Greg Poelein's Engine Block Tip

Greg Poelein brought up a great tip recently on The Rocketry Forum:


"Here's a tip for future builds. After you fire a motor of each size (13mm, 18mm and 24mm), save the motor casing. When you get home, cut a few strips of paper 1/4" wide and as long as the sheet (11" or 14" from letter or legal paper). Put a thin layer of glue on one side of the strip of paper and wrap it around the rear of the motor, building it up to several thicknesses. Let dry.

Once these are dry, you have the perfect motor thrust ring insertion tool. Put a bit of glue on a stick and put a ring of glue inside the body tube where the thrust ring will end up. Put the thrust ring in the back of the rocket and push it into place with your insertion tool. This will insure that the motor always extends out the back of the rocket by 1/4". You can add a motor clip if you want to using the same spacing - the slit for the motor clip will be just behind the thrust ring."

This is similar to a product that FlisKits offered called "The Block and Tackle".
A great, simple idea.