Rolling Tubes Tek

[Sparx88]

Wiley, on 30 Apr 2015 - 3:26 PM, said:

Care to share how you roll the tubes?

Posting this as a new thread seemed to me to be more helpfull than having it in a thread not everyones going to look at for tube rolling tek. I swear by my ways and hope someone finds this helpfull and actually tries it out so it can be confirmed as good.

 

Ok, now this is how I do them for most things. Back when I was still doing 1" and 1.5" shell farts like the one on that rocket for cakes, I rolled the guns and shells. Same method now. Not really a "method" or "super secret" lol. It's really all about the paper and the glue. How you go about using whatever mandrels you like and how you keep the rolls tight is up to you. What size you need etc. for me, it's -virgin 60 lb kraft- I get at office depot they come in 3' x 15' rolls. The glue is 50% standard wheat paste(already made), 30% Tight Bond, 20% water to thin. I just have my strips cut and start painting them with the glue on both sides, with aluminum foil spread out for a work surface, and keep the strips wet until they have turned dark brown and have absorbed as much glue as they will. Note----wait too long and the strips will tear easy. That goes for any paper. I roll 1 strip at a time. No matter how many a tube needs for desired thickness. With well waxed mandrels the tubes slide right off as long as you gave the strips one last paint before rolling to re-wet them. They should'nt be allowed to dry at all during the glue stage anyway. Then just give them a gentle wipe off the excess glue slop and dry them slow. No fans or heat. In fact here recently I have been drying them on waxed dowels/mandrels once the surface wet has dried and just slid them back on. Then, you can dry them faster with fans or heat but only while they are back on the mandrels. I buy 4' lengths of dowels at lowes so to have a bunch extra for drying like that is not a problem. Just 400 grit sand them and wax on wax off sort of deal. Thats about it, not really a method or anything. The tubes are strong, rigid and they look nice. Kraft.

 

 

edit;-- on the wheat paste, just to be clear, when I say standard wheat paste already made is I make it myself with, flour, and water, and a nukem-all machine Oh, and for anyone who does'nt already know, you can preserve your glue, or glue like mine by adding a level tablespoon of boric acid per quart. Yep, stays fresh for months and months and no more wasting. Just re-heat until steaming before capping and put away. Helps out. Boric acid kills mold. Oh and does'nt affect the glue's performance in any negative way unless a super chemical guru can point out otherwise, I have'nt noticed any change No stinky nasty glue

[BurritoBandito]

I'm not a super chemical guru by any stretch of the imagination, but doesn't boric acid cause the polymers in PVA glues to crosslink?

 

Edit: http://userpages.umbc.edu/~marten/gsn/silly_putty_science.pdf

Edited May 9, 2015 by BurritoBandito

[Sparx88]

Don't know I checked that out but don't see anything concerning tight bond or wheat paste interesting read though, ty for sharing

[BurritoBandito]

I was thinking tightbond is a PVA wood glue, but even if it was I guess your method for preserving glue has been working for you.

[Wiley]

Thanks for sharking Sparx!

 

Interesting procedure, especially on the glue. When I roll my tubes I just thin down elmer's white glue until I get something that looks like 2% milk. It's not quite 50:50; it has more glue in it than that. I'd be really curious to see how you keep the tube tight on the mandrel as you roll it. That has been my biggest sticking place for rolling large tubes.

[Sparx88]

BB, just messing with you would that be a good thing? The crosslinking? Sounds like it would be at least in this way of using it.

 

Wiley, you can also cut a small piece of dry paper to cover the wet strip at the start of the roll so the mandrel doesn't make contact with the wet strip for 2 turns. That helps me sometimes when they get slippery like that. I just get them started tight and apply even pressure down on the roll as I rollin to prevent any bubbles etc. Sometimes I have to unroll a bit to fix but not to often.

[BurritoBandito]

I think it would be good if the cross linking occurred after your tubes were rolled, but detrimental to the bond if it happened prior to application, but I can't say for certain.