I do, as well as some other members in the club. Whats up?

KenP.

Just thinking.......hmmm
Id like to see someones rocket built out of carbon fiber.
Maybe in a few months my next rocket will be.
Stuff is kinda expensive.

Scott e

I have a couple I can show you. I'll send you a PM.

KenP.

Carbon is expensive, but the price has dropped substantially over the last 6 months or so as production has ramped up. You can thank Boeing, Airbus and the Joint Strike Fighter for the price increases over the last 2 years. Prices went from about $25/yard for 6oz and jumped to nearly $90/yard IF you could find it in stock. That has fortunately changed.

Laying up carbon is an art - particularly if you want a cosmetic fabric weave sort of finish. There is a yahoo group called Composite Rockets that specializes in this sort of thing and a resident expert named Mick Kelly who is truly a god of carbon layup. I highly recommend you go there and learn all you can before you spend dime-one on fabric and epoxy.

Personally I have a full vacuum bagging rig and the result one can optain with it are amazing.

Warren

Vacume bagging!

I guess I have a lot to learn. 😯
Ill check out that group.

Scott e

HEY

My wife has a food saver I bought her for christmas a couple years back.
Will that work? Its always nice if you can get them presents that you can use! Shotgun, chainsaw or

Scotte

Dont laugh, my wife has her own chain saw.

I used a food-saver for years before I stepped up to a full vacuum system. Best for use on fins to be honest, although I have done a few airframe with it. Biggest problem with airframes is you end up with two wrinkles running the length of the tube from the crease in the bags.

One nice thing about the food saver is that once you pull the vacuum and seal the bag, you don't have to leave the vacuum pump running. Since I've changed over to a vacuum bag system, my pump has to run continuously until the epoxy has kicked off to a hard gel state - typically 6-10 hours.

Warren

Warren

What vacume system did you get??

Dammit, you guys keep making me think of spending more money!!!
I thought after an altimiter, level 2 cert, and a tracking device, that would be it for sure!! I just can't afford a L3 attempt in January. Well I shouldnt! 😉

Scott e

Scott, slow down! 🙂 Only Art Hoag does all three in one day (of course, he was around it since he was eight!). 8) Enjoy the journey! You're on the right track with people who know about carbon fiber (Conway helped get Ken [Xman] get started; Ken's pictures of Carbon Diem are in the Photo Album section), Warren, Wilke, and others have the art down, and other aspects that take time to learn. There are no quick and indestructible ways to do this. You have to fail to succeed... I know about that. And, it's fun! And when Tim Thomas lends you a motor case and closures after you've bought a reload from him, you will know just what he's offering. Check the prices of motor cases and reloads in the 75/98mm range.

Scott,

I have used the foodsaver system many times. As Warren points out, the biggest problem is trying to avoid the wrinkles in a body tube. Anyway, it still makes for some great components and its a great way to get started with vacuum bagging.

Check out www.sollercomposites.com and www.aerosleeves.com for your materials. They both carry some really good products - particularly the carbon fiber sleeves. I have had incredibly good service from Soller, but note that Aerosleeves is having a sale through mid December (and they do cater to the rocket community). Just a quick comment that you need to buy on sale from Aerosleeves as they are usually a bit higher than Soller on the average day.

Making your own tubes, now I didnt think about that.
Dont worry Bruce, Ive got enough on the table to keep me busy for a little while.
Just always thinking way ahead. A few days ago I thought a tube was a tube. Making a carbon tube doesnt sound a whole lot harder to me than glass wraping a phenolic tube. If you have the right stuff.

Scotte

Yes, wrapping in carbon is basically the same as with fiberglass. But note that the dust from cutting and sanding carbon fiber is must more troublesome than with fiber glass.

Don't breathe either of them, but carbon is worse than glass. Also, carbon is conductive so the little black pieces of dust will ruin electronics and electric tools.

Here is some of the places I shop.

RAKA, INC. http://www.raka.com/

US Composites http://www.shopmaninc.com/carbonpage.html

Carbcom, Inc. http://carb.com/

Troy

I'd start with a CF sleeve over phenolic. It's the easiest way to get a nice strong tube. By the way Aerosleeves is having a 50% off sale until mid December. Now might be the time to get some 6" sleeve for my next project!

Ken.