Wadding Collection

the rocketry show
Onebadhawk
rocket sok
The Rocketry Forum

Help Support The Rocketry Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
cliveroonie

cliveroonie

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 26, 2009
Messages
828
Reaction score
0
That's right. Some of you collect old rockets in bags and never open them. Some of you collect old motors and never burn them. I have decided to collect wadding from different eras in Model Rocket History. Actually, I was just going through some stuff yesterday afternoon when I noticed that I had three different bags of Estes wadding, all with different designs. Also, each bag was made in a different country.

From left to right:
Estes wadding (made in USA), Estes wadding (made in Mexico), Estes wadding (made in China), Quest wadding (made ?), Estes Walmart wadding (bottom right, from the motor packs sold in Walmart exclusively).

There, wasn't that tantalizing? Don't you wish your collection was as cool as mine?

Clive
 
HAHAH, you know, in some kind of way I've done the same thing. When I got back into rockets as an adult in the early 90s, I got my parents to send me all my old stuff from the 70s and early 80s. When I opened my old "range box" there was an Estes wadding bag with a half used roll of toilet paper still in it! HA! I saved it...
 
now you have to branch out into collecting dog barf from different companies. You could find some "vintage" barf in the walls of old houses...might be difficult to determine where that stuff was made though...:D
 
That's unique.

I can never collect anything - I use it all :)
 
Any of you guys remember when Estes or maybe it was Centuri's wadding was like Cotton balls. I don't remember exactly when this was but it was in the late '60s or early 70s.
 
Quest also sells wadding packaged in a white bag similar to Estes. Whether it is available on your side of the pond...


Bill
 
Originally posted by cliveroonie
There, wasn't that tantalizing? Don't you wish your collection was as cool as mine?

Clive
Click to expand...

We're collecting wadding now????

I guess I better get this listed on eBay while the market is hot!

wadding.jpg
 
Originally posted by starpilot
Any of you guys remember when Estes or maybe it was Centuri's wadding was like Cotton balls. I don't remember exactly when this was but it was in the late '60s or early 70s.
Click to expand...

It's Centuri. One of our club member, Tim Berg, actually gave me
a "new" unopened package of the Centuri wadding (late 1960's
to early 1970's) that he wanted to get rid of before relocating to
Ireland last year. As a bonus, he even gave me that small can
of Centuri parachute powder (among other things!!)...
 
Cool photo....

well, everyone is collecting the big stuff. I thought it would be fun to take a look at the accesssories of the hobby.


Originally posted by SecretSquirrel
wadding.jpg
Click to expand...
 
Originally posted by dwmzmm
It's Centuri. One of our club member, Tim Berg, actually gave me
a "new" unopened package of the Centuri wadding (late 1960's
to early 1970's) that he wanted to get rid of before relocating to
Ireland last year. As a bonus, he even gave me that small can
of Centuri parachute powder (among other things!!)...
Click to expand...

I'm amazed at how many cans of that parachute powder still exist!
 
Being a BAR, I have engines still in the long blue tubes, Centuri igniters, and Estes wadding in the bright pink bags.

It's amazing the things you save thinking that you'll use them again someday. Fortunatly for my rocket stuff, those days have arrived.

Scott
 
I have a bag of this stuff for whoever wants it... Probably 500-600 sheets ... PM me your addy, and I will mail it to you. I am using strictly dog barf now-a-days ...

-Kurt T.

***EDIT*** This is spoken for. Thanks. ***EDIT***
 
Originally posted by SecretSquirrel
We're collecting wadding now????

I guess I better get this listed on eBay while the market is hot!

wadding.jpg
Click to expand...
Safe, sure, and scientific is just about as good as it can get, isn't it?

How old is that stuff, Don?
 
ever see the blue really rough paper stuff century used to make?? the stuff wold not burn, but it also wouldnt seal the body tube, it was way stiff..
 
Hey - this is turning into a pretty interesting thread. If you have photos of old wadding*, can any of you post photos of them?

Thanks,
Clive


* we are interested in photos of unused wadding in a prefereably sealed bag.
 
Originally posted by starpilot
Any of you guys remember when Estes or maybe it was Centuri's wadding was like Cotton balls. I don't remember exactly when this was but it was in the late '60s or early 70s.
Click to expand...

