More CA Insanity About To Occur.

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TopRamen

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It seems that it is the case that baking soda creates an very hard and tolerant material when it is hit with thin CA.
I will research this in as far as it can be applied to rocketry applications, and report back on my findings.
I'm thinking precision fitting of stuff like CRs and possibly creating structural components of finely pulverized Carbon Fiber, Fiberglass, Micro Balloons/Cabosil, and Baking Soda.
I'm certain that the experiments will require a specifically designed construction vessel that is ventilated at a constant velocity and temperature, and I'll finally get to use that 8" duct work that my Mom gave me after she had some of her basement remodeled.
I'll have a fire extinguisher handy, and there will be a safety zone in place and strictly enforced by a temporary wall made of foamboard panels. I can't have my animals disrupting an experiment of this nature where the potential for instantaneous and irreversible bonding is not only the hazard but the ultimate goal.
Maybe a month or so out from conducting the experiments, but I see potential for hardening critical tolerance points on otherwise balsa and wood glue rockets, which would be nice. I'm about to try a few old school builds that don't need composites, and this would be just the ticket to give me the same degree of control, but without the weight, thickness or texture of epoxies or CF/FG fabrics.
Wish me luck.

[video=youtube;slCMkvEfK_U]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slCMkvEfK_U[/video]
 
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Top, you're my kinda' crazy. Haven't started eyeballing the kitchen supplies yet, but now you've got me thinking....
 
Top, you're my kinda' crazy. Haven't started eyeballing the kitchen supplies yet, but now you've got me thinking....

If the Video does not convince some folks that the idea has merit, then those are not the kind of folks I want to develop building techniques with anyhow, so I really don't sweat it anymore.
A lot of my silliness actually leads to something, even if it's a small something, so I'm just doing what I do in the hope that it can help other folks want to consume materials that I want to consume.
If the whole world wanted to make lots of things out of CF or FG, the Demand would dictate the pricing and value, and I could go crazy building towers and homes out of the stuff.
I try anything to promote fellow hobbyist to experiment with it til' one of us discovers a really unique and new solution.
I'm struggling to get by, but I get it done, so I imagine that someone much smarter than me will someday see me putzing about with stuff, and take a liking to my disregard of conventional uses.
I know I'm grasping at Straws, but that is the price of being me.
When it does work, it works perfect.
I'll grasp til the day I die, as sometimes my grasping has prevented stuff like that.
 
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Thin CA and milled fibers has been my go to for years..adding various amounts depending on need.

Nice to hear from you.
I know you were really busy with real life things or some such, but you are a breath of fresh air as you have encouraged some of my ideas.
 
I remember quite a few posts on RP by people who used baking soda to modify CA. They had good results.

It's totally new to me, so thanks for letting me know I'm not totally barking up the wrong tree.
I'll tinker with it, and it should yield at least one good solution to an otherwise unsolvable problem.
It's supposed to be cooler this weekend, so I might be able to see what becomes of a bunch of combinations of fibers when they meet "Affordable CA":wink:
 
Baking soda and thin ca is an old model airplane trick.

In the early days of CA, there was no such thing as medium or thick CA. Thin only. If you needed to fill a small gap in a joint, baking soda or balsa dust was the only way to bridge it with CA.

Been using it since the late 1970s. One of my favorite ways to repair dings in plywood rocket fins.

Not good next to balsa that has to be sanded as it is so much harder than balsa.

Balsa dust works fairly well with thin CA also.

Milled glass fibers are stronger than baking soda in thin CA and I use that at work to repair chipped edges of fiberglass models. This mix needs a shot of kicker to cure in a reasonable amount of time.

Cabosil is not optimal......milled glass works better with thin CA.

Micro balloons can work well with thin CA, but the resulting material is even harder to sand than the baking soda and thin CA mix.

Also use chopped glass and chopped carbon fiber in certain situations.

Nothing on the list reacts and cures as fast with thin CA as baking soda.

Some folks actually glassed balsa sheeted or 1/64" ply sheeted model aircraft wings with thin CA and .5 - .75 oz glass cloth. Harder than epoxy, but a little more brittle.
 
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Thanks Top! Yes...crazy. I have some of your gussets on my desk that encourages great ideas. Anyhow hope to be back on track with all my builds shortly...the heat doesn't help though.
 
It's totally new to me, so thanks for letting me know I'm not totally barking up the wrong tree.
I'll tinker with it, and it should yield at least one good solution to an otherwise unsolvable problem.
It's supposed to be cooler this weekend, so I might be able to see what becomes of a bunch of combinations of fibers when they meet "Affordable CA":wink:

Yup, your on the right track Top. I've used CA and sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to repair many different things. It's a great gap filler and sands fairly easily. Just remember, baking soda is alkaline which will make the CA set up quickly and get very hard. Work on finding a ratio, too much sodium bicarbonate and the final product will be brittle.
 
Great!
Thanks for all the useful advice and talking from actual experience folks, it is greatly appreciated information and will save me wasting materials.
Rob, no I do mot have any milled fibers yet.
Mike L., thanks for the tip about finding a ratio. I will keep that in mind as I begin.
 
I used the CA + sawdust , to fill gaps between tubes when clustering. CA + cotton [balls material] also stuffed between larger gaps/with larger tubes.

When doing any of these fillers/CA...beware,there can be/usually is some heavy smoke/fumes & heat that comes with this technique.
 
To plug small holes, I twist a paper towel & insert into the hole; trim it and then soak with CA. It sands easy and does not come out.
 
When doing any of these fillers/CA...beware,there can be/usually is some heavy smoke/fumes & heat that comes with this technique.

Yep, big -1 for me, and why I only use CA when it is the only option for the application (see thread on broken ceramics).
 
I remember quite a few posts on RP by people who used baking soda to modify CA. They had good results.

Steve beat me to it, but I remember the exact same thing. I would think it might make an interesting fillet material in smaller rockets, and might well be hard enough to use for filling small gaps.
 
So I just started opening Dollhouse Kits and the first box I open, what the crap! There be fins in these boxes!!! They need a little tuning, but they have beveled edges, and they are really light, but since they are so huge, I'll use them to make molds for my FG/CF stuff.
I'm going back tomorrow and I'll pack my vehicle to the roof with dollhouse parts!!!

There Be Fins! 2016-07-08 002.jpgThere Be Fins! 2016-07-08 003.jpgThere Be Fins! 2016-07-08 004.jpg
 
Never tried any form of powder + CA. Sounds like it works great. I have several different materials. Chopped carbon, fumed silica, micro balloons, carbospheres (Sold by FireFox). Trying to think of what other fillers (if any).
 
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