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The list below will take you to the places you can buy different components from. I purchased my stuff from these guys so you probably can too!
Fabric
supplies
Gelvenor - sales@gelvenor.co.za -Ann Pearse www.gelvenor.co.za
Seconds come in at about AUD$4/m. The fabric I used was the LKN CH07 which
weighs in at 64GSM. They do have some lighter fabrics available as well. Allow
about 10 days for delivery. Their service is fantastic. They are based in
Durban, South Africa.
Rosmarys Sewing Machines - 03 9787 8133, Contact is
Rosemary
The cost of the machine was $25/week. There are a couple of other places that
offer hire/buy programs where you end up with the machine after about a years
rental. This is a good option. look into it first. rosemary is based in Frankston,
Melbourne.
Sewing Thread Specialists - 03 9813 5480 Contact is
Gary
I used Bonded Polyester thread Size 69 (US). It comes in ½ kg spools
only =6000m - $79.15 ex per KG +$11 freight. Many different colours available.
I used boring old white.
Crown Ring
I had a crown ring machined out of Stainless Steel. It was heaps bigger than
I needed but It will never give way. Cost was $120 for the ring. Crown Ring
is AISI 316 SS OD200, ID170, 10mm thick. Would be cheaper if you used aluminium.
Elizabeth Sewing Machine Co. - 03 9329 5411 - Machinist
is david Kelly
Essential. Makes it so much easier to get your fell seam right every time.
David will make the folder for you from Scratch, all he needs is a sample
of the fabric and the dimensions of your needle spacing and desired finished
seam width. Note: he calls it a Lap Seam. Cost was $167.20 delivered. They
are in Melbourne city.
Brown paper packaging Co. - (03)9813 3610
Used for marking out your patterns. BE WARNED! The smallest role of 1.6m wide
paper is 600m long! You'll have enough paper to wrap your house if you wanted
to. Its good for a couple of balloons. Cost delivered was $141.90
Taits Timber and Hardware (any local hardware store
will do)
2400*1600 2 sheets of MDF for cutting table tops delivered $120. 3 sets of
sawhorses for legs of table, $25 each. I just nailed the MDF to the top of
the saw horses. Worked really really well.
Lincraft, Stores Nationally.
Anything to do with the actual mechanics of the sewing I bought here. I am
almost a frequent shopper. I also bought a reaggly really good set of scissors
(3pairs) for only $20 which helped heaps. The rotary cutter was the most expensive
and I use two blades. Total cost was $60. Buy a heap of needles. I have used
40 in the total build process, and make sure they are TOP quality, scrimping
here will hurt you later.
Melba Industries - (03) 9474 3000 Contact: Rob Walsh
There is only one manufacturer of nomex in Australia. Its expensive stuff.
Make sure you ask if they have seconde. They usually do but don't like to
publicise it. I didn't use it as it was too expensive for my tastes.
I bought mine from kavanagh balloons. I don't think they will want to do this too often. I took an exces supply off their hands. There is a company in Melbourne called Arnold Webbing that would be a good place to start. Mine cost me $143 for a box of 400m 25mm tape. I bought two boxes.
C.H Smith Marine - 03 9417 1077 www.chsmithmarine.com.au
I loved this shop. heaps of good stuff in it, including Sail repair cloth!
The only ropes I used were for the vent line and the crown rope. The vent
rope was $80 and it was 12mm diameter braided polyester. You could use any
rope as long as it was not going to shrink too much on you once its in the
balloon. I had a crown rope from an old balloon so didn't need to buy one.
Total Height Safety - 02 99669070 www.ths.com.au
I chose to use rapid links instead of Karabiners. The actual working load
of the Maillion rapid links is higher than a regular stainless Karabiner at
27Kn. They are also considerably lighter. The links cost me about $9.00 each.
Stainless Flying wires and Thimbles
Aviall - 02 9791 0511
I chose to use the 1/8 diameter cable. Breaking strain was shown to be 816kg
in our tests. Part numbers and costs shown below: You will need to get your
hands on a swaging tool!
