Does anyone know where i can get a 900mm - 1500mm length (or US equivalent) of 10mmx10mm micro rail button Makerbeam, other than the Makerbeam website ordering from overseas and paying all the shipping?
10mm Makerbeam - for micro rail buttons
- Thread starter JRAJ
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rharshberger
Well-Known Member
Amazon still carries them search for 10mm Makerbeam, they are $29 for a two pack of 1500mm rails. The ones I saw were clear anodized, the ones I own are black anodized.
Oh my goodness, I swear I entered that info 20 times, and didn't get the results I was looking for - just entered again and it came up! Thank you. I plan to build one pad for my own personal use, and one to donate to my local DARS club. TY!
Mine are black as well. I found you could slightly drill out the threaded central hole and press fit in a short length of 1/8 inch launch rod (I used a short piece of an Estes two-piece rod) and then you can put one on most pads that support a regular 1/8 inch rod - even a Porta-Pad. But I found the buttons bound pretty readily unless the rocket was straight downwind.
Has railbuttons.com revised the micro buttons so that they don't bind as much?
Has railbuttons.com revised the micro buttons so that they don't bind as much?
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rharshberger
Well-Known Member
o1d_dude
'I battle gravity'
I have had one (a pair actually) in my Amazon shopping cart for a day or two.
10mmx10mmx900mm
Sold as a pair for approximately $24.
Here’s how Micromeister mounted his...
o1d_dude
'I battle gravity'
Rich, I looked up the Evergreen product and found references only to “I-beam”. Is that what you were referring to?
Amazon carries it in the 3/16” size.
I ask because I’m working on a Mach 1 fiberglass Micro Mamba (BT20) and the kit came with what appear to be Micro Buttons which I assume are from Rail-Buttons.com. Just bought my first MakerBeam rail and I was unaware of binding problems with Micro Buttons.
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
Same thing H-beam or I-beam, funny thing is the real thing is rarely called that. The two outer flanges are 3/16" wide.
o1d_dude
'I battle gravity'
Thought as much. Depends on the orientation...one way an “H” and the other way an “I”.
Good tip though on replacing the micro buttons with it.
Thanks.
I went ahead and ordered the same from Amazon. I too am building a Mach 1 BT-20 kit, the Alien Interceptor. I'll give the micro buttons a try and let you know how it goes. I was planning on mounting the aft button into the motor block (that seems like a strong spot), and reinforcing on the inside with a small drop of epoxy or JB weld. Whereabouts would you suggest putting the forward button? The instructions online don't really specify, but I was thinking about 3" forward from the center of the motor block.
o1d_dude
'I battle gravity'
In the BadAss Rocketry video for the Micro Mamba build, @Ian A Dalton mounted the forward button through the shockcord anchor which he had installed at 6” north of the aft end of the body tube.
Be careful you don’t drill through the shockcord, tho.
Let me know how your build goes and if the micro buttons work out. I ordered the black rail myself and a 12” length of brass tubing for a mounting attachment as Micromeister recommended.
Be careful you don’t drill through the shockcord, tho.
Let me know how your build goes and if the micro buttons work out. I ordered the black rail myself and a 12” length of brass tubing for a mounting attachment as Micromeister recommended.
Will do - on mine, I opted for the full-length version of the kit, w/out the coupler. Will be a little tricky to get epoxy on the end of a skewer that far up in the BT through the aft end, but I'll make it work, then I plan to slide the shock cord mount down from the forward end, into the epoxy.
My kit did not come with a shock cord mount, but I reached out to Steve at Mach 1 and he is getting one sent.
o1d_dude
'I battle gravity'
I also bought the one piece body tube and slid/epoxied the anchor in from the rear BEFORE installing the motor block.
I used a square dowel with a narrow popsicle stick glued to one end to apply the epoxy...easy peasy. A long handle gives you better control of the applicator but remember that paint will cover a messy epoxy application. Kinda like building a ship in a bottle like my grandfather used to do.
I then used a dowel (wrapped one end with masking tape sufficient to just barely fit into the boby tube) to push the anchor into place. Followed up with dowel wrapped with a small piece of blue paper towel soaked in alcohol to remove the excess that might have dripped in the motor area.
Same drill installing the motor block.
Anyway it took longer to describe than to do the actual job.
Ian A Dalton
Well-Known Member
Those two locations are fine for the mount. I didn’t reinforce anything with epoxy because I very intentionally stayed perpendicular when I drilled the holes. The threads from the rail buttons actually threaded the fiberglass for me. I’ve used that method for kits up to 15# flying on L motors. Good luck!
Is there any compelling reason not to use a mini button vs the included micro in the Micro Mamba kit? I'm trying to limit the number of rails to collect.
Ian A Dalton
Well-Known Member
Drag. But unless you are going for records and such, go mini. I actually used the mini screws and used full sized 1010 on mine since my mini rail for some reason is too big. It looked ridiculous but whatever, it worked.
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bought a 2 pack of the 900mm rails a while back. They look short to me. Plan on connecting the 2 together. Guess maybe I have been looking at 1010 rails too long. Will have to look into some of those plastic beams as well.
They aren't the same thing, at least from Evergreen:
I-beams (taller and narrower): https://evergreenscalemodels.com/collections/14-35cm-white-polystrene-i-beam
H-beams (more "square"): https://evergreenscalemodels.com/collections/14-35cm-opaque-white-polystyrene-h-column
I'm thinking the #286 H-beams would be about right, looking at my micro-rail.
