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I'm just wondering if anyone else has done a bass (or even harder) wood perimeter around the edges of balsa fins. I haven't seen it. Lots of people doing papering on the flat surfaces, but then rounding or tapering the LE and TE, and just CA infusing the edges for hardness. My biggest durability concern for balsa fins so far has been the dents on the LE/TE/tips that occur when they hit hard ground. I'm thinking that using a harder wood around the perimeter could provide a useful additional dent protection without the weight of full bass or weight and hassle of G10/c.f. It's a little more work, but with my history building model airplanes, no big deal if it makes the rocket hold up and stay looking and flying well longer. Worth it for me to build it durable in the first place rather than having to go back and fill/prime/paint it repeatedly later.
I did some quick searching for maple in appropriate sizes, but didn't come up with anything that looked promising. If I had a hobby-size table saw, maybe, but I don't and would go down another path before I did that.
I did some quick searching for maple in appropriate sizes, but didn't come up with anything that looked promising. If I had a hobby-size table saw, maybe, but I don't and would go down another path before I did that.