Plastic Or Balsa

[Gary Byrum]

I think I've had it with plastic nose cones for LPR rockets anymore. They just aren't shaped the same way as the balsa cones are and the look bothers me. I dug out my last 55 AC NC this evening which was plastic, stuck it on the model in the works, and it really looked kinda dumb. The balsa ones come up off the tube and then shape to the designated length. The plastic ones lack this tiny bit of appeal to me. As if that weren't enough, You still gotta sand the seams down and the rest of it also. For what it's worth, I'd rather opt to a balsa cone and go through the usual routine of finishing it off. Glue likes wood better anyway! So do primers and paint. There are gonna be exceptions as not all cones in plastic are made out of balsa also. This poll includes any NC up to a size BT 70. Anything bigger than that probably needs to be plastic, foam filled or hollowed out or what ever your choice is. The voting poll is open!

 

[chadrog]

I'm not partial, I like both - fiberglass is nice too. This is about the prettiest piece of balsa I've ever owned, just a hair larger than BT 70.

 

[Gary Byrum]

I usually turn what isn't available. Balsa is a preference. Good looking nose cone.

 

[Target]

I usually turn what isn't available. Balsa is a preference. Good looking nose cone.

Gary, Have you ever turned blue styrofoam? Messy likely no more so that turn balsa I'd venture to say. So keep a vacc running and ridding youself of the dust. Makes a great nose cone. Really, really light and weight can be adding very easy.

 

[Gary Byrum]

Gary, Have you ever turned blue styrofoam? Messy likely no more so that turn balsa I'd venture to say. So keep a vacc running and ridding youself of the dust. Makes a great nose cone. Really, really light and weight can be adding very easy.

No I haven't tried that. Finding chunks big enough to use seems to be an issue here. All I've ever seen was that 2" stuff they insulate buildings with. I have for other unrelated projects needed a thick piece and glued them together with epoxy. As I was sanding it down for the intended shape, that wafer of dried epoxy became a problem. Any suggestions?

 

[Scotty Dog]

Ill pick wood.
Plastic NCs are good for bashing into tails,reducers,canopies,ect.

 

[Target]

No I haven't tried that. Finding chunks big enough to use seems to be an issue here. All I've ever seen was that 2" stuff they insulate buildings with. I have for other unrelated projects needed a thick piece and glued them together with epoxy. As I was sanding it down for the intended shape, that wafer of dried epoxy became a problem. Any suggestions?

Gary,
I get the blue foam at lowes. With my drill press and circle cutter I cut them slightly oversize. I make template in openrocket wheather it's 5" or a 19" cone. My foam is 1" so I measure the template every inch set the circle cutter and have a go. So again a 19 in cone I'd have about 16-17 circles and the tip being turn balsa stock glue on and shaped.

I don't use expoy. I like titebond here to. You are correct the epoxy is tough to work with. I run a wooden dowel thru the center of the circles in the holes the cutter made. The titebond is just ever so slightly dilulted w/ water. Apply titebond to dowel and each foam circle and assembling in correct order, glue on square balsa stock apply clamps as you like and let dry for a couple days. Then after turned I slather on elmers f n f. Let dry sand. And repeat as needed


Of course anyone could buy a nose cone but you know the satifaction is DIY. I have seem some of your scratch builds and a scratch guy likes DIY.

 

[Raygun]

I 3D print my nose cones now in Nylon , Never looking back...

https://www.shapeways.com/designer/kcespedes

 

[Target]

I 3D print my nose cones now in Nylon , Never looking back...

https://www.shapeways.com/designer/kcespedes

That would be great to own a 3d printer. But as a person with and on disability MY budget doesn't allow such. Maybe you can print and sent to me. My budget is tight although

 

[iqsy59]

I definitely prefer working with wood...whether its balsa or basswood.
I like the way it finishes and how it feels in my hands. Plastic is lower maintenance once it's finished, but that's not enough to influence my preference.

