New Wildman 38mm Carbon Fiber Tube!

[Rob702Martinez]

Here it is, the newest offering from Wildman! Get yours today.

We are using this tube on a modified Mini-Mach kit, which includes a FG nosecone with integrated shoulder and carbon fiber plate fins. We swapped the body tube for the CF one and extended it 12". Now if you've been building rockets for some time, you've seen one body tube you've seen them all. But not like this one. I was really impressed when this one came out of the box. It put a smile on my face

Now for some specs, pictures and intended application.

This is the mock up.




Upon initial impressions the tube feels solid. There is no give or flex, it is very lightweight. Also it is dead straight both inside and out, which will be shown later.

Here is a close up.





Let's take a look at the specs. This tube is 33" long. Also to note all ends are cut square as well.




The weight is 5.95oz. That works out to 0.18oz per inch of tube.



Or 169g if you're into that. Or 5.12g per inch.



Lets take a look at the wall of the tube. It is proportionately thick. Again feels incredibly solid with zero distortion. I have no doubts pushing this to +80G's or to Mach 2.5 (per sims)



The wall thickness is about 1.12mm

 

[Rob702Martinez]

The inner diameter is 38.59mm



One thing to note about this tube is the inner diameter is dead straight all the way through. I have a custom made MD motor retainer than when inserted gently slides all the way through the tube. The tolerance is so smooth that if I place the retainer inside and quickly cover the top end of the tube with my palm it stops the retainer from moving. it bounces up and down then just sits there. Kinda like sucking up water in a straw using your finger. Pretty cool that its an airtight seal. Shout out to my good friend who made the retainer for me.
The retainer is 38.56mm OD.



The OD of the tube is 40.61mm. It is very smooth and completely filled. Which means there are no voids in the windings, missing any epoxy etc.



I also have this custom made drill guide made for the retainer and for shear pin indexing. This part has a ID of 40.62mm. This slides over the length of the tube with no friction which shows me that the OD of the body tube is consistent, straight and very smooth.




Since we have a Mini Mach kit, little brother to the Mach2 and Mach3 kits lets look at the rest of it.

The nosecone is one piece meaning that the shoulder is part of it. It is worht noting that the ID/wall thickness is carried through out the nose cone. The only step in diameter is on the out side making the shoulder.

The nose cone is 9" long for the exposed length, with a 2" coupler shoulder length for a total length of 11".







The nose weighs 4.45oz or 127g.

 

[Rob702Martinez]

The wall thickness is 1.84mm and runs the length of the cone. The nose is also very smooth and free of any voids in the windings and feels very solid.



The ID is 34.69mm



The fins are carbon fiber plate and they are beveled on the leading and trailing edge. Very sharp by the way. Also very square in every direction.



They are 3.22mm thick.




They weigh 0.40oz or 11g each.





I am also using a custom tailcone retainer made by a good friend of mine for this build.







And here is a final mock up.



38mm Carbon Fiber tube is now available at www.wildmanrocketry.com
It is made with multiple wind angles and a high temp epoxy. This is the strongest tube you can buy.

 

[PBic]

Looks very nice. The custom work as well. Does the custom motor case closure shoulder out to the OD of the airframe?

 

[GrouchoDuke]

Gorgeous all around, Rob. Thanks for sharing all this!

Why isn't that carbon tube on his website!?!?!

 

[mrwalsh85]

The wall thickness is about 1.12mm

View attachment 405611

FYI this is the incorrect method to measure wall thickness.

You want to measure using the tapered portion of your caliper's jaws, not the thicker portion.

This can be confirmed by your measurement in the photo being 1.12mm - but when I take the OD and subtract the Id, then divide by two, I get 1.02mm.

 

[Rob702Martinez]

Looks very nice. The custom work as well. Does the custom motor case closure shoulder out to the OD of the airframe?

Thanks, yes it matches the OD of the tube.

 

[Rob702Martinez]

Gorgeous all around, Rob. Thanks for sharing all this!

Why isn't that carbon tube on his website!?!?!

Thanks dude! I will let Tim know.

 

[Rob702Martinez]

FYI this is the incorrect method to measure wall thickness.

You want to measure using the tapered portion of your caliper's jaws, not the thicker portion.

This can be confirmed by your measurement in the photo being 1.12mm - but when I take the OD and subtract the Id, then divide by two, I get 1.02mm.

You are absolutely correct. I saw the same thing. I was using the finest calipers HF has to offer so I expected it to be off a little below 2mm measurements. I should have used the tapered section and will do going forward. So off 0.10mm

 

[WILDMANRS]

We are so glad you like the new carbon fiber tubing.
We are trying to provide the best quality products at a fair price , while being consistently available.

 

[mbeels]

We are so glad you like the new carbon fiber tubing.
We are trying to provide the best quality products at a fair price , while being consistently available.

I couldn't find the CF tubing on your website, is it still available?

 

[WILDMANRS]

its there under building components.
airframe carbon

 

[mbeels]

its there under building components.
airframe carbon

Ok, thanks. I was looking in "New Items", and also didn't think it would be classified under "Building Materials" -> "Wildman Fiberglass Components". But I see it now.