creating the gore patterns for the various size chutes. but one you have them they stay around for many years. I believe my 6 panel 24", 30" and 36" patterns are more then 25years old now and still going very well

I used to sew mine, but since I am mainly into low power and some mid stuff, those hems proved to make for a lot of bulk in the tube. Now days I have a template that I lay on the Rip Stop and use a wood burning tool to burn & sear through it. I mainly make a sort of X chute design as well. This has proven to be a very reliable method because there are no loose ends from the searing, they're no where near as bulky and the only sewing I do is the shroud lines. I'll thread up some 30# braided fishing line in my big needle and sew 8 separate lines on all outward corners, then bring all the sewn corners together evenly so when I attach the swivel, the shroud lines will all be the same length. Here's a pattern I have used to get the best use of my material.

I have repurposed only one nylon umbrella that had been trashed into a makeshift parachute so far, but I have hopes of perhaps learning how to design one that could work for my rockets. I recently chose the wrong value motor for my SemRoc IRIS, and had the shroud lines tear out of two of the six corners of the plastic chute... as a result, I've had to replace that chute with one of a 10 pack that I bought from JonRockets.
(If you must know, I didn't think it through, and when I went throtle up for the final launch of the club launch day last month, I went with a C6-3 instead of a C6-5...for some reason thinking that it would be a little weaker a motor. Duh...if I understand this, I deployed the chute two seconds earlier than I should have, so the rocket hadn't reached appogee yet, and it tore out my lines, causing the chute to foul and spin on the way down, acting like a streamer instead of a chute.)

Anyway, I can sew and borrowing the wife's machine (she has four now and counting.... yes, she's running a one-man seamstress business on the side out of our back room) I have learned to repair towels for the YMCA, and hem up a few things for myself. But I'd like to get a few more permanent parachutes churned out, so that if/when I melt a few more plastic chutes, I've got something more durable available to me.

Any help matching weight or size of rockets to the size of parachute would be a great help here... I've got a varriable size JonRocket plalstic chute that can be cut down to 18, 15 or 12 inch size, with three varriations on a possible spill hole in the center. By my calculations, that makes 12 possible combinations. If you put the spill hole on the y axis, and the chute size on the X axis, you get a punnett square of 3x4 that yeilds 12 combinations, from NO hole up to their largest dotted line hole.

How is someone supposed to calculate what size you need? Or is it all optional for you to do trial and error? I would think on a windy day, if you wanted the chute and rocket NOT to hang and drift, you'd choose a larger spill hole... but keep the size of chute constant for a particular weight of rocket?

Help please....

I've no pics to show, but I sew my own. At least some of them.

For most of mine I do a small variation of the design from the Vatsaas Brothers site. Great chutes, especially when I use very thin "calendared" ripstop that I've found a good/cheap source on E(vil)bay for. I also make some basic flat/hex types in smaller sizes or for drogues. Streamers too. In fact, I've just been working on some larger streamers that combine ripstop and mylar.

s6

https://www.vatsaas.org/rtv/systems/Parachutes/Chute.aspx

Nice designs and instructions on how to.


I started making one out of an umbrella.

JP

I have made a few, the largest is 5' with 12 gores and a central hole. At the time I used spacecad to print out multi page PDF files of the gore pattern. These were taped up, cut out and transferred to posterboard. The posterboard served as a template to cut the gores- with a hot knife. I used a straight stitch, trying to get roughly one hole per square in the ripstop (a standard from the kite folks) and each seam was sewn twice to make a french seam. The gores were hemmed at the bottoms prior to assembly. The last seam is tricky, especially with large chutes!

I used 100lb-ish kite line for the shrouds, sewn in at the bottoms of the seams. I never did try to do shrouds over the top and down. I planned to do that at one point prior to having a go at making a chute big enough for my L3. Not sure if that one will happen or not. It would require pieceing the gores together first.

Nat

I do both for my own use and at work.

I have made a four so far its kinda fun.


TA

I make parachutes from time to time, but usually just when I get an idea for something different. I mostly just do shock cords, protectors, and rocket Pj's. I enjoy sewing.

It totally slipped my Mind that now I can also sew Loops into Elastic Shock Cords!
Now I have to compile a List of Materials to get....
I'm only doing LPR and MPR stuff now, so Elastic Shock Cords are still a suitable option for my applications.

chapter 12 of 'the handbook of model rocketry' covers recovery devices...or one could play with chute sizes in open rocket. you want a descent rate somewhere in the 12 -17 fps range.
Rex

"chapter 12 of 'the handbook of model rocketry' covers recovery devices"

Indeed! That's where they call the Parachutes "Parasheets".

Use a zigzag stitch for elastic recovery shock cords. Seems to work better that way.

dave carver said:

Use a zigzag stitch for elastic recovery shock cords. Seems to work better that way.

