The Thrifty Rocketeer

OK, I've got a real good one for you this time. The name of the blog is The Thrifty Rocketeer , and I've got a great cost saving tip for you, provided that you use this method. Just bear with me... For years, rocketeers have been looking for an alternative to the Estes rubber-strip shock cord.  And some people advocate totally skipping it in favor of a hard Kelvar string segment. Some even advocate a combination hybrid of half Kevlar and half rubber shock cord. Well, I'm not going to debate that here.  What reared its head was the tendency for Kevlar string (or similar hard, thin cord) to pull a zipper down a cardboard tube when it snaps taut. The obvious solution is to either strengthen or pad the rim of the body tube, which is not practical, OR in some way, pad the string to spread the load and cushion the point where it bends over the body tube. Some people slip a short piece of rubbery insulated wire coating (like shrink tubing?) over the string and knot it into place.

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... A recent posting on Facebook in a rocketry group asked the assembled multitude about a product that the rocketeer had purchased. It was a quart can of some powder called " Durham's Rock Hard Water Putty ." Now, I admit right up front that I am totally unfamiliar with this product and how it is normally used. However, the rocketeer had been considering it as a sandable filler for spiral grooves, dings, nicks and to even-out wood grain.   His concern was that it would be too hard to sand once cured. And that appears to be well founded.  The vast majority of responses agreed and warned against using the product in this manner. I know there are a lot of differing products for this application that have differing degrees of hardness. I've even used a few before giving up on trying to smooth my spiral grooves. This reminds me of a mistake that I made some 25 years ago.  It became apparent that my 3 year old so had been diving into h

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues.... OK, this entry isn't going to be focusing on rocketry, per se, but instead reflects a reaction that  "just occurred." I think most people recognize that this blog is a bit of a personal entry that primarily focuses on how to save money, take short cuts, and share tips on how to enter and continue in this hobby.  Primarily. But this blog is not a political blog, and I will resist any attempts to drag it into the political arena.  Last week, someone took offense to my quoting or paraphrasing my daughter's distain for me shopping at HL. I don't think it comes as any surprise that the chain now has a reputation, deserved or not, of having an ultra conservative approach to their employees.  So be it. So when I use a line from her frequent tirades whenever I walk in with a shopping sack from said chain,  I'm trying to be clever without explaining the whole nine yards.  See, I don't care much about what his personal polit

 The Thrifty Rocketeer blog continues... First thing I did when they put in a Hobby Lobby in my smaller metropolitan town, 40 miles away, was to grab an application to work there.  Now I know what you're thinking... "How could you?  Who would want to work for that conservative corporation?".. as my daughter would say.  And you'd be partially right. I saved the application and took note of the mailing address. Within the first month or so, most of the initial buying frenzy was over, having sold out of some things, but not everything.   But it seemed nothing new was getting restocked. So, I got on my word processor and wrote a letter to the store management, THANKING them for bringing the store to our isolated metro area. I pointed out that many of the items had sold through completely, and how much we had appreciated their stocking rockets. Then I also encouraged them to restock and consider expanding the display, pointing to the fact that as rocketeers grow older, the