Tripod mount for 10mm MakerBeam

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James Duffy

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I've long been a proponent of using rail buttons on rockets whenever possible, but was frustrated by the cosmetic impact the big goobers inflicted upon many of my rockets, especially the scale birds. So, the idea of using the micro rail buttons from railbuttons.com along with the 10mm MakerBeam rail was awfully appealing. I recently broke down and purchased some of the buttons along with a two-pack of the 900mm rails for experimentation purposes. After everything arrived I began to consider how to mount the rail onto the photo tripod and mic stand launch supports already in use.

Here's what I came up with...

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This is a laser cut base into which the rail sleeves, with a 12mm-long M3 bolt engaging the thread already in the rail. The mount can be attached to tripods or mic stands with either a 1/4"-20 or 3/8"-16 attachment point, and is designed to accommodate the blast deflector from a standard Estes launch pad.

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If there is adequate interest I could cut some of these bases in bulk and offer them for sale complete with the needed hardware. The flyer would need to supply a tripod base, their own rail, and their own blast deflector. Assembly of this prototype took less than ten minutes using 5-minute epoxy.

I haven't yet had an opportunity to precisely cost this out yet, but I suspect that a two-pack of bases would cost about $15, plus shipping. Why a two-pack? Well, the rails come in a two pack!

Any interest?

James
 
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