Home made nylon chutes

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cjp

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Where can I buy light weight rip stop nylon to make my own parachutes?Any local national chain stores carry it?I need to cut back on my spending due to the economy.Would like to make some X shape parachutes for some of my larger rockets.I bought some from Jo Ann fabrics when I took my wife there,it is ok for streamers,but seems to thick for parachutes.Bought a yard for $3.00 and then got 50% off.That was a good pick up.Any thoughts?
 
Jo Anns is where I was going to suggest, but Hobby Lobby sometimes carries some too and you can sometimes find some in Wal Mart, but there are some real cheap commercialy made chutes you can buy. Top Flight comes to mind.
 
The rip stop nylon I find at JoAnn's is much heavier than what is carried at Hobby Lobby.

For multiple colors with a 40% off coupon I and my wife have to buy seperately to get the discount. One cut piece is all they will let you purchase with a coupon.
 
I have very good luck with the ripstop nylon from Jo Ann Fabrics. They carry several different types of nylon. Make sure you get the ripstop. I have made an 8' and a 12' chute using the pattern from the following link.

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

It performs great. The 8' one was tested at about 130mph when the apogee charge failed to deploy the chute at 1300 ft and the rocket was at 300 feet headed straight down when the main charge deployed the chute and it opened. This was a 16lb Pole cat 7.5" V2. The design is good and it is easy to make with only 8 pattern pieces. A tip on cutting the nylon, use a rotary cutter. You can cut 3 or 4 pieces at a time and it doesn't leave any unravling ends. Hope this helps. Here is a link to the almost fateful flight.

https://launchphotos.flashrocketry.com/2009-6-6/file0026.avi
 
Yeah, you have to specifically LOOK FOR the lightweight stuff... most stores carry the heavier stuff.

I've found JoAnn's usually is more likely to have it than most other places. Probably most of what is sold is used for banners and flags and stuff, not parachutes or kites, so most places just stock the heavier stuff.

Good luck! OL JR :)

PS. I LOVE Top-flite recovery chutes-- they're top notch! I got 2-3 in virtually every size they had up to about 36 inch at NSL 2007 in Muncie for like $30 or less... GREAT quality and you can't hardly make them for that!
 
I seen the topflight chutes,but as I stated before I can't spend to much.I have to many rockets to buy what I want premade,one yard of fabric will produce alot of chutes for the price.Thanks for the suggestion.:)
 
I hate making chutes. This is a problem since I fly scratch built rockets. I've have been looking into buying a few top flight chutes.

Have you thought about using a snap swivel so you can use the same chute with several rockets? I fly LP and have a 12", a 12" with a spill hole and an 18" chute (standard estes plastic) that I use on which ever rocket I'm flying at the time.

I've also learned that streamers are a man's best friend and much easier to make.
 
Yes I do use swivels as well as streamers that I had made from rip stop nylon.I just wanted different types and sizes that I can chose from with the changing wind conditions.Our last launch 2 weeks ago had two high powered rockets ending up in trees.One took about an hour to get back,the owner of the rocket had to scale the tree to get back.Not an easy thing to do with 15 inches of snow on the ground and the temps in the 20's.I guess that's what makes this hobby fun(right????);)
 
Our last launch 2 weeks ago had two high powered rockets ending up in trees.One took about an hour to get back,the owner of the rocket had to scale the tree to get back.Not an easy thing to do with 15 inches of snow on the ground and the temps in the 20's.I guess that's what makes this hobby fun(right????);)

Who are you flying with MTMA? I heard they got a new field but have not had the chance to check it out yet.

Mark
 
Yes that's the club I belong to.We have a field or I should say a farm in Middlefield that we have FAA approval to 3700' for Highpower.I made a 18 inch X chute from ripstop nylon today and am wondering what is a good lenght for the shroud lines?Do you make them as long as the width of the chute?In this case 18"?What do all those that make their own use as a rule of thumb?
 
Yes that's the club I belong to.We have a field or I should say a farm in Middlefield that we have FAA approval to 3700' for Highpower.I made a 18 inch X chute from ripstop nylon today and am wondering what is a good lenght for the shroud lines?Do you make them as long as the width of the chute?In this case 18"?What do all those that make their own use as a rule of thumb?

Generally accepted rule of thumb is 1.5 times the chute diameter... six is ok, 8-10 is better, 12 is ok, more is overkill...
 
Like so many others have mentioned Jo-Ann's carries some rip-stop nylon but it's is generally of a slightly heavier weight/yd then we'ed like for small model and MPR rockets.

One of the best sources i've found for .75oz are the Kit shops on-line like www.Intothewind.com or others. they carry the light weight rip-stop in a ton of colors by the yard. it is a bit more expensive then a fabric shop but also sell spars and lines, and swivels that can be helpful.

