Balsa Machining Service nose cones

[Quasar]

Yesterday,I received my first ever order of NCs, NBs, and Transitions from BMS. Being a new member here, I hate to sound like a nit-picker right off the bat, but I wasn't expecting to receive items that needed hours of tedious, careful sanding work just to get them to fit into the body tubes. I guess the Estes balsa NCs from the old days have spoiled me. Last night, I was looking at some old, but never used Estes NCs that came with my Limited Edition Mars Snooper that I got a few years ago and the fit is perfect. I realize that the Estes NCs are made from "hard" balsa and the BMS ones are "contest" balsa, but I would think that the machining tolerances could be a little closer than what I got. Maybe I'm wrong, but of the 20 pieces that I bought, only 9 of them are close and some of the rest have the body tube section actually bigger than the OUTSIDE of the body tube.

Another thing is that the parachute picture on their web site is one with a checkerboard pattern. Well, I assumed (I know, an A$$ out of U and ME) that all sizes were checkerboard, so I order two each of 12", 18", and one 24". Only the 12" 'chutes are checkerboard. My fault for not asking before ordering.

I'll order again from BMS and just grit my teeth while I'm sanding them down. Since they're the only game in town when it comes to old Estes balsa NCs, I guess I don't have a choice.

 

[jflis]

Several comments here.

Bill (BMS) deliberatly makes his nose cones a **little** on the large size as he can not be *certain* whos body tubes you are going to use them in (there are different ID's and OD's, just a hair different, out there) and figures it is better to sand it down to fit than have a nose that is too loose and not useable.

Also, concerning nose cones in general. You will find that we (FlisKits) have extra steps taken to assure that "perfect" fit that is needed/desired when our nose cones are used with our body tubes. These items will be available soon, so...

Also, as far as getting "harder balsa" instead of "contest balsa", just ask Bill. All of BMS nose cones are available in either stock. You may pay more, but you get what you pay for, so...

In any event, don't sell BMS short. What they do is nothing short of fantastic (considering the small size of the market), his parts are quality (really ) and his service is outstanding.

As for "choices", that's'a'comin'

 

[Quasar]

Aside from the oversize NC thing, I'm very happy with the service I received from BMS. Email inquiries, order confirmation, and shipping were very fast and after sanding on one of the NCs, it looked very nice. I would have liked to get the NCs in hard balsa, but below is a copy of the reply I got from BMS when I asked about it.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They are soft contest balsa and cannot be ordered in Hard Balsa.

Bill

Balsa Machining Service
www.BalsaMachining.com
Bill & Mary Ann Saindon
11995 Hillcrest Dr.
Lemont IL 60439
630-257-5420 fax0341)
----- Original Message -----
From: <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, January 08, 2003 3:50 PM
Subject: Balsa type of stock nose cones.


> Hi,
>
> I have a question about your stock balsa nose cones. Are they hard balsa
> and if not, can they be special ordered in hard balsa? Thank you very
> much.
>
> Mike Fields

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, here's another question. Since Estes designed their old kits to use hard balsa, will I need extra weight in the nose or is the difference negligible?

 

[sandman]

Quasar,

I make my own balsa nose cones and transition. I've been doing it for forty years! yes it takes me about an hour to do one and there is no real cost benifit there. But I feel better doing it myself.

It's not too hard and very gratifying.

Do a search for "nose cones" and I think you'll find it here...don't make me type it all over again!

sandman

 

[sandman]

Quasar,

I found it.

go here:

https://www.rocketryforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=742&highlight=balsa

It's the second reply.

Good luck.

sandman

 

[jflis]

Originally posted by Quasar
...but below is a copy of the reply I got from BMS when I asked about it.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They are soft contest balsa and cannot be ordered in Hard Balsa.

Bill

now, THAT'S odd.... i'll look into that... (really weird, because i was under a different impression...)

 

[Quasar]

OK. I've calmed down now and come up with a good way to sand the BT section of the NCs that gives good results and doesn't take a long time. After thinking about it, I'm really grateful that someone is even offering the old Estes NC styles.

Thanks sandman for the link to your post about turning your own NCs. That sounds like something I'll want to get into later on.

Thanks jflis for the heads up on your future products. I'll keep an eye on your web site for updates.

About the NC weight thing. I weighed some NCs that I have in both contest balsa and plastic using a scale that I use for loading rifle ammo.

Alpha: Balsa w/SE: 48 grains, Plastic: 105 grains

Big Bertha: Balsa w/SE: 143 grains, Plastic: 148 grains

It looks like only with the smaller sizes are there going to be any significant differences. I'll try to do some flight tests with both types of cones to see if the weight differences affect stability. Thanks again, guys, for the input.

 

[Matt]

can u glass balsa nose cones to strengthan them or epoxy

 

[daveyfire]

If you were going to glass them, I would go so far as to say to use the balsa as a positive mold to make a negative from, then pull positives off of that... may be overkill, but then again, that's the way I am...

If you painted the noses with epoxy, it would strengthen them. I would recommend thinning the epoxy with Denatured alcohol to a thinner consistency so it can soak deeper into the wood.

 

[Micromeister]

Careful Dave:
Excessive thinning of epoxies with alcohol, stops or severely retards the curing process. Better to start with a thinner foumulated "coating epoxy" for soaking cones and fins.