Nice tip! I just pulled the core out of paracord for this.
I spent hours trying to figure out how to get this back together! I feel bad for all the fingers and hands that have fallen victim! Best of luck to those that take this on in the future!
It can be done. Good grief. I decided to load the spring/coil in a Vice, then use a hose clamp to keep it compressed. After some careful assembly it is back together.
My dad bought this for me about five years ago and I planned to convert it to dimmable LED with an industrial/machine green...