Some of you might know that Goodwinds has been out of 0.098″ diameter solid carbon rod for some time – our manufacturer moved and had to set up a whole new microcarbon pultrusion machine. It’s now up and running and we have lots of 0.098. This is a great size for standoffs in kites and also has lots of applications in model airplanes. Visit our solid carbon page to order your 0.098 carbon today!
0.098 Carbon has arrived!
March 12th, 2010Customer Spotlight on: Warlord Sports
March 9th, 2010You may or may not be familiar with medieval combat games or Live Action Role-Playing (LARP), but at Goodwinds.com, we count those who participate in LARP and combat games among our best customers. These customers have a lot of fun with their sport!
Many of the foam weapons used in LARP and medieval combat games use a fiberglass core. Warlord Sports (www.warlordsports.com) is a quality purveyor of foam swords using Goodwinds’ fiberglass.
“Warlord Sports uses fiberglass tubing in the vast majority of our
products. When properly padded it has incredible resiliency, just the
right amount of rigidity, and a strength-to-weight ratio that simply
cannot be beat. We manufacture an entire line of top-end combat sports
products that rely on fiberglass tubing as the core component and no
other material can replace it.” -Brennon Meiners, Warlord Sports
We are happy to be a part of the LARPing world and supplying fiberglass to Warlord Sports. We also work with Edhellen Armoury and Merchants Wares, so there’s lots of Goodwinds fiberglass in LARP across America. Check it out, you might just find a fun new hobby!
NW Model Hobby Expo a Great Success!
February 23rd, 2010For the second year in a row, Goodwinds has displayed at the NorthWest Model Hobby Expo in Monroe, Washington. This year, the show was held over Valentine’s Day/Presidents’ Day weekend, so Leland made sure to ply the women in the office (myself and our mom) with chocolates beforehand. There were more vendors than in years past, and more attendees, too.
Model shows are a great lot of fun for us, because we get to interact with RC and hobby enthusiasts who use our carbon to build awesome machines. There’s a lot of satisfaction to be had in seeing the pleasure on a person’s face when he dreams of the things he will build with a piece of micro carbon. Just one of the many reasons we love this business!
In addition to selling as little as one piece of carbon at a time to end-users, we also supply many hobby and RC stores across the country with carbon and fiberglass rods and tubes. Micro carbon, carbon that is under about .080 inches in diameter, flexible and strong, and often used for pushrods in model planes and other applications, is one of our more popular product categories among hobby enthusiasts, and we are happy to sell it.
What a Great KTAI
January 25th, 2010After a long trip from Seattle to Las Vegas, a harrowing, bumpy descent into Nevada, and a mad dash over the rain-soaked freeway, we finally arrived in Primm to attend the annual Kite Trade Association International show.
We set up a marvelous booth with the focus on ourselves and our two computers – after all, porting endless amounts of carbon and fiberglass rods and tubes to the show was inadvisable, and the kite stores and manufacturers know all about our products without needing to see them. We demonstrated the ease of ordering through Goodwinds.com, but the most fun and important part of the trip was putting faces to names and building relationships with our valued customers.
Not only do we provide carbon, fiberglass, connectors, flying line, fabric, tapes, and other kite parts to kite retailers for repairs and kite building, but we also supply several manufacturers with carbon and fiberglass as raw materials.
We had a great time, and we enjoyed meeting some of the greats in the kiting industry. In two weeks, we’ll head to the NW Model Hobby Expoin Monroe, Washington, and we plan to attend iHobby in Illinois in October. Not to mention the American Kitefliers Association’s convention in Seaside, Oregon in October and perhaps the Washington Kiteflier’s Association Fort Worden event in March. Phew! It’s going to be a busy year. Perhaps we’ll see you at a show?
KTAI, Here We Come!
January 15th, 2010There’s something we can all count on in America: if the weather is bad, it’s probably nice in Las Vegas.
While we haven’t seen the below freezing temperatures of most of the country these past weeks, we have been hit with rain, howling wind, flood advisories, and the winter blues up here in Mount Vernon, Washington. Fortunately, the Kite Trade Association International’s trade show in Primm (outside of Las Vegas) is next week, and we’re going to give our bones a chance to warm up. We’ll be out of the office from Tuesday through Friday, January 19 through 22, but we will answer emails and return urgent phone calls. We will have limited capacity to ship orders, so be sure to tell us if you need something right away.
If you’re planning to attend KTAI, we would love to meet you. It’s always great to put faces to names, and we look forward to learning more about the kiting industry and seeing all the ways in which the carbon we supply is used in the industry.