My personal favorite rocket component is this 3.0" 5-1 conical basswood work of art that Sandman turned for my future Brazilian Sonda II sounding rocket project. When finished, it will be anodized blue and white:



Cheers,
Michael

 

[Raygun]

That would be great to own a 3d printer. But as a person with and on disability MY budget doesn't allow such. Maybe you can print and sent to me. My budget is tight although

The website is not my own. I don't own a printer. I just design them. They (Shapeways) makes the prints and the money. My designs a free to print. Your'e welcome to to use their service.
I don't control pricing. That is as cheap as its gonna get. Well worth it to me anyway.

 

[iqsy59]

Interesting results so far: 56% for balsa and 56% for plastic. Gary, are you sure you're not in Florida?!

Cheers,
Michael

 

[dave carver]

I definitely prefer working with wood...whether its balsa or basswood.
I like the way it finishes and how it feels in my hands. Plastic is lower maintenance once it's finished, but that's not enough to influence my preference.

My personal favorite rocket component is this 3.0" 5-1 conical basswood work of art that The Sandman turned for my future Brazilian Sonda II sounding rocket project. When finished, it will be anodized blue and white:

View attachment 138476

Cheers,
Michael

That is very nice to know. I was wondering about what dimensions Sandman could turn to but seeing that cone answers those questions. I need a 5:1 for a 2.1" fiberglass/phenolic tube I've had for years. BMS came up short on what I want and that looks to be the ticket

Oh, I prefer balsa but I build so much the number of cones I can get for my dollar with plastic cones streches out what I have to spend. Nosecone assortments being a favorite. I have a PNC80-BB cone, can't decide to make a big Mosquieto or a BIG Bertha or a BIG Goony

 

[Gary Byrum]

Interesting results so far: 56% for balsa and 56% for plastic. Gary, are you sure you're not in Florida?!

Cheers,
Michael

57% for balsa now. Funny, there are more votes than there are posts in this thread. I guess a lot of the voters wanted to stay anonymous.

 

[chadrog]

I'm strait down the middle, so I didn't vote. Gordon made the cone in the picture I posted also, it's for four inch tube.

 

[Marc_G]

I go back and forth on this. For biggish cones like BT60 I think plastic makes more sense... imagine a Vagabond cone out of balsa... probably super fragile. But those PNC-60RL molded cones from the Vagabond kit have been very rough requiring lots of TLC.

In the end I think I like both for different reasons and don't mind too much the quirks each has.

 

[Gary Byrum]

I guess I was really focusing on smaller nose cones. If I can get a balsa NC or if I have to make one, usually they fall in the BT 60 or smaller category. I'll make exceptions with a 60 NA because I like em. It's pretty obvious that anything larger would be better off with plastic, foam or fiberglass because of weight issues. I turned an 80 sized NC years ago that was intended for LPR use, and being much longer than an 80 K, it weighed a little over 4oz. Which is a lot for a low powered rocket. Now when you get into MPR or HPR, you can afford to deal with the extra weight of a balsa or solid cone of sorts. Pretty much don't care for plastic NC's on smaller rockets.

 

[GDJ]

I picked plastic but I really don't have a real preference. Both have advantages, and if the prep work is done on both, the results from either Balsa or Plastic can be very good.

 

[Nathan]

When I first got back into rocketry I hated the plastic nosecones. But now that I've gotten used to working with plastic I prefer them. I can get a better finish on a plastic nosecone than on balsa. But I draw the line at plastic fins.

 

[Marc_G]

I eventually voted for plastic. However, it comes with a caveat. Both wood and plastic cones can come with problems (mold lines in plastic, dents or tool marks in wood...). My original thoughts were muddied by memories of the worst of each. But if I think of a run-of-the-mill, average (decent quality) cone, I generally prefer plastic as being a bit easier to work with, and often a bit lighter.

 

[Chevis]

Balsa all the way. Nothing like the feel, the sanding dust, the fact that paint actually sticks to it. Besides you can shape it or modify it for your needs. I just got a BNC-80k from BMS, 43g. I can't see plastic being much lighter than that.

