Soller update

I sent an email this morning inquiring about the refund for the nitrile gloves I cancelled from my order. About 3 hours after I sent the email I had a reply stating the funds had been refunded to my credit card. They haven't shown up on VISA yet, but I assume it takes time for them to process the refund to my account.

Fiberglassing 101

Today, for the first time in some 30 years, I did fiberglassing. The last time was working with my Dad to do some body work on a rusted out fender and then he handled the epoxy mixing. Today was the first time I would do the entire process on my own.

For this reason I purchased the practice tube I previously spoke about and today it was time to glass it.

I'm using the West Systems epoxy and fiberglass sleeve sold by Soller Composites with the 207 hardner.

I started by borrowing a trick from Vern Knowles and using foam to make centering rings to mount my tube on a PVC pipe. I then slid the fiberglass sleeve down the tube and used masking tape to secure the first end to the PVC pipe. I then worked the fiberglass back along the tube to make it as snug and even a fit as I could. I used the masking tape to cinch down the sleeve on the second end of the PVC and then borrowed again from Vern. I masked off all but a narrow band of the sleeve and then applied the same 3M Super 77 adhesive he used to prevent fraying. I gave that a bit of time to set up then cut the sleeve off and finished securing the second end to the PVC pipe with more masking tape.

I then mixed up the epoxy using the pumps I'd purchased to ensure the proper ratio of resin and hardner. To apply the epoxy I opted to just pour it onto the fiberglass and then use my gloved hand to spread the it along the tube. The only issue I had was when I was working at the end of the tube the fiberglass wouln't adhere despite having plenty of epoxy. Apparently I still had some slack in the sleeve that I'd not been able to work out during prep. I was not overly concerned about this as I intended to use heat shrink tubing to squeeze out excess epoxy and this would also have the affect of compressing the fiberglass against the tube while the epoxy cured, ensuring there would be no long term issue.

I did find that I'd mixed up more epoxy than I really needed and like my fellow local rocketeers I was trying to find something to do with the excess. Unfortunately I didn't come up with anything. It wasn't a whole lot and I'm not sure that using only 2 pumps of resin and hardner would have made enough epoxy.

The heat shrink tubing went on without any difficulty and performed as advertised. The tube is now hung (as recommended by Jon Soller) in the garage while it cures. Tomorrow I intend to strip the shrink tubing from it and dismount it from the PVC so I can glass the real airframe, payload bay, and coupler tubes. Fortunately the heat shrink tubes that were missing from my order showed up in the mail today.

Photo Album: Fiberglassing 101

Ordering Fiasco

I placed the order for the fiberglassing materials for use on the Vulcanite on July 28th or 29th with Soller Composites. (I can't tell from the receipt generated by Soller which day it was.) On the afternoon of the 29th I received an email from the sales department stating they were out of stock on the nitrile gloves I'd ordered and that they expected to have them back in stock on Monday (presumably August, 2nd) and asking if I wanted to wait for them to arrive. I replied that I would wait until they could ship the entire order. I was expecting an email to tell me my order had shipped on the 2nd. When I hadn't heard anything by the afternoon of the 4th I sent an email inquiring about the order status. I got back an email (with a time stamp more than an hour before I sent my inquiry) stating the order was still being held pending delivery of the gloves and they expected them to be back in stock later in the week. I again agreed to continue waiting. By August 11th I was tired of waiting and called them up and left a voice mail advising them to cancel the gloves and ship the order posthaste. I followed the phone call with a an email stating the same. That afternoon I got an email stating that my order was shipped and provided two tracking numbers. While Jon Soller had said it would only take UPS three or four days to get the order to me, it took the full week I had predicted, so I finally got the order on August 18th. I inspected the order and discovered that I'd only been shipped one of the three shrink tubes I'd ordered. I called and left a voice mail stating the deficiency. On the morning of the 19th I received an email stating that a package had been shipped via USPS priority mail, so I assume my missing tubes are on their way.

In the mean time Soller charged my credit card for the full amount of the purchase on July 30th, a charge that included the cost of the nitrile gloves. To date they have not applied the credit for the gloves, so I will be back on the phone with them on Monday.

Due to the quality of service I've received so far I really wish there were another vendor out there selling the fiberglass sleeving material. So far Soller is the only vendor I've found. I've also not heard any complaints from the other local rocketeers that have used their services, so hopefully my experiences are an isolated event.