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In a realization of every child’s dream, Yves “The Jetman” Rossy flew around Rio de Janeiro using a jet-propelled composite wing. The wing is made from a carbon-kevlar composite and is powered with four jet engines. Yikes! He cruised at speeds between 120 and 180 miles per hour and his flight looks exhilarating.
As January rolls to a close, Goodwinds wants to say to all our customers, suppliers, and friends, happy new year!
We’ve had a crazy few weeks, and it already seems as though 2012 is busier than last year. We’re settled into our new space at 2629 Henson Road in Mount Vernon and we have experienced an increase in productivity and precision far beyond our imaginations. The new saw room is pristine and really allows us to make accurate cuts to our carbon and fiberglass rods and tubes. Having our total stock in one big room makes it easy to keep track of it, and we are able to better anticipate inventory needs, which, of course, means that we can fulfill orders faster and more completely.
Well, the move wasn’t the only trick we had up our sleeve for bringing you better service in the new year; oh no, we’re about to launch a new website that will allow you to access information and specifications about our American-made carbon and fiberglass! We’re calling it our “industrial website” because it’s goal is to provide information for engineers and tinkerers to allow them to better build their products with Goodwinds’ rods and tubes. You can look for more information about this new website here as soon as we are live – within the next two weeks! Of course, you’ll always be able to access our large line of carbon, fiberglass, line, connectors, tapes, fabric, and other accessories at www.Goodwinds.com.
In short, we think 2012 is going to be a great year! Drop us a line to find out how we can help you with your composite rod and tube needs.
In addition to all of the really cool industrial customers with whom we work (Boeing, Blimpworks, NASA, and so many more), we supply composite carbon and fiberglass rods and tubes to a variety of small businesses and manufactures making some really interesting stuff. Did you know that you can use Goodwinds carbon and fiberglass as framework for your backpacking hammock? Check out hammockforums.net for more inspiration. There are lots of ways to use composites in RC cars, helicopters, and airplanes (especially foamies!). You can find some really neat RC projects at rcgroups.com and rcuniverse.com. Some of our customers are also active with LARP, archery, spear fishing, hiking (using composites for hiking sticks), puppet making, and other great hobbies. How do you use carbon and fiberglass?
One of the great advantages to buying carbon rods and tubes from Goodwinds is the absence of minimum orders. We have fantastic prices for low quantities, and quantity discounts when you order more. The reason we are able to do this is that we purchase large quantities of rods and tubes at long lengths and then cut them to spec for our customers. Recently, our carbon manufacturer has raised the prices of carbon rods and tubes – twice within the past 6 months! The reason for this is a global increase in the price of carbon fibers.
It is possible to still purchase inexpensive Chinese carbon rods and tubes. Chinese carbon is made with fewer carbon fibers and more vinylester or epoxy (the glue that binds the carbon fibers together) than American carbon, and is less strong as a consequence.
Because Goodwinds supplies many industrial companies with carbon, we have chosen to continue to supply high-quality, American-made carbon rods and tubes to our customers. We understand that quality is important to our customers, whether you are a hobbyist or one of our industrial partners or an engineer. You will see prices rise at Goodwinds, but hopefully not very much as we work with these new price fluctuations. And we will always offer quantity and wholesale discounts. Please contact us with any questions.
This coming weekend, Leland and Paul will be making waves at the iHobby Expo in Chicago with Goodwinds’ carbon and fiberglass rods and tubes. Not only are we waiting to set you up with a wholesale account if you are a retailer, but we would love to show you some of the fantastic wrapped carbon, microcarbon, and carbon tubes we have available. Visit us at booth #1913!
The first days of the show are specifically for retailers, and we would love to show you how we can save you money and offer you better carbon that your customers want! We have an easy online-ordering process with deep discounts – who doesn’t want to save money in this economy? Also, we are willing to ship custom lengths of any of our rods and tubes. This means that you get what you want without any waste. Finally, no order is too small to qualify for the wholesale discount. That’s right, you can order $50 or $5,000 worth of carbon and fiberglass (at custom lengths, if you like!) and you’ll get the same great prices and the same great service. We want to be your composites supplier.
