Stripping Old Shockcord Mounts

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By Hank Helmen

When you have an old cardboard rocket that breaks it's shock cord, you usually just glue in another folded paper support opposite the old one. Then what do you do when that shock cord breaks or burns through? I wanted to remove 2 of my old folded paper shock cord anchors to put in a new on, but I just could not reach in far enough in my BT-50 body tube to cut them out with my Exacto knife. So I took a 3/8" wooden dowel and glued a 1" strip of coarse sandpaper around one end. Then I chucked the other end into my electric hand drill. By carefully sanding the old paper anchors out I cleaned up the inside of the tube for a new cord anchor. BTW I was then able to insert an ejection baffel to ease those hot ejection charges!

GUEST's OPINION:
"" (X.X.)

1. Recovery
   Always re-mount the shock cords on any Estes ready to fly (RTF) rocket at the front of the body tube using a paper mount. The shock cord WILL burn through if you don't. - S.B.
2. Recovery
   Shock Cord for Estes size rockets: 1) Use the proper amount of flame-proof wadding. Fill a length of tube equal to 2 or 3 times the diameter (i.e. if the tube is 1 inch in diameter, fill 2 to 3 inches in length) with FLUFFY wadding.
   2) You can add talcum powder for a nice "puff" and a bit more protection.
   3) External mounts can be made by epoxying a length of braided polyester fishing line (50 pound test or so) or Kevlar cord (see Pratt Hobbies website). The Kevlar is much stronger than Polyester and more heat resistant, but the external cord should see no heat. Tie the free end to the end of the shock cord. Then tie the shock cord to the nose. When packing, only the braided line will extend up over the nose cone shoulder and then down the outside of the body tube to the point where you epoxied it to the fin root.
   4) Sometimes you do everything correct and there is a SUPER-strong ejectioncharge. Those will break your cord and there is no predicting this.
   5) If using the internal mount, simply use a flat rectangle of card stock (3/4 x 1.5 inches) with two holes or slits punched in it. Thread the shock cord through the slits and use yellow glue to glue it to the inside of the body tube. After drying, coat the surface of the mount with more yellow glue to protect it. - F.S. from RMR