Originally Posted by
Jeremy_H
Off the wall maybe, but what about elastic bands?
Decent rubber band used for catapults etc could pass through the centre of tube from one sponson through the tub to the other, like a tent pole, and hold the whole thing in compression, you just need some form of cup to allow a knot in the elastic to site flush on the sides of the sponsons, and the shafts arranged so they socket together to a shoulder. It would be no problem to stretch the band out before knotting to get a firm setup.
I'll get my coat
Creative minds at work here, i did consider elastic bands and a spring go figure, only not through the tube however since you mentioned it I tinkered with the idea a bit. I also took another light weight 1/4" aluminum tube and installed an rc racing car clip into the end and considered that as well, no go, don't like the idea of metal to metal rattling around. It occurred to me the original idea is sound but inadequate to hold the screw in place without the worry of it coming loose or the wood dowel absorbing moisture. so I took a piece of carbon tube and a 1/4" nylon bolt and scuffed up the inside of the carbon with coarse sand paper and cleaned all parts with acetone especially on the nylon bolt in case there was a release agent on it. I decided on Gorilla glue as it expands and will fill in the threads on the screw and adhere to the scuffed up surface inside the carbon tube, after it set I cleaned the excess glue off and cut the head of the screw off and drilled and tapped the nylon in the center and am now able to install a 4-40 socket head cap screw. I banged bashed and pulled on that little screw and the nylon will not move out of it's new home in the carbon fiber tube, voila I created a threaded insert that should do the trick. In the pic I show a socket head screw in place and the type of nylon screw used to make the insert. Thank you Jeremy for your suggestion, appreciated.