Chevis

 

[Gary Byrum]

Balsa all the way. Nothing like the feel, the sanding dust, the fact that paint actually sticks to it. Besides you can shape it or modify it for your needs. I just got a BNC-80k from BMS, 43g. I can't see plastic being much lighter than that.

Chevis

I just pulled an 80 K out of the box untouched, and it was 47 grams. Plastic of course. Balsa weights can vary though, Depends on how dense it is. I order blocks from a company I think has the best price for the quality and sometimes it's a little dense, That can weigh more. But I still prefer balsa. At least I can turn one on a lathe when they don't make a plastic one that meets my needs.

 

[Coop]

I don't build much LPR anymore and I'm usually not in a rush to finish whatever project I'm sanding/filling/primering/re-sanding/refillingreprimering. I voted "balsa" just because it said LPR... that said, I'd not dismiss a coveted LPR kit because it had plastic for the NC.

HPR, well... It doesn't matter to me. Plastic, wood... I've flown both and both work. Plastic is easier to add nose weight and place shear pins. Balsa requires a bit of modification --or a bit extra pre-planning. Sandman makes some real nice wood ones, and if there's a "gotta have this shape" NC for a particular project I'm doing, it's to him my first email goes. He's made a few for me in 4", and one 7.5" (but that wasn't balsa, that was FG over foam and beyond the scope of this poll), and I couldn't be happier with them.

Interesting, though, the percentages add up to 107%... Vote for your favorite nosecone material... early, and often!


Later!

--Coop

 

[sandman]

That is very nice to know. I was wondering about what dimensions Sandman could turn to but seeing that cone answers those questions. I need a 5:1 for a 2.1" fiberglass/phenolic tube I've had for years. BMS came up short on what I want and that looks to be the ticket

Oh, I prefer balsa but I build so much the number of cones I can get for my dollar with plastic cones streches out what I have to spend. Nosecone assortments being a favorite. I have a PNC80-BB cone, can't decide to make a big Mosquieto or a BIG Bertha or a BIG Goony

The largest I can turn is 42" long. A bit longer with some clever work on the out board side but that's hard to do.

The size constraint is the size of the wood.

Fiberglass over foam is a PIA! very messy, dusty, sticky..lots of sanding!

 

[vcp]

Plastic. I print my own in ABS. Pic are scale nc's for Minotaur IV; shoulder will be added as an insert later. These are right off the printer; no touch up. A little sanding and an acetone vapor bath and they'll be perfect. Will do the Minotaur large payload shroud next. Any of the conic shapes with blunted tips come out well, it's sharp tips that sometimes have problems. The height of the printer limits single sections to under 5" but I've also had good luck in joining sections into larger cones.

Gary

 

[vcp]

That is very nice to know. I was wondering about what dimensions Sandman could turn to but seeing that cone answers those questions. I need a 5:1 for a 2.1" fiberglass/phenolic tube I've had for years. BMS came up short on what I want and that looks to be the ticket

Hi Dave,

Say what; give me the exact id/od on that tube, and the other specs on the cone (tip radius, ogive I presume, anything else), and I'll take a shot at printing you one.

Gary

 

[JPVegh]

Plastic for nose cones wood for fins. I don't mind wooden nose cones at all, in fact it's sometimes my preferrence but I don't like plastic fins.

 

[foamy]

I used to be indifferent. But having built a lot of Semroc kits and having bought quite a few parts—I now lean towards balsa. Easy to shape and sand. As mentioned above—it takes paint well. It's just a personal bias. I like wood. That and I like screw-in eyelets.

 

[thobin]

I'm old school balsa for sure.


TA

 

[LW Bercini]

I also voted for balsa. As Foamy pointed out, it is easy to shape and sand. Speaking in broad generalities: Prang plastic and you're looking at replacement. Prang balsa and you are just a sanding block away from repair.