ACME conformal Rail Guides- Experiences please

I have done a search here and found very limited results so I thought I would ask for personal experience's.

In the search results I found one reference to the guides sticking in rail channels and another saying they just "pop off".

Also a couple of votes in their favor.

Sort of a coin toss situation so far, any info and personal exp. would be greatly appreciated.

I have run them with no problems. I use jb WELD to glue them on.. The only problem i have now is our club uses the big rail and they dont come in that size.


D

I've used them on a 7.5 in Patriot and they work fine. I using JBWeld AND drilling/screwing them on. I had to support 30 pounds of weight on 4 square inches of BT.

-Aaron

I have them on my Binder Design Excel Plus, applied with JB Weld, and the seem to work just fine and are quite sturdy in their attachment.

The main concern you will have with them is to make sure they are as close to "perfectly aligned" as possible, because they are about 1.5" long. No big deal, really (kinda like applying multiple launch lugs) but certainly less forgiving in the alignment area than a simple pair of rail buttons.

You might check with your local club before purchase. Some clubs do not allow their use on their rails (there has been some discussion and/or concern that the ACME guides will wear the rail out, rather than the rail wearing out the delrin buttons.)

Ive had them but Ive went back to rail buttons

In my opinion ACME rail guides do an excellent job if they are installed right. If they are installed out of alignment they bind and/or gouge the rail.

I use them on rockets that will only be used at our club's launches because most of the other nearby clubs do not allow them on their rails. For me their primary functionallity is to install rail launch capability on rockets that can not, for one reason or another, be successfully fitted with rail buttons.

The way to test for alignment is to take a carpenter's framing square and place it in the center slot of the guide. Both guides should be parallel and in line with the long axis of the rocket.

Ken Holloway
NAR #78336, L-II

I have a pair of these on my Polecat Skeeter and I really like the way they conform to the tube, it makes for a nice clean appearance.

I also used JB Weld to attach them, worked great.

Is Acme Aerostructures still in business? I tried thier website and could not find it.

I didnt use J-B weld but I did use NHP 180(very slow hardening) on the conformal surface and then put 5 min epoxy around the edges.

I found them at Common Welth Displays and Giant Leap rocketry.

never had any issues with them but went back to rail buttons anyways. the right way to put them on is, duh, get a length of rail and slide them in! there's other reasons to have your own length of rail, besides.

they stick OK with any kind of epoxy, just gotta really rough up the bonding surface, like with 80 grit, and clean thoroughly with alcohol before gluing.

I have them on all my MP and HP rockets. In fact, I have them on all my rockets that are larger that 2 inches in diameter. That includes my Estes Phoenix and Big Daddy. I't can get very windy were I fly and rod whip can be a problem.

Since they can be expensive (IOW I'm cheap), I have cut them in half so one set will cover two rockets. I figured even cut in half they are still larger than a rail button. I have never seen any flight issues with the shortened rail guides.

I use JB Weld to attached them. I use my Dremel to rough up the bonding side of the guide.

Alan