Shock Cord Mount for Project Overkill
I read somewhere that if you are going to use an eye bolt for a shock cord mount in a high powered rocket you should use one that is welded shut. The person who wrote that article was claiming that the strain on the bolt can open the eye if it isn’t welded shut.
That seemed like a bit of overkill to me, but then again this is Project Overkill so… I definitely considered it. All of the sources I know about don’t have the type that is welded shut, but I came up with another idea. Take a look at these rope clamps.
If you take them apart they look like this.
If you take one of those U shaped bolts, four of the nuts, and add a couple of washers, I bet that’s pretty strong and probably over kill. So, that’s what I did.
You can’t see the washers, but I did put a couple on the bottom of the centering ring. I figure that’s where they are needed.
TIP: If you use a U bolt and quick release ring like this you may need to attach the ring before putting the U bolt into the centering ring. You may not have room to fiddle with the quick release ring after attaching the U bolt. If you do that, make sure that your quick release ring is positioned such that its opening angles away from the tube to give you the maximum space on that side, and make sure that the opening is as close to the top as possible. You may notice in this photo that although I got the opening on the correct side, I did not position it near the top. That will make it just a little bit harder to attach the shock cord later. I’d fix it, but I already put some epoxy clay on the bottom nuts to make sure they didn’t loosen. Once this is mounted in the rocket I will not be able to reach the bottom nuts to tighten them if they get loose.
Tags: building, hpr, my rockets, project overkill, tips
This entry was posted
on Sunday, July 4th, 2010 at 1:21 am and is filed under Project Overkill.
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