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  #31  
Old 02-26-2008, 01:27 PM
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Mark II Mark II is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rustee
Ok,don't slice your finger off with this one,but I needed a very thin,sharp blade so I broke a disposable razor apart and took out a blade,it's so thin it will get between the cut lines of a fin sheet and flexible enough so it will conform to a body tube and slice a fin or lug off flush like it wasn't even there,should it be broken or crooked. Of course,it's also razor sharp!

You can buy packs of single-edge razor blades at just about any hardware store.

You can also get scalpels for really intricate work.

Neither of these items is essential, IMHO, at least for someone who is just starting out, and I would be reluctant to recommend them to younger builders. (This comes from painful personal experience - several experiences, in fact.) It's good to reach adulthood with all of your fingers intact. (I eventually learned that, and did manage somehow to keep all of mine.)

Once the builder has learned to exercise appropriate care (and manual dexterity, too), these tools can be real handy to have around when the right situations come up, such as in the ones that you mentioned.

I wouldn't recommend breaking apart a shaver to salvage the blade, though. You have no margin for error with that, and you are using the blade for something that it was never designed to do. Other tools are available to do the same thing, such as the previously mentioned scalpels. They at least are actually designed to be used as hand tools, and therefore possess some safety features.

Mark
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  #32  
Old 02-26-2008, 08:37 PM
Rustee Rustee is offline
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Default Oh ya?

I would recommend doing exactly what I described,because a blade's intended purpose is for cutting,like for instances where a single-edged razor blade or scalpel won't work. So there.
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  #33  
Old 02-27-2008, 02:34 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rustee
I would recommend doing exactly what I described,because a blade's intended purpose is for cutting,like for instances where a single-edged razor blade or scalpel won't work. So there.

That's fine. You can do whatever you want, cowboy. Don't let anything that I say, or anything that anyone else on this forum says, or common sense stop you. Neither me nor anyone else here is trying to control you. I just definitely do not recommend that anyone else do what you are doing.

Mark
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Last edited by Mark II : 02-27-2008 at 03:08 AM.
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  #34  
Old 02-27-2008, 07:31 AM
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Solomoriah Solomoriah is offline
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I'm with Mark II on this one. I wouldn't dismantle a disposable razor... a really sharp, very flexy blade with no handle just does not sound like a smart thing to play with.
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  #35  
Old 02-27-2008, 08:34 AM
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Not exactly a tool but...it works.

If your neighbor, or you, are replacing any interior doors do some dumpster diving and save one.

Actually a bifold closet door works better but a plain interior door works real well.

Strip all the hardware off of it and get a pair of those cheap folding plastic sawhorses. Harbor Freight has them sometimes for $10 a pair and make a handy portable work bench.

Works great and nobody will care what you spill on it!
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  #36  
Old 02-27-2008, 02:28 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sandman
Not exactly a tool but...it works.

If your neighbor, or you, are replacing any interior doors do some dumpster diving and save one.

Actually a bifold closet door works better but a plain interior door works real well.

Strip all the hardware off of it and get a pair of those cheap folding plastic sawhorses. Harbor Freight has them sometimes for $10 a pair and make a handy portable work bench.

Works great and nobody will care what you spill on it!


I bought a cheap plain interior door to use as a flat build table for R/C airplanes years ago. I put drop ceiling tiles on the board so I could pin down the parts with T pins. I've never needed it for rocketry, but it might come in handy for somebody on some odd rocketry project. Good one, Sandman!
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  #37  
Old 02-27-2008, 02:44 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tbzep
I bought a cheap plain interior door to use as a flat build table for R/C airplanes years ago. I put drop ceiling tiles on the board so I could pin down the parts with T pins. I've never needed it for rocketry, but it might come in handy for somebody on some odd rocketry project. Good one, Sandman!


I did the same thing years ago when I was into stick and tissue free flight rubber band airplanes. Probably one of the absolute cheapest hobbies you could get into.

Instead of buying a new door, go to your local lumber yard, living in a small town makes it much easier, ask them if they have any damaged bifold closet doors.

Usually they have one or two that have been damaged in shipment, storage or by the new kid learning to drive the fork lift.

You can sometimes get them for free.

I have one mounted by it's hinges on the wall of my shop with folding legs. When it's not being used it can fold up against the wall.

Of course I don't think I ever folded it up 'cause it's always pilled up with "stuff"!

I believe that it's one of Murphy's Laws, "The amount of existing material will expand to fill the available space."
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  #38  
Old 02-27-2008, 08:07 PM
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Back in my original post on this thread, I mentioned a very handy little tool. It's a little hobby vise that I got from Tower Hobbies. My son has all but taken it over. Any time I want to use it, I have to move it from where he works on his stuff.

I ordered another one Saturday so that we will both have our own little hobby vise. It came today. Anybody that wants to see a picture, check post #7, or just click right here.
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  #39  
Old 02-27-2008, 09:52 PM
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I keep at least one of every size body tube around for painting nose cones. They are typically scraps 6" long or so. Even if you are painting a cone the same color as the body tube, I find it helpful to paint them separately. Some cones need a fair amount of manipulation to fully paint, such as needing to hit them from the top down to get the tip painted. This is easier if it's off the rocket, so you aren't loading the rocket's body tube with overspray.

I also wrap a piece of paper around the tube, so the tube stays clean and does not load up with lots of paint from multiple painting sessions. And finally, I wear at least one nitrile glove, to keep the hand holding the tube free of paint. Since it gets little paint on it typically, I use the glove for numerous painting sessions. (Yep, I'm cheap ...)

To dry, I have wooden blocks with a dowel in them, much like a rocket display stand, to hold the tube upright while drying. Or, you can clamp a dowel in a workbench vise, to support the tube as the cone dries.
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  #40  
Old 02-29-2008, 09:12 PM
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some of my personel favorite tools not previously mentioned

-parchment paper, not even ca glue sticks to it . I lay a sheet on the worktable when glueing painting ect and a sheet lasts a long time.you can see drawings thru it if necesary

-glad press n seal ,great with masking off rockets for painting it really sticks but is not sticky so no taping off necessary. it can even be used as a mask when rubbed down and trimmed, I also use it to seal bottles of paint, glue, epoxy cans ..ect ( also reusable)

-bamboo skewers, for mixing ,glueing

- nail sanding sticks from Sally's beauty supply (all different grits) I use these alot !

-estes marking guide, I use it most of the time to draw perfect circles around nosecones.

-lazy susan- for painting

-3m adhesive spray , for paper laminating balsa sheet

-swingarm lamp with magnifier,couldn't live without it(my eyesight aint so great anymore)

-plastic squeeze bottles, I premix fill n finish and always have a bottle ready, very quick way to go about filling without having to mix something up or worry about it drying out.
I also keep larger bottle glues in the smaller squeeze bottles , including west system epoxy

-ambroid pro weld- for plastic joining

-rocket building cradle- a few different sizes ( for the larger rockets)

- decal film, decal solvent, and decal set .

-110# cardstock- worth mentioning again (many uses)

-plastic totes- shoebox size , for keeping all those unfinished projects in.

-little plastic springclamps, I use these buggers alot !

-craft level artist brushes, many uses, also essential for lifting , turning, unfolding and pushing decals into position.

-balsa usa gold ca-thin and thick (they don't make medium) after trying it,I'll never use annother brand.

-aluminum angle, a few sizes and length

-empty engine/motor casings- marking ,setting motor blocks, hooks and for making model stands.

-scissors,good ones strictly for paper and cardstock.

-room , to put all this stuff.....
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