I have a scratch built 54mm rocket where I rolled the tubes on a 2.125" aluminum mandrel with a mylar release film. I need to make couplers for them rocket, but the off-the-shelf 54mm fiberglass couplers that I can find are ~1.14" OD. they are also a somewhat thin wall, so I don't want to thin them down more. I could get a 54mm thin wall fiberglass motor case from RCS, but then I would be tempted to buy some additional research supplies that I don't need right now..... On my first 54mm min diameter rocket, I cut a slit in the airframe tube, and then fiberglassed the seam on the ID. The finish was rather rough, and it was more of an egg shape cross section, rather than a perfect circular OD. This allowed the joint between tubes to rock back and forth a bit, and lead to some wiggle on the way up.
I currently want to roll up a thick coupler on a 2" mandrel, and machine it down to the right OD for a nice tight fit into the tube.
What is the best way to machine fiberglass? I have a lathe, but I don't know if standard metal cutting tools will be right for cutting fiberglass. It looks like the FW stuff from Wildman is wet sanded by a machine to the final size.
Thanks!
I currently want to roll up a thick coupler on a 2" mandrel, and machine it down to the right OD for a nice tight fit into the tube.
What is the best way to machine fiberglass? I have a lathe, but I don't know if standard metal cutting tools will be right for cutting fiberglass. It looks like the FW stuff from Wildman is wet sanded by a machine to the final size.
Thanks!