The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues….
Normally, this weblog tries to offer you some useful, optimistic suggestions.But in the present day, we will look at a couple of issues Not to attempt.
Just tonight, I was chatting with some rocketry friends by Zoom, and one of many more senior guys holds up a couple of items destined for his excessive power rocket. He’s asking for help and advice on tips on how to proceed.
He’s obtained a medium sized carabiner in his proper hand, and in his left is a strip of what he is looking an elastic band. (It looks more like the headband that Spock wears in Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, but irrespective of.)
It’s a long length or skein of two inch large elastic band that appears like it would either go in a truss, a bra, or some type of back brace.
And he is asking, “How do I attach this to that?”
The dialogue starts and rules out sewing (trigger the stitches will not stretch), rivets (cause they’re going to pop each time it stretches), grommets (for a similar motive) and glue, (as it will not “give” with out cracking).
One rocketeer mentioned, “Dump it, simply get a nylon rope or similar woven tube, and tie it on”, simply as you’d in mountain climbing.
All of us just about agreed that the two inch width of the elastic band will not enable for a tight knot to be tied around the carabiner, so we settle on the nylon tube/rope concept.
Now this started me pondering about the time that I thought-about making my very own shock cord out of elastic. I was doing a scratch construct for a recycling show on how you could possibly flip odd trash right into a quite simple rocket and nosecone with plastic Wal-Mart bag parachute. For a shock cord, I had settled upon an previous pair of men’s tighty-whitey briefs.
I satisfied my wife to lend me her pinking sheers, and woven elastic band that i used a seam ripper to free the elastic band from the pair of shorts. In a short time, I uninterested in the seam ripper, and went for a straight sharp pair of fabric sheers, and just minimize as near the waist band as I might.
Now that I had the loop of elastic free, I do not recall if I cut across the appear or ripped it free, but I wound up with a single size of 1 inch wide elastic that nonetheless had a whole lot of stretch in it.
Deciding that the band was too broad, I took the fabric sheers and minimize down the middle of the band leaving an equal width of elastic band on both aspect of the minimize. What I hadn’t counted upon was the fraying, which started instantly. The two elastic strips, whereas about 42 inches long, curled and buckled, refusing to lay flat.
This was symptomatic of how the elastic band would behave no matter how I minimize it , stretched it, or steam pressed it. I realized that you simply Can’t cut an elastic band lengthwise had have it work. (Now, for the purposes of my poster board display of the parts of a rocket, it worked effectively enough, but for actually use in a rocket, my idea wouldn’t have labored. If you cherished this article and you would like to acquire additional data about woven elastic band (Read the Full Content) kindly pay a visit to our own website. )
What WOULD work is the acquisition of about 3 toes of slim 1/8-1/four inch elastic from Joann Fabrics or comparable shop. Aside from the run on this materials to make masks through the pandemic, this would work for smaller, low-power rockets should you wanted to exchange a shock cord.