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Makes sense. Thanks for the Tip.
I experimented with the zigzag Stitches today on my second "Practice Chute'". When I got done with it, I set it on my Bench to envision mounting my Shroud Lines, only to realize that I had made an Octogon instead of a Hexagon, meaning I'de need 4 Lines instead of 3.
Tomorrow I'll make "Practice Chute #3".

TopRamen said:

Makes sense. Thanks for the Tip.
I experimented with the zigzag Stitches today on my second "Practice Chute'". When I got done with it, I set it on my Bench to envision mounting my Shroud Lines, only to realize that I had made an Octogon instead of a Hexagon, meaning I'de need 4 Lines instead of 3.
Tomorrow I'll make "Practice Chute #3".

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I make all of mine octagons, no big deal. Tha chure looks plent good too. Look at it this way, you get 33% more practice sewing lines out of this chute than if ir were a hexagon.

I've made 7 so far with the biggest being a little over 10 feet in diameter. They have all been 10 gore circular annular parachutes using a french fell seam to connect the gores together.

I used 1/2 inch double sided seam tape to attach the gores together. Then placed a second strip down and folded to make the french fell seam. Then did a zig-zag stitch down each side of the seam and once all of the gores were together I measured out the suspension lines and sewed them in the middle of the seam also using a zig-zag stitch.

Because the parachutes I make have suspension lines attached to the top and bottom of the gore I had to sew the suspension lines together, this was done also with zig-zag stitches.

Here are some images of them

CyborgTable said:

I've made 7 so far with the biggest being a little over 10 feet in diameter. They have all been 10 gore circular annular parachutes using a french fell seam to connect the gores together.

I used 1/2 inch double sided seam tape to attach the gores together. Then placed a second strip down and folded to make the french fell seam. Then did a zig-zag stitch down each side of the seam and once all of the gores were together I measured out the suspension lines and sewed them in the middle of the seam also using a zig-zag stitch.

Because the parachutes I make have suspension lines attached to the top and bottom of the gore I had to sew the suspension lines together, this was done also with zig-zag stitches.

Here are some images of them

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Wow! That's pretty awesome!

TopRamen said:

Wow! That's pretty awesome!

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Thanks,

Nearly every piece of it is nylon except for the seam tape.
Gores - Type IV ripstop nylon
Thread - Type "E" nylon thread
Suspension Lines - Type II nylon cord

Today, I tried a new approach, and used double-sided clear Tape to hold my Fold on the edge, as well as trying my hand at attaching Shroud Lines. I would have done three Lines, but I'm all out of Kevlar Line. I will order more and do the other two, as this Chute turned out nice enough that I will try it in one of my Rockets.
The only problem I encountered today was that the Tape I used to hold the Fold shed its Adhesive onto the Needle, causing the Nylon Thread to Fray, which required me to stop 4 times to clean off the needle and re-thread it. I believe they sell a Product at the Fabric Store that does what I was doing with the Tape, but requires an Iron to apply it. A trip to the Fabric Store is in Order.

Thanks for this topic, I need to make a chute for my L1.

Some good info here, but I'm kind of stuck on a good method for attaching the shroud lines to the canopy. In making kites I used to sew a loop of fabric as a tie point but I'm afraid in this application the resulting corners would make a good place for a shroud line to snag as the chute tries to open up.

Also, not needing to be pretty for my L1, is a "parasheet" design suitable for high power? Something really simple without gores is tempting. Talking about 48".

Sweet chutes there Cyborg.

So far, on the two Shroud Line Attachment Points I've made, I've done them by looping the #100 Kevlar Cord then going forward and reverse over it with a regular Stitch.
I just tugged on it really hard, since it's still just a "Practice", and I don't care if I tear it, but it did not tear, so I think that at this size,(18") it is a suitable method of attaching the Lines.
On the first I tried going up and down the Line, but found that tricky, so you can see that on the second Attachment I skipped that.

micro said:

Thanks for this topic, I need to make a chute for my L1.

Some good info here, but I'm kind of stuck on a good method for attaching the shroud lines to the canopy. In making kites I used to sew a loop of fabric as a tie point but I'm afraid in this application the resulting corners would make a good place for a shroud line to snag as the chute tries to open up.

Also, not needing to be pretty for my L1, is a "parasheet" design suitable for high power? Something really simple without gores is tempting. Talking about 48".

Sweet chutes there Cyborg.

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The black and red chute has a loop of sleeving sewn in as an attachment point whereas the black one suspension line sewn all the way up the gore itself. Both methods work but I think that it is better to sew the suspension lines into the parachute itself as that has as better force distribution over the stitches.

micro said:

Also, not needing to be pretty for my L1, is a "parasheet" design suitable for high power? Something really simple without gores is tempting. Talking about 48".

Sweet chutes there Cyborg.

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I recently recovered a 5 lb rocket with a 50" parasheet style chute from TFR. Altimeter said 15 ft/s, which is a nice soft touchdown.