LUNAR List Excerpt

Date: Fri, 09 Feb 2001

To: lunar-general@lists1.ba.best.com

Subject: Balsa Nosecones

I am just starting to build a kit (Cosmodrome Nike Apache) that has a balsa nose cone and transition piece. I'm concerned that the balsa won't hold up very well. Could I make the balsa more durable by coating it with a thin CA or maybe a slow cure epoxy, and let it soak in to the grain. I don't know if anyone has tried this, but since the nose cone is sooo long and thin, I don't think it'll last too many flights. All my other rockets have plastic nose cones and seem to very durable. -Jeff F

Yes. Or you could get some really light glass cloth - like the 3/4 oz. stuff sold under the K+B brand of RC model airplane supplies - and laminate on a layer or two of that with the thin epoxy. -Dave W

Hi Jeff, I have used balsa nosecones on a lot of rockets and they have always held up well. They get dents in them but don't break or split like the plastic nosecones. I usually start finishing them with a really thin coat of balsa sealer so that it soaks into the wood. A few more coats with sanding in between leave a reasonably hard shiny surface. One thing you do need to do is to be sure the sealer is compatible with the chemistry of the paint you are planning to use. Lacquers (some auto paints) don't seem to get along with most wood sealers. I have had lacquer primer crack and split when painted over wood sealer. --Bill O

I would use silkspan and dope. On the conical nose this will go on very easily. For even more, use .2 oz/square yd graphite and dope. The other advantage of either is that it's very easy to finish, and will take much less filler, to seal the silkspan than it would to try to fill the grain directly. -Brett B

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