Here are the fins and one tube for the 29mm rocket. The fins are made for .050 inch thick G10 and two wraps of 8.2 oz fiberglass using 3:1 US Composites epoxy. the Fins where cut out, then aligned and stacked onto each other so I could drill holes to hold them together while I sanded them on a belt sander. This allowed me to get the fins all the same size and shape. The holes will also allow the epoxy to get a better hold onto the fiberglass. I then wrapped the individual fins with two wraps of glass and I poured epoxy onto them (both sides). I did not use a lot of epoxy, because I wanted to infuse the epoxy by the vacuum bag system. So I laid them onto a small piece of plexiglas and poured the epoxy one one side. Then I placed another same size piece of plexiglas on the fins and removed the other so I could finish pouring the epoxy on the other side and replaced the plexiglas back onto the fins. I then placed the setup into the vacuum bag and sucked it down and sealed the bag and let it sit overnight. The picture below show the fins in the bag. Once they where dry, I took them out of the bag, trimmed them up and resanded them back to their original shape using a belt sander. They came out very strong and yet still light weight. I think these will work great.
The next four pictures of of the body tube I made. The tubes consist of two wraps of 8.2 oz fiberglass and one medium 1.5 inch Aerosleeve sock. I started of with the two wraps of glass that went over two wraps of 4 mil clear mylar. Once all the fiberglas was wetted out, I carefully put the sock over the wet fiberglass. Once it was in the proper place I gripped the center of the mandrel and using both my hands I squeezed the Aerosleeve and move my arms outwards from the center. I kept doing this until the Aerosleeve was completely wet for the fiberglass underneath the Aerosleeve. I set it aside to cure. Once the tubes where dry, I light sanded the tubes using my lathe to just get the rough high spots off. I then used Super Fil to fill in the low spots and set it aside to dry again. Super Fil is a product by Ploy Fiber that is a very light epoxy filler the sands easy. I used a bondo squeegee to apply the Super Fil product. It takes a bit getting used to, but once you do, you can make a little go a long way.
More coming soon.
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