All of this is tempting me to give the micro-rail another try.
Oh - the one I have used just has a short section of Estes launch rod stuck in the central hole. It's been so long I don't remember exactly what I did...but it looks like I just drilled that threaded hole out 1/8 inch and then epoxied the rod into the hole. Not as elegant as micromeister's, but it works.
o1d_dude
'I battle gravity'
Bernard, which of the two (I-beam or H-column) is the better choice for the MakerBeam 10x10 rail?
I ordered the rail and the I-beam from Amazon but neither has arrived yet.
Amazon has 4 of the H-column packages left so if they work better, I need to order NOW.
Thx.
I ordered the rail and the I-beam from Amazon but neither has arrived yet.
Amazon has 4 of the H-column packages left so if they work better, I need to order NOW.
Thx.
I don't have any experience using these....I'm just riffing off of Rich's post. I just ordered the #286 H-beam to see. The main reason I think the H-beam will be better is that with the shorter vertical flange, the rocket will be closer to the rail and have a little less sideways leverage in less-than-ideal wind conditions—the sort that made the micro buttons, when I tried them, bind like crazy. But this is all a thought experiment. I don't yet know one way or the other....
Now I need to get off the computer and go mow the yard. Want to be back inside when the governor of Washington tells us what the next stage in our "stay home stay healthy" process is....
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
H column is what I use, iirc the I beam in order to get the 3/16" flange width was pretty tall.
o1d_dude
'I battle gravity'
Thank you both for responding.
I have never seen a MakerBeam in real life. Mine won’t arrive until the middle of next week so I’m just going to have to order the H-column. When I have everything on my bench I’ll be able to make a choice.
Thanks!
I have never seen a MakerBeam in real life. Mine won’t arrive until the middle of next week so I’m just going to have to order the H-column. When I have everything on my bench I’ll be able to make a choice.
Thanks!
NateB
Well-Known Member
I have the I beam, I agree the H beam would probably work better and is what I will get for future builds if the buttons don't work out. I haven't noticed any binding with the micro buttons on the Maker Beam rail myself.
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
Just for fun, what most people refer to as I beams are actually a group of beams of similar shapes of which I-beams (aka S-beams) are one of three types, Wide Flange Beams (aka W-beams), M-beams (which are aka Jr beams, H beams, or Light Beams), fun stuff. I used to work for Pacific Steel in Pasco WA, all three beams share a similar shape made up of a top and bottom flange connected by the web. Determining which beam is which based on width of flanges, thicknesses of steel, height of beam, and weight.
However for what we are doing that info really isn't needed...the Evergreen polystyrene 3/16" H-beam/column fits the Makerbeam rail nicely but loosely as the pictures hopefully demonstrate. At one point I trimmed some flash from cutting the beam off the lower flange, the two left side photos and the far right were before the flash was trimmed off, the center and center right after, I removed the flash to demonstrate how much space is available in the rail for the H-beam.
As for the mini buttons binding, its not been too bad on my rail, but its enough that if I were going for altitude then they definitely have some friction.
However for what we are doing that info really isn't needed...the Evergreen polystyrene 3/16" H-beam/column fits the Makerbeam rail nicely but loosely as the pictures hopefully demonstrate. At one point I trimmed some flash from cutting the beam off the lower flange, the two left side photos and the far right were before the flash was trimmed off, the center and center right after, I removed the flash to demonstrate how much space is available in the rail for the H-beam.
As for the mini buttons binding, its not been too bad on my rail, but its enough that if I were going for altitude then they definitely have some friction.
I put micro buttons on my first Nova Payloader. As you know, I fly an altimeter in it most of the time...and that particular model was retired after 76 flights. I noticed poorer performance flying off the Maker Beam rail, which is what led me to look for a reason, which in turn led to seeing that the ones I had would bind pretty severely if the model wasn’t directly down wind on the rail at the moment of launch.
I suppose I should order some current micro buttons as well as the H-beam that I just did order, to give it another chance. In theory the much more rigid guidance should be a big plus for all but small models (and motors) that wouldn’t tend to whip the rod at all.
Some more experimenting to do once Sixty Acres opens back up again and then when we can have public launches again. Based on what the governor just said, I would be wondering if June Swoosh will be able to be held. I’m pretty sure your May launch (and mine) will be canceled. *sigh*
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
That's probably a conversation for a different thread.....but if I understood was was presented this afternoon, the earliest groups of greater than five that are not from the same household will be permitted is what he called "phase 3" and he also said that the phases would be a minimum of three weeks long (and he strongly implied "don't get your hopes up"). We'll have to see what the actual proclamation/revisions are on Monday. So six weeks from Monday would be just in time.
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
rharshberger
Well-Known Member
Maybe we can do a dis-organized launch....
Put on my micro rail buttons for 1st time tonight - didn't go as well as planned. They went in just fine, but i realized shortly after starting, that the screws I'd thought were metal, are actually nylon. I started carefully "threading" them into the hole I'd drilled, and noticed the head would twist. At first thought was "I'm about to snap it off in the BT". I ended up having to upsize the holes to a 5/64", and even then they were a real tight fit to get in.
Forget about un-screwing them. They wouldn't. I had to grasp them with thumb and finger, and pull them out with some force. There's no way those nylon threads will self-tap anything fiberglass.
