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I'm ready to try a carbon sleeve sometime this week. Any tips for that? How do I know when it is wetted? Glass, being transparent, is pretty easy to see. I'm thinking with the CF I'll just need to add plenty of epoxy, give it plenty of time to soak in before squeegeeing out, and hope for...

Like, for instance, asphalt.

I was under the impression that the Soller heat shrink was internally coated with some release agent, and thus that "generic" heat shrink off of ebay or elsewhere might not work as well - could stick. Have you not found this to be a problem?

The material is called LW-PLA, or lightweight PLA. There is a variety that foams as it comes out the nozzle, and another variety that is pre-foamed. The latter type, any FDM (filament) printer should be able to handle. The former type, you need to be able to heat the material to about 250°C...

M My tube was 37". I left a half inch overhang on each side. I ended up with about an inch and a half exposed on each end. So, one inch in 10 feet is less than 1%; the 3-4" of shrink I got is over 10%.

Thanks Gerald, that's useful info. BTW, I have tried the inside glassing (with a balloon) trick, but not with a full body tube. I've used this trick to create couplers (using the glassing to seal the crack between the cut ends) and also to reinforce the inside of a 3D printed nosecone. Works...

Thanks John! Yeah, I always thought the goal was to get as much resin out as possible. But I thought the whole purpose of the heatshrink was to get a glass-smooth finish. Maybe that's just not possible with the 6oz weave that I used. It's definitely far better than the parts of the tube...

I used a Soller glass sleeve for the first time the other day, and had a couple issues maybe you guys could help with. I followed the videos/info I've seen: put a couple CRs in the tube and inserted a dowel, put the sleeve on, fastened the ends. I mixed up epoxy (about the same weight as the...

I've never seen this on my rockets. Could it be that this is happening from upward blast deflection at launch? Do you use a slanted or horizontal blast plate?

I got into printing with an Ender 3, it's a fantastic printer for the money and I use it for printing low-power rockets, and components for HP rockets including sleds, nosecones, fincans, etc. etc. as well as lots of other stuff. If you have a ton of money you want to spend then yeah, get...

The trouble is, if you had a power loss after apogee (maybe a brownout at deployment, or maybe you didn't find your rocket until after it had laid there a while and the battery died), then you've lost all data for the flight. I prefer max alt. Everyone should have a battery checker handy and...

To point #2: As you said in a later post, Barrowman doesn't consider vortex flow. My understanding of stability in flow over short, wide objects is that vortices play a substantial role - that's why saucers and spools are stable. If it's true that vortical flow exists in short stubby rockets...

Yes - there are many gaps in the design, but all of these gaps are designed to be so small that they close up during printing - the gap in the outer wall, and the gap in the ribs, all close up.

I've played with it a bit. I'm not sure what seam you're talking about (don't have time to watch the vid again) - you mean, where the ribs are? I don't recall having any extreme bumps there, and as with any seams, they can be sanded or sliced off.

There's ways to use vase mode and still get cones that are thicker, or even ones that have inner and outer walls separated by webs. See for an intro.

"Don't order from us again"

Sorta. Sugar propellants are restricted to "potassium nitrate as the PRIMARY oxidizer" - which means you are still free to experiment with up to 49% of the oxidizer being something other than KNO3.

I've always wondered... Why did Chris call his company/products "Eggtimer"?

It will never cease to amaze me that you can get a barometric deployment altimeter for $12. Would love to see GPS's come down into this price range! :D

A big vote for tape on cardboard (though, I even use it on fiberglass now). 3M tape has a strength of about 23 lbf per inch of width. I use about a 2 inches of length across the joint, with as much width as necessary (determined by the BP calculator). Use a total of 3 pieces, separated by...