The Cheese Box

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues....

I want to share with you something that has just been shared with me.

While I had asked others to share what sorts of things they collect to aid in the construction of their rocket, or tools or disposables that can serve another purpose, this came up.

One of the respondents said that while working at a pizza shop, they had always saved Velvetta Cheeze boxes when empty and utilized them as impromptu drink carriers.  (What a pizza shop did with that much Velvetta cheese is a bit beyond me, but heck, as kids, we use to hack off a chunk and gnaw on it for a snack, so it can't be all that bad, now can it?)

The pizza shop guy talked about how they utilized a thick rubber band around the middle of the bottom half of the box (the unprinted brown corrugated cardboard "tray") to give it some rigidity and then placed drink cups in either end.  I presume he meant that they were filled cups, and that this was an early predecessor to the molded drink carriers that we get from McD's and other places too.

But his point was that he salvaged the bottom half of the box, and instead of using a rubber band around the middle, he cut a v-notch in either end of the tray.... of sufficient size that it could hold a low power to mid-power rocket as a cradle.



I think this is brilliant, as I had never thought of this simple, inexpensive solution to the cradle idea.

Now, I have cut and assembled 3/4" PVC pipe and cross pieces and T-connectors to make a substantial cradle/stand for higher power rockets, but I have yet to use it.

And my favorite go-to for support while gluing and assembling my lower power rockets is always the upturned Styrofoam egg carton, that holds and positions while allowing pins to pierce the Styrofoam and help hold or angle the rocket.   That remains my favorite to this day, as an inexpensive throw-away rescued for a specific purpose.

But this cardboard tray with the V-notches cut in them could be just what I've been looking for.


Recently, I was gifted a molded plastic rocket harness/cradle, that sets up like a step stool turned upside down.  It has a tray for the bottom, and two padded plastic X ends to hold the rocket.  I priced these guys (they come in either blue or red) and found they run about $35 bucks.  So you know that I was a bit surprised at the gift.... it's more than I would spend on such an item, but I am certain that it works. I just haven't taken it out to use yet.  (And now, I am thinking of re-gifting it to another rocketry friend, if the Velvetta box works out.)

It's not that I don't like nice things.  I just hate having to spend more than I have do to accomplish the same thing....  Hold your rocket still while I position it and glue on it.

After all, this IS the Thrifty Rocketeer blog.... saying, "Save your Velvetta cheese box and try it yourself!"

Comments

  1. SmackiepipeJanuary 30, 2022 at 3:24 PM

    Great idea. Got a box of Velveeta in the fridge right now, so will try to remember not to toss it when we finally use it all up (should probably be about 6 more months!)

    ReplyDelete

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