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I was under the impression the heat damage in the fin area was coming from the motors. Thus the idea to do a wrap or sleeve on this portion with the ceramic materials. Insulation….I had not thought of the blast…   Read more»

it is also not just sitting in an oven, you have air flow over it, I have seen ablated fins and NC, it looked like a saw blade. the air flow is very concentrated and will have the most effect…   Read more»

wow – that’s impressive (the boost and the picture)

I think the initial “burning” you see is simply soot, I don’t believe it was anything to intense or would have caused the deformation we saw.

Indeed, I concur with that. Keep in mind I put the Kilz on with a spray can, wet sand a lot of it away, and call it good 😯

Even at primer bubbling…the heat doesn’t penetrate. That is a very thin layer that is bonded on the best it can being an applied coating. Now if you powder coated something….then I’d be really afraid if you bubbled the paint….   Read more»

Glass with high-temperature epoxy would do just fine for the fastest, hottest flights. The hobby store fiberglassing epoxy I used on Barack-it got noticably softer around 120 F. Aeropoxy is one of the higher-temperaure epoxies in common usage and it’s…   Read more»

For my part, I think much of my damage happened in the first two feet of my flight. The pix that Ray and Chris sent me showed a cooked fin as the rocket was leaving the tower. If you look…   Read more»

I want to know who’s getting to 1200F first of all. Motors have to be kept under 392F (200C) and I’m having a hard time imagining a rocket going long enough that the entire body heats to 1200F. Something says…   Read more»

You’re quite right Adrian – the key is the epoxy. Kevlar can take 1200 F before significant deterioration of the fabric. Carbon can take more and again the issue is the epoxy rather than the fabric. Some folks use a…   Read more»

I agree that the epoxy will be the limiting factor for any of these, but wouldn’t carbon and glass both be more heat-resistant than Kevlar? Both are refractory materials, particularly carbon-carbon composites. Glass melts at 1400C. Carbon is nice for…   Read more»

I have used Kevlar in most of my composite projects – primarily for impact resistance, but on my latest – my L3 bird – also for heat resistance. The issue will be whether your epoxy can stand up to the…   Read more»

I have used Kevlar in most of my composite projects – primarily for impact resistance, but on my latest – my L3 bird – also for heat resistance. The issue will be whether your epoxy can stand up to the…   Read more»

I was just browsing the soller sight again. Who cares what they are made out of!Some of those hybrid fabrics just look cool!Its a shame when men drool over fabrics. :)STOP IT, YOU ARE SCARING ME!!!!!Furry rockets, now that’s funny,…   Read more»

I was just browsing the soller sight again. Who cares what they are made out of!Some of those hybrid fabrics just look cool!Its a shame when men drool over fabrics. 🙂

Not sure about the temperature, but keep in mind that it can’t be sanded, unless you want your rocket to look like a sweater, that is.

A Rocket sweater. Theres a man who loves his Rocket. Nit 1 pearl 2

Not sure about the temperature, but keep in mind that it can’t be sanded, unless you want your rocket to look like a sweater, that is.

I used stove paint for years on my drag car, it burns off over a short time at those temps…… There was a ceramic process for coating the headers and it stayed on. But, I don’t remember how they did…   Read more»

I used stove paint for years on my drag car, it burns off over a short time at those temps…… There was a ceramic process for coating the headers and it stayed on. But, I don’t remember how they did…   Read more»

I’ve heard on the Composite Rocketry group that Cotronics is $80 for less than a 1/2 pint and that it has a maximum shelf life of 6 months – use it or lose it. I’ve been planning on buying some…   Read more»