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- Jan 15, 2020
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I use party streamer from the dollar tree. It's fire retardant and biodegradable. Never had an issue. Use 2 to 3 pieces four inches long crumbled up.
check out this from the late Grant Thompson (King of Random). It's wadding made with paper towels (or toilet paper) that's been soaked in baking soda and water. My brother & I made some and it's stronger than the Estes stuff:
Island prices. The shipping cost to Hawaii would probably be double that for a pallet.
Kuririn said he has a bunch to share.
I picked up a roll of party streamer for 99c at Walmart. It was marked “fire retardant” and seems to hold up To the flame better than the Estes paper.
They are paper streamers right? Any particular brand?I bought four rolls of different color paper streamers for 4 dollars at the dollar tree year ago, and still on the first roll after dozens of rockets launched. On low rockets you can see the colors. I've gotta try using as recovery of a smaller one. It sounds interesting. Maybe the hiflyer...
check out this from the late Grant Thompson (King of Random). It's wadding made with paper towels (or toilet paper) that's been soaked in baking soda and water. My brother & I made some and it's stronger than the Estes stuff:
Good luck. I couldn’t get the layers apart after it dried. I had better luck with paper towels but don’t use too much or won’t eject from the tube. That’s how I almost my Patriot.I actually have a roll of TP that was prepared as in this video that's been drying for some time now. With the warmer temps recently, I've been putting it outside in the sun to speed up the drying, and it should be ready soon.
I'm interested in also trying the crepe party streamer and cellulose insulation methods to see which I'll be going with in the long run.
Good luck. I couldn’t get the layers apart after it dried. I had better luck with paper towels but don’t use too much or won’t eject from the tube. That’s how I almost my Patriot.
I thought you couldn't buy that anymore. There was some issue with radioactivity, and corn starch (flammable) has largely substituted. I did check Amazon and there it was. I used it a lot - works great with plastic 'chutes - during my 1960s rocketry round. Ill get me some.I bought talc from Amazon and use it liberally with the parachutes.
It wasnt radioactivity it was asbestos, and my understanding is the levels were at less than reportable levels, however a judge and attorneys got involved and now talc based powders are being discontinued.I thought you couldn't buy that anymore. There was some issue with radioactivity, and corn starch (flammable) has largely substituted. I did check Amazon and there it was. I used it a lot - works great with plastic 'chutes - during my 1960s rocketry round. Ill get me some.
They are paper streamers right? Any particular brand?
That's right. I investigated it after I posted. Johnson baby powder website assures it's customers that it's product is asbestos free and contains talc* *derived from natural sources. Whatever that means. I am going to assume that Johnson and Johnson cannot call corn starch talc even if they use a asterisk. I am going to buy some and use it on my parachutes.It wasnt radioactivity it was asbestos
Very nice. What happens when you try to torch it?Here are the results of my experiment with homemade wadding. I prepared this roll of TP about 3 weeks ago, and have been letting it dry ever since. Recently, I've been putting it out in the sun, which has really accelerated the rate of drying.
Yesterday, I finally decided it was ready to peel apart. The entire outside is crusted over with baking soda, so the outer layers need to be removed and discarded. However, the sides present a bit of a challenge, as the edges have clumped up and binded together, so the sheets tend to tear when you unroll it. Not a huge deal, but I lost some width and it was slow going. The further along I got, the easier it became and the sheets were turning out nicer and nicer.
The last thing I did was to sandwich the piles of wadding overnight between two wood boards with heavy weights on top to flatten and compress the sheets for easier storage. I trimmed up the rough edges with some scissors, and now I'm left with hundreds of sheets of wadding that do indeed seem to work better than the Estes product.
I considered buying a bale of cellulose insulation, but my garage storage space is at a premium already, and I don't launch rockets quite enough to justify that amount off wadding. This homemade version from one roll of TP is an excellent compromise for my usage. Whenever I run low, it'll just be a matter of another roll of TP, some baking soda, and lots of patience.
Very nice. What happens when you try to torch it?
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