And, hey, it’s Roger’s birthday on January 20th! He’ll be sixty years old, and Leland and I are planning on celebrating dad’s six awesome decades with an extra day in Las Vegas. We’re going to let him choose all the activities, which means we’ll be going to every car museum and eating loads of buffet food. A great time! Happy birthday, dad.
Let’s Talk Fiberglass
January 4th, 2010Wow, fiberglass. Used in so many things. In fact, your Corvette body is made out of it (you know, if you have one). So is the insulation in your house. Maybe even your cast if you break a bone.
But that’s not what Goodwinds sells. We provide American-made fiberglass rods and tubes from 0.060 inches in diameter up to over 1 inch in diameter, used in kites, tents, archery, RC hobbies, catamerans, and lots of industrial purposes including snow plow guides, underground gas detection, and inflatable jetliner slides (in case of emergency).
So what are fiberglass rods and tubes? How are they made? What is so special about them, anyhow?
Fiberglass Tubes
Well, fiberglass is, essentially, teeny-tiny fibers of glass that are reinforced with a polymer, usually an epoxy or vinylester resin. The tubes Goodwinds supplies are called Filament Wound Epoxy Tubing (FWET) and are created through a continuous winding process that can create tubes with very thin walls which are then reinforced with impregnated epoxy. These tubes are strong and somewhat flexible, and are great insulators.
Fiberglass Rods
The fiberglass rods Goodwinds supplies are formed from a pultrusion process – basically, a pulling of the fibers of glass through the polymer to bind them. These rods are flexible and have a great strength-to-weight ratio. If you’re interested in learning more about the pultrusion process, our supplier, Glasforms, has a guide with photos on their website here.
We love fiberglass rods and tubes, and we know our customers do, too. It is heavy and strong, flexible and durable. Best of all, it’s inexpensive, especially compared to carbon rods and tubes. If you’re looking to do a project and weight is not an issue, fiberglass is a very cost-effective way to go. The great flexibility of fiberglass is why it is used for tent poles and backpack stays, LARP swords and kites – fiberglass can accept a lot of shock force, bending without breaking.
What do you use fiberglass rods and tubes for? Tell us about your projects, we’d love to hear about them!
Goodwinds has Good Dogs
December 14th, 2009
Leland and Alli
One of the great things about Goodwinds is that it’s always “Bring Your Dog to Work Day” around here.
Alli is Roger & Jane’s dog, and she is a 35 pound Carolina Dog, or American Dingo. She’s very sweet and eager to please, and she especially loves elderly women (perhaps because my grandma was always so gentle with her and always had a pocket full of treats). Before becoming a retired working dog with an occasional stint at Goodwinds when she comes to visit, Alli went to work every day with our parents and greeted guests in their motel in Long Beach, WA.
Buster is my dog. Well, he’s our family dog, and he loves Leland and my parents, too, but he’s really my dog. Or maybe I’m his human? Buster is an 80 pound mutt, likely a Rottweiler-Chow Chow mix, along with some other breeds, as well. He is furry and happy, and he loves to play with his “sister,” Alli. He especially loves playing in the water and chasing the spray from a hose. He and my 13-month-old get along great, especially because Charles issues a nearly-endless supply of “treats” from his high chair during meals.
I frequently bring Buster to work with me – it beats staying at home alone or in his kennel, and we have been having some pretty cold weather lately. Yes, he sports a thick fur coat, but I still worry about him outside. He finds ways to amuse himself when he’s not greeting customers at Goodwinds:
Let’s Talk Carbon
December 2nd, 2009So many of our customers purchase carbon rods and tubes. They are used in kites, R/C hobbies, archery arrows, and various industrial purposes including framework for different types of projects.
But what is it, exactly? Are there different types of carbon rods and tubes? How are they made?
Carbon rods and tubes are made up of carbon fibers (mostly carbon molecules bonded together and woven or twisted to form a long fiber or fabric) that are pultruded (or pulled) through a resin that binds the fibers together (called a composite, because of the two products). The fibers are uni-directional, or all oriented in the same direction, the length of the rod or tube. This creates an especially high strength-to-weight ratio, which is what makes carbon rods and tubes popular choices for a variety of applications. The properties of carbon fiber are high tensile strength, low weight, and low thermal expansion.
The resins used on the carbon rods and tubes that Goodwinds buys are epoxy and vinylester. Vinylester resins form a chain of molecules around the carbon fibers to essentially “wrap” the rods and tubes. Epoxy, on the other hand, forms a sticky “weave” of molecules around the fibers to bind them together. The properties of the vinylester and epoxy carbon rods and tubes that Goodwinds sells are close enough that for kiting purposes, they might as well be the same. However, in many industrial purposes, the added strength of the epoxy “weave” is important. In the near future, we will be denoting the vinylester and epoxy rods and tubes as separate in our catalogue so that, should you have specific requirements, you can make an informed choice. Watch for that change soon!
