Shaping balsawood

[Joshua F Thomas]

Looking for advice on shaping balsawood fins, since this is a new thing for me....

I started with a tiny build, the Asp Rocketry Theta 13. Three small balsawood fins. Found some nice tutorials about rounding the edges of the fins, and they came out... sort of ok? The shape of the fin tended to change over time so I had to keep adjusting the shape to make sure they matched.

I'm now working on a WAC Corporal kit, and the instructions for shaping are slightly more complicated (see below). Will take any suggestions on how to appropriately shape these guys.

Did all you early rocketeers just buy a sheet of balsawood and practice shaping fins until you got it right?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Nytrunner]

Unless you have a sanding guide the shape of your intended round profile, its just practice. Balsa is easy to shape (and easy to go too far). Sometimes I'll rough cut the corner wjth an xacto just to save some sanding time