Speaking of which, a handful of cotton balls were our wadding of choice in the old days. I can remember watching them float back to the parking lot we flew out of, trailing a thin wisp of smoke the whole way down. Kinda cool, but not exactly up to the standards of the safety code. (Then again, neither was our firecracker wick ignition method.:rolleyes: )
 
Originally posted by MarkH
Here's a pink bag from the 80s.
Click to expand...

That's the stuff I remember. I got started in rocketry in the 6th or 7th grade, and that was around 1981.
 
Originally posted by RoyGreen
I'm amazed at how many cans of that parachute powder still exist!
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken, I think that can of parachute powder is also
unopened! Will have to check later when I have the time...
 
Darn,:(

I didn't know wadding was so collectable. ;)

I would have saved the extra pack of wadding I had when I got back in this hobby instead of using it.

It was the clear package with a printed sheet with RP-1A on it. I believe I got them in the late 60's or early 70's.
 
What's the next collection, Clive?
Shock cords?
Igniters?
Launch lugs?
 
Well, I am hoping by now that people realize I began this thread in jest/humor/tongue in cheek. However, I have certainly learned more about the history of model rocketry wadding in the past few days than I knew before.

Clive



Originally posted by shinbone
What's the next collection, Clive?
Shock cords?
Igniters?
Launch lugs?
Click to expand...
 
Hey, I hope I'm not too late with my unique wadding story & pic. Take a look at these two F.S.I. Voyager kits. They are both from different production years, and check out that square of wadding included with both kits!!

In the one kit, it looks like cotton balls. That is just like some others have mentioned earlier in this thread. The other type is very different. To me it looks more like a scotchbrite pad-type of material.

I flew most of my F.S.I. kits in the early 80's, but admit I never used their wadding. I always used Estes or else TP. (Lot's of floating-smoking wads in the air with that stuff).

This was a great thread and sure got me to wondering about the different types being used. Thanks for the memories.

Good job!!
 
Originally posted by redraindrop
To me it looks more like a scotchbrite pad-type of material.

I also still have that type of recovery wadding that came with my
FSI Black Brant - II kit; never used it as I thought I may never see
it again if I did!
Click to expand...
 
Polyester fiberfill. It comes in many grades. Some are as soft and fluffy as cotton balls. Others are coarser. usage of these in the "real world": Soft Polyfill is used in pillows, coarse/denser plyfill is used in padding for couches/chairs.

Look at those tags on pillows or other items you are going to throw out (unless you <gasp> removed the tags under penalty of law). I have reclycled pillows as wadding.

Polyfill wadding has some areas of concern: It melts on the surface that it hit with the ejection blast and the gas can flow through the fluffy wadding if it is too fluffy, so you must use enough of it . Also, it does not degrade. So it can sit on the ground and look like nasty litter. Some birds may pick it up and use it to make nice toasty nests, but otherwise it is no thrill for the environment. Just like the MPC fiberglass wadding...


I don't remember if the Centuri wadding was flameproofed cotton or polyester fiberfill.


Originally posted by redraindrop
Hey, I hope I'm not too late with my unique wadding story & pic. Take a look at these two F.S.I. Voyager kits. They are both from different production years, and check out that square of wadding included with both kits!!

In the one kit, it looks like cotton balls. That is just like some others have mentioned earlier in this thread. The other type is very different. To me it looks more like a scotchbrite pad-type of material.

I flew most of my F.S.I. kits in the early 80's, but admit I never used their wadding. I always used Estes or else TP. (Lot's of floating-smoking wads in the air with that stuff).

This was a great thread and sure got me to wondering about the different types being used. Thanks for the memories.

Good job!!
Click to expand...
 

Similar threads

neil_w
Odd'l Break-Away: a quick (?) and easy (?) summer build
Replies
22
Views
809
BABAR
B
prfesser
Some info on plastics for storage of materials (chemicals, what-have-you)
Replies
0
Views
145
prfesser
prfesser
jhill9693
Sold Estes rocket motor overstock
Replies
5
Views
735
jhill9693
jhill9693
neil_w
OpenRocket Tutorial: All about multi-selection
Replies
13
Views
836
bad_idea
bad_idea
U
First launch...
2 3
Replies
77
Views
2K
user 45155
U

Latest posts

Back
Top