Goodwinds purchases carbon rods and tubes from an American manufacturer, Diversified Structural Composites, in large quantities – we are then able to sell smaller quantities to wholesale and retail customers alike. We keep lots of carbon stock on-hand to make sure you can always get what you need, and we are able to offer attractive quantity discounts.
You might have also noticed that we offer tapered and/or wrapped carbon tubes. Tapered carbon tubes are just that – the tube changes diameters from one end to another. This is useful for archery arrows, some kites, and R/C sailboats, for example. All of the tapered tubes we sell are wrapped tubes, but not all wrapped tubes are tapered.
Wrapped carbon tubes are created by wrapping carbon fiber tape around a mandril and then binding it with epoxy or vinylester. Wrapped carbon tubes can be tapered or straight and are extremely light – the carbon wall is much thinner than that of pultruded carbon tubes and has more torsional strength. We sell two brandsof wrapped and tapered carbon: SkyShark and G-Force. Wrapped carbon tubes are used in archery arrows, kites, sailboats, and other hobby purposes.
We would love to talk to you about your carbon needs. In many cases, fiberglass rods and tubes are a lower-cost alternative to carbon, but they are heavier and more flexible. Give us a call and we’ll help you choose!
Welcome!
October 15th, 2009Welcome to the Goodwinds.Com blog! We’re excited to be able to keep in touch with you in this new way.
Who are we? Well, if the “about us” page of our site didn’t give you enough information, then here you go:
My brother, Leland, and I purchased Goodwinds (with a little help from our parents) in 2008. I was still working at the Mount Vernon Chamber of Commerce for a time, and my brother and dad got the business moved up to Mount Vernon from Seattle. You see, Goodwinds is a spinoff from Goodwinds Kite Store, owned by Kathy Goodwinds (great person and a great kitemaker). She and her son, Todd, ran a small parts business out of a back room of her retail shop. Originally, they had ordered all sorts of parts and pieces for making kites, and quickly found out that a kitemaking “general store” was just what the industry needed. They expanded to include lots of different manufacturers’ pieces and lots of carbon and fiberglass, but Todd eventually wanted to move on and Kathy wanted to get back to her roots in the kite store business, which is now called Gasworks Park Kite Store.
Leland and Buster, Greatest Dog Ever
We saw quickly, through our connections in the kite business (Leland and I grew up in Long Beach, Washington, and our mom is the Chair of the Washington State International Kite Festival) that this would be a great business to own and build upon, and my brother was looking for a way to build his business acumen, having recently graduated from Central Washington University.
The first big change was to a bigger warehouse space – and then, within six months, we moved again, to an even bigger space! We have expanded our stock to be able to supply LARP merchants and players, hobby stores, various industrial applications, luthiers, and kiters. We source carbon and fiberglass directly from American manufacturers and have found that our ability to buy these materials in quantity and inexpensively means that our customers get great deals.
I had a baby boy in November of 2008 and made the decision to move from my full-time job to a more flexible (if not less time) position as a partner in Goodwinds in early 2009. We have been working hard ever since, trying to even out inventory, make connections in the various industries we serve, and have a little fun at the same time.
Charles, Amelia, and Tony in August, 2009
In addition to my family, I am an avid reader and an aspiring chef. I try to find the time to run with my big dog, Buster, but most of my days are spent enjoying my family and bringing up baby Charles. My husband, a CPA, is also a partner in Goodwinds and guides me through the bookkeeping. My mom and dad still work with us on Goodwinds all the time, my dad claiming that it is “the most fun he’s ever had in business.” He’s a little bit crazy, though.
Leland spends a lot of his time trying to make Goodwinds the best possible business. He is quite customer-focused, but he also likes to sleep in. In his off time, he rides his road bicycle long distances in the beautiful Skagit Valley, and watches Seahawks football or Mariners baseball, depending on the season. It’s a good thing that our UPS man, Garrett, knows a lot about sports – he and Leland rehash football like nobody’s business.
Ahh, yes, and you’re likely to talk to our dad, Roger, or mom, Jane here on occasion. They are pretty fun people and try to help out when they can. Suprisingly, they are quite busy these days, even though they are retired from their former careers as hotel owner/operators in Long Beach. They spend lots of time helping out at their local Humane Society, where they are both on the board of directors, and they have hobbies galore. We sure enjoy it when they come to visit.
- Roger and Grandson Charles