The second part of the show is for the public. And boy, do we love meeting the public! We’ll have lots of neat wrapped carbon tail booms and sailboat masts, microcarbon rods, and carbon tubes for sale so that you can get started on your project right away! We’ll also have lots of samples to touch and explore – the possibilities are endless, and we would love to hear what great ideas you have for working with Goodwinds’ composites!
Come visit us at booth #1913 in the Donald E Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont (Chicago), Illinois October 21-24! We’ll see you there!
Goodwinds is now fully stocked on some beautiful .750 inch diameter solid carbon rod. This solid carbon fiber has a lustrous finish and is perfectly straight. Strong and light (compared to, say, steel), this 3/4 inch carbon rod is ideal for reinforcing big structures. We have it listed here, and we even put a 12-inch part number online, but, as usual, you are welcome to call us and order any length of it. You will not be disappointed in this fantastic solid carbon fiber rod!
Some of Goodwinds’ customers require extremely straight rods and tubes for their applications. Perhaps their end products are precision tools used in physics labs or aeronautics. Perhaps a super-straight rod helps their arrows fly true or the airplane stay in balance.
Getting straight pultruded carbon tubes is no mean feat. Sure, every 48-inch length of carbon fiber tube might look straight to the naked eye, but might in fact deviate more than five hundredths of an inch over those 4 feet. That minute deviation can be critical do the structure of a design.
We have a couple of different ways of testing our carbon tubes for straightness. First, we can roll them along a straight, flat surface, like a slab of granite, and check for roll variance. Though this is low-tech, it is quite effective.
Another method is to use our lazer micrometer to measure the deviation of the tube from the center. The machine slowly spins the tube as a lazer passes over the center. A computer interface generates a graph and, with a lot of math, a precise measurement of the deviation. In this manner, we sort our tubes for straightness, setting aside those that deviate less than two hundredths of an inch over 48 inches in length.
There are inherent difficulties in created straight pultruded tubes. During the manufacturing process, the carbon fibers are oriented and drawn through a die with a binding agent (usually epoxy or vinyl ester resin). They are then pulled to a second and a third die, each time getting closer to the goal diameter. As this is done over several feet, gravity and other forces can pull the carbon fibers to one side or another of the tube, causing it to lose a small degree of straightness.
Goodwinds unearthed some beautifully braided .394″ OD heavy wall carbon tubes from our recent purchase of Avia Sport Composites. They range in length from 40 inches to 48 inches and have an inner diameter of .175″. We have about 500 pieces available at $16.99 each (but we’ll make you a deal if you want a few), so if you are interested, give us a call a 206-633-6151 or email info@goodwinds.com or order direct here.
Check out that braid!:
Goodwinds.com welcomes Paul de Bakker to our staff! Paul has joined us as the Deputy Director of Sales, and he brings to Goodwinds his extensive knowledge of carbon and fiberglass (he has a degree in Composites Engineering!) as well as his vast experience designing, building, and flying kites.
Paul is originally from Holland, and he has lived in the United States for the past couple of years with his wife, Delita. During that time, he formed his own boutique kite company, Focus Kite Designs, with a longtime friend and fellow kiteflyer, Hunter Brown. The two design and build upscale, high-quality kites for shipment all over the world.
We at Goodwinds lured Paul and Delita away from North Carolina with the promise of hiking Washington’s beautiful mountains, kiteboarding in the fantastic Puget Sound, and participating in kite competitions, such as the Washington State International Kite Festival, in the Pacific Northwest. Paul is quite the competitor, routinely placing in both indoor and outdoor kite competitions:
We are so excited to have Paul with us at Goodwinds.com. He’s young, he’s fun, and he’s extremely knowledgeable. He will be working with a variety of industries, including hobby and RC stores, to meet their carbon and fiberglass needs. Drop us a line and say hello to Paul today!
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