1.5 times the length is the average for shroud lines. I refer 8 shrouds on flat made chutes and 6 on 6 gore Hemi-chutes.
 
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I can't remember where I found it, but another good place to look is sailing shops. I found some 0.5oz/yd^2 ripstop nylon for about $6 a yard somewhere. (I'm kicking myself for not bookmarking it :bangpan:). It is apparently used for large spinnakers on racing yachts and such.
 
Is the sports nylon found at Joann the lighter stuff?
 
Some is some is a little heavy, depends on the size of the models your flying. for most LMR's in the 1 to 3.3lb range they seem to be just fine. for smaller Model Rockets the 1-1.5oz/yd stuff seem a bit thick.
Here are a few made with fabric purchased at Jo-ann's. and remember they also sell other materials, like real silk;)

X-Form-a_Rip-Stop Nylon 12 & 24in_06-02.jpg
 
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I hate making chutes. This is a problem since I fly scratch built rockets. I've have been looking into buying a few top flight chutes.

Have you thought about using a snap swivel so you can use the same chute with several rockets? I fly LP and have a 12", a 12" with a spill hole and an 18" chute (standard estes plastic) that I use on which ever rocket I'm flying at the time.

I've also learned that streamers are a man's best friend and much easier to make.


Copy that... Like I said, I bought about a half-dozen chutes on sale at NSL and installed swivels and use them for all my different rockets. Didn't cost much and there's no sense in having a seperate chute for each individual rocket anyway...

BUT, whatever floats your boat... LOL:) Good luck! OL JR :)
 
Copy that... Like I said, I bought about a half-dozen chutes on sale at NSL and installed swivels and use them for all my different rockets. Didn't cost much and there's no sense in having a seperate chute for each individual rocket anyway...

BUT, whatever floats your boat... LOL:) Good luck! OL JR :)

Humm:
Luke, I generally make a chute for each model. True I have a couple bags full of extras, in different sizes for different field conditions, as well as streamers. but I usually try to make my hemi chute with the same colors as I paint the model. don't you guys to the same?
 
Chris,

What fabric do you use from Kitebuilder? I bought some once that was very stiff and appeared to be calendared. I was afraid to use it for a chute. Didn't think it would open. I believe it was 1.5 oz. I'm thinking the .5 or .75 oz material would have been a better choice but if it is stiff I am wary of using even the lighter weight material.

Craig
 
Chris,

What fabric do you use from Kitebuilder? I bought some once that was very stiff and appeared to be calendared. I was afraid to use it for a chute. Didn't think it would open. I believe it was 1.5 oz. I'm thinking the .5 or .75 oz material would have been a better choice but if it is stiff I am wary of using even the lighter weight material.

Craig
I have used a lot of the .5 and .75 both are light and crisp and are coted on one side so its not porous like the stuff you get at Jo-anns or the local fabric store
 
I have my chute made,and have tried folding it,but it seems like it will tangle it's self up when deployed.It might be the fabric that seems stiff.I have 8 lines,2 per side.What is the correct way to fold a X chute.I could not find any information on that?:confused2:
 
CJP:
Square chutes really fold a good bit differently then regular round chutes. and it's really hard and LONG to discribe. I'd suggest getting together with someone at your next club launch that flys X-forms to get them to walk you though the folding process once. Not hard just difficult to discribe;)
 
I've made as large as 9' X form chutes, 5 3"x3" panels sewn with real parachute cord from a local surplus shop and we have a place here called "Mill End Fabrics". They have a varity of weigh nylon fabric and different times have different colors. It's a matter of luck what they have but I've bought a lot of 1.1 and 1.5 nylon from them.

The 9' X ended up being too small for the job intended so I filled the spaces between the wings to make a full hemispherical parachute. The colors it started with is black in the middle square and red wings. I cut white triangles to fill in the spaces with leaving 4 small spill holes at the top of the triangles.

Unfortunatly the colors, to me, invoke a Nazi-ish flag look kinda. Maybe no one else will notice:rolleyes:
 
We have a launch this comming weekend.I'll make sure to bring it with me.That's if the weather holds out.Right now it's 50 outside and the weather is supposed to be as warm all week(mybe some rain):gavel::rolleyes:.Thanks for the advice.I'm going to try it out on a rocket that I scratch built,so if things don't work out,I'll be ok.It has a few dings in it already.
 
Where can I buy light weight rip stop nylon to make my own parachutes?Any local national chain stores carry it?

If you aren't worried about the color, check out a local Army surplus store. You can find some really lightweight rip stop there, if you get lucky.
 
Thanks for the advice,I'll look to see where the army surplus is located in the Akron/Cuyahoga Falls/Stow, Ohio area.Colors not a big deal.
 
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