Does anyone know where is the best place to find carbon fiber rods? Someone told me a kite shop but I do not find 2mm to 4mm sizes.

Rob

Give Anything R/C a try: www.anythingrc.com. I got a selection of CF tubes and rods from them, the tubes were the best I've found yet: thin-wall and very light.

Plus- they're really nice to work with. You could also try Into the Wind Kites (www.intothewind.com), or Hang-em High kites (www.citystar.com/hang-em-high/ushop/). They both have great stuff too.

Regards,
-Goge

http://airdyn.com/main.htm
http://www.homefly.com

I don't know about the other sources, but I've bought carbon rods and tubes from homefly.com (Dave Lewis). There seems to be a tradeoff. If you look at kite rods and other from general sources like http://www.compositestore.com compared to Dave's, there is a weight difference (I don't know about the sources above). Dave's tubes are hollow (smaller sizes are filled with something light in the middle, but the largest size is completely hollow and is what comes with the Tiny kit). The tubes are woven or wrapped rather than pulltruded. Having done a fair bit of work with fiberglass years ago, the issue is getting the excess resin out of what you are working on. Apparently pulltruded doesn't do that as well. Dave's tubes come from Germany, I don't know about his rods. But, he lists weights on his site and you can figure out weights for some length from that.

As with most things in this hobby, it comes down to how much money you want to spend. The larger diameter tube from Dave costs roughly double what one from the composite store costs. You need to determine how important weight is to you and then make your choice.

BTW, Dave has the very small diameter rods that make good push rods when weight is crucial. Contact Dave and he will tell you what makes his rods/tubes different.

A slight correction: The Composite Store's web address is http://www.cstsales.com.

I just got a bunch from them this morning. But, I usually get my CF rods and tubes from David Lewis simply because he sells them (and a few other slow fly and indoor-related parts) for less and with free shipping. He just doesn't sell the 3mm rods I need right now.

Jun Nolasco

Han-em high

We carry Carbon Fiber Rods, Tubes and Strips and we're always open to suggestion as to what other sizes builders would like to see.

RCSkyFlyer

rcfoam.com is the BEST!

Originally Posted by dylantorquerol

rcfoam.com is the BEST!

But their prices for carbon are way too high!!!

What are the ideal US retailers that have CF rods in stock?

You did realize this thread was a year old?
Anyway yeah me too.Someplace in the U.S. that has 5mm CF rod in stock.
I happened on this thread from another search but Hobby Lobby has a bunch of rods.Everything except the 5mm I need.Dang.

The best place I have found so far is www.hobbyking.com they might have some in the USA warehouse, even if they don't you can buy the from the international warehouse and pay for international shipping, it will be cheaper than buying them from your local store since they have seriously low prices.

Asukax

eBay.

Originally Posted by aerocal

You did realize this thread was a year old?

eh, try 10 years
hobby king may have low prices, but their selection is the best.