7*19*1-8SS100 - Stainless Steel 1/8(3mm) 100ft rolls - $150ex
28-3-M - zinc plated nicopress oval sleeves - $1.73ea Pkts of 50 ONLY - $86.50ex
AN100-4 - Thimbles for 3/32 - 1/8 66c each Pkt of 20 ONLY - $13.20ex
C.H Smith Marine - 03 9417 1077 www.chsmithmarine.com.au
Back to my friends at CH Smith. I used a 4mm Polyester cord which is an off
the shelf product. Cost was $18.50 per 100m. I used 150m all up. Based in
Collingwood, melbourne
Fittings - Purple Pig - 03 9720 6055
Hose - I cant remember, I'll look it up
The hose was quite cheap at about $40 for the hoses. I remember Ihad a lot
of trouble buying a small diameter vapour pilot hose and bought this from
Kavanagh balloons I bought
the Rego/Fisher fittings from a forklift spares company, any will have them,
and had the guys at Purple pig hydraulics fit them for me. The fittings were
about $35 each and the fitting cost me $10.
Stainless and Pressure Vessels
I bought 3 aluminium tanks from a friend. If however you want to buy one new,
these guys are the place to go. An 82L upright tank with all the normal fittings
will set you back $900. Alternatively, you could approach an auto LPG manufacturer
as you can get quite good deals on lay down tanks for around the $495 mark.
Kavanagh Balloons - www.kavanaghballoons.com.au
The only place I could figure on getting them. I also wanted some little paper
hermit temp tags and I got those as well. I think all up it cost me $45 delivered.
Wirless Alarms -
Although I haven't bought this yet, this i what I will be using. Its in operation
by a couple of homebuilders in the US who say its an excellent device. Good
enough for me!
All Ports International www.allports.com.au
These guys were great. Cleared my stuff for me in no time and delivered it
for me as well. They handle all of the Fees, taxes, and other duties that
may be applied and only charge you one fee which covers everything. I would
not recommend doing your own customs broking unless you have A LOT of time
on your hands.
CASA regional Office Victoria - Bob Prater –
(03) 9518 2705
CASA get a fair bit of greif from pilots around the place. I have found them
to be fantastic to deal with during the whole process. I spoke a lot with
Bob Prater in Airworthines in Victoria before I started out building and he
gave me a good insight into what was required in terms of the paperwork.
I also spoke with David Punshon Ext 1839, Ph: 131757 at canberra HQ for CASA Experimental aircraft. david was quite helpful as well although didn't have a lot of experience with balloons.
Once the ballon was finished I was assigned an Airworthiness Inspector (AWI) by the name of Lee Bebbington. These are the guys who come out and look over the aircraft and give you the rubber stamp to start flying (hopefully). Lee was great and had quite a bit of experience with balloons in general which made it easy to explain what I was trying to do.
The CASA website is great resource of info on the Regs and bits of paper needed to get the experimental class happening for you. I recommend it to all. www.casa.gov.au
Balloon Builders Internet Forum
I was lost when I first started to think of doing this. I was surfing the internet and came across a group of enthusiasts from around the world who like nothing better than making their own balloons. So they have a message list going which any prospective builder can join. Send an email to balloon@balloonmakers.org with Subscribe in the heading.
Some of the people on this list have an amazing amount of knowledge and you can be sure that if its got to do with making balloons, these people have thought of it. I learnt heaps and it was a great source of encouragement in times of frustration. They have all been there so know what you're going through.
Arnaud Deramecourt - http://aerostation.free.fr
I must have looked up, tested and discarded 10 computer programs for assisting
me to build a balloon before I came across Arnaud Deramacourt's website in
France. Arnaud's software is, simply put, the best available. Its simple,
easy to follow, and gives all measurements in the METRIC system. Most others
give it in Imperial, which is a nightmare if you've never used it before.
Arnauds software will even generate the complete cutting panel for importing to an electronic cutting table. Or alternatively, for easy import into a 3D CAD application to model with. The shape is a little more pointed than usual, but I really like the shape, it looks great, nice and streamlined.
Australia - there is only 1 other homebuilder here,
Steve Griffin - www.flymetothemoon.com.au/homebuilding
Rest of the World
Arnauds French Experimental Federation page - http://aerostation.free.fr
Philipe Lusley's Dynafly balloon (France) - www.dynafly.com
Balloon building.com (US) - www.balloonbuilding.com
Minsik's Balloon(Korea) - home.hanmir.com/~softlanding/earea.html
Experimental balloon Association of America - www.ebaa.com
Keith Sprouls Balloon (US)- www.dorm.rutgers.edu/balloon/
Jon (trashcan) Radowski' - www.njhotair.com
or www.hotairzone.com
BalloonMakers Internet Balloon Photos - www.balloonsvictoria.com/balloonmakers