10mm Rail Help

[Cody Webster]

Hello everyone!

I got my 10mm rail in today from amazon. Makerbeam 10mmX1500mm. The rails look great, and for the price I paid I am very happy with the quality and size of rods I recieved. I have heard some people say they wouldnt go over a C on micro, some say they are more robust than they get credit for and can handle mpr. I can see them being able to handle D and E motors pretty well. The rods are pretty firm, and I wouldnt imagine that too much stress is actually applied between the buttons and rod (I could be wrong).

Whats your experience with micro rods? And what do you feel comfortable flying on them?

One other thing, I had this Idead about making a whole launch pad from maker beam, has anyone done this?

 

[Andrew_ASC]

This was X1.4 24mm MD on a 1010 rail AT D15T test with Apogee Egglofter fly away rail guide, didn’t hurt the rail. At HARA.


This was how a local club set up launch pads. 1010 was used for HPR flights up to K motor at further standoff distances. The closer 1010 rail was rated for H and I motors in 6ft and 8 ft rail lengths. They completely didn’t care with my oddball D motor on a 1010 FARG request. There was a 1515 rail for the pyro nuts willing to burn an M class motor which a half scale patriot used on a K. Anything on E or less had these drill chucks on a saw horse with 3/16” and 1:4” rod options. I flew an Estes Conquest off the 3/16” rod on an E12-4. Some mild steel sheet served as a blast plate. Then I flew a Wildman RB-05A off a 1010 rail with 1010 derlin rail buttons on an H130W-14 trimmed to 10s. The high power rails have heavy duty azimuth control knobs and cotter pins about 3/4” thick steel to allow tilting for safety code reasons of pointing HPR rockets down range while sliding into rails...


It’s about what mount you put on the rocket determines what rail it uses. Not all clubs have micro. I’d just get a 1010 rail for the versatility if launching your own stuff. Or just the standard 1010 rail buttons and go fly at a club.

Never flown a micro rail anything.

 

[Cody Webster]

Im sorry, I meant to type 10mm rail. I fixed the title and my post. Sorry for the confusion Andrew.

 

[Andrew_ASC]

My bad. I was like, I don’t think this guy can hurt a 1010 rail! We even made tri rail towers out of it for university project flying up to I.

I’d guess your 10mm rail could take an H provided you put it at a standoff distance that made an RSO happy.

 

[rharshberger]

The main issue with the 10mm rails is the size of the buttons, they are fine for lighter rockets and LPR and some MPR motors. I fly airframes up to BT80 off mine and F motors (24mm). Next step is 20mm rail for BT60 to heavier BT80 or light T300 rockets (think Big Daddy). Anything larger goes to a 1010 rail ( Estes PSII's like the Leviathan, Mammoth, Argent, mainly the discontinued ones) and most HPR's on 1010, at 35-50lbs plus I start looking at 1515 buttons. Button choice is also somewhat dependant on what looks good as well as weight and motor choice. I like to err on the light side for buttons.

 

[Cody Webster]

Thanks for the reply, that helps a lot. What is the "standard" length for 1010? The 10mm measures 59inches in length. Would a 5 foot 1010 suffice for most mpr? Im wanting to build a pad that I can use when not at launches for lpr and mpr. Kind of an all in one pad that I can launch anything not hpr off of.

Edit: I realise there is no standard size, I guess average would be a better word choice. I want to be able to fly ps2's and Loc park flyers on it, but nothing much bigger than those kind of birds.

 

[rharshberger]

We use 6' at our club for MPR 1010 rails as that is what our 1/4" rods are too.

 

[Andrew_ASC]

5 ft should be plenty long for general use MPR route. If you want a way to check sim all your rockets on that rail length in open rocket and check if velocity is over 45 feet per second.

At university we were using a short 4 ft rail 1010 as long as rail exit velocity exceeded 70 feet per second on the tower config so we could pack it into an SUV crosswise.

The standard 1010 rail length is 6-8 feet. If you keep velocity up a short rail also works as long as winds are below 15 mph.

 

[Cody Webster]

I read in another post on here of someone using brass screws (I forget the size) for a little bigger mpr in the 10mm rail(as in metal to metal if that makes sense). Does this damage the rails over time or do they handle it pretty well?

My current plan is to order my 1010 next and do the old micro in the 1010 slot trick on either one or 2 sides of the 1010.

 

[solid_fuel]

I don’t know about the length needed for 10mm rails too much but I have a 48” 20mm I got from rail buttons dot com that works great for composite D-F motors in a BT-60 sized rocket.

 

[tim cubbedge]

The worst thing to any rail is sparky motors and until you start flying G impulse or higher, not much can hurt a rail. We use stainless hardware on all ours just because it rains sometimes. I read on another post that one club leaves there pads out all year with minimal maintenance.
I fly 3 clubs and the shortest 1010 rail anyone has is 6’. Many 8’. Longer is better.

 

[Cody Webster]

Hmm, wasnt planning on going quite 8 feet but it isnt out of the question. I dont have a truck, just a hatchback focus so 8 foot is going to be pushing it for a personel usepad.

 

[SteveThatcher]

Hmm, wasnt planning on going quite 8 feet but it isnt out of the question. I dont have a truck, just a hatchback focus so 8 foot is going to be pushing it for a personel usepad.

just a thought, an 8 foot 1010 rail gets cut to 6 foot and a 2 foot extension (if you need it). They can be spliced back together at the launch site with one or two tapped metal "popsicle shaped" bars.

 

[rharshberger]

just a thought, an 8 foot 1010 rail gets cut to 6 foot and a 2 foot extension (if you need it). They can be spliced back together at the launch site with one or two tapped metal "popsicle shaped" bars.

80/20 inc makers of 1010 rail makes splice plates for joining two rails end to end we use them if we need to extend our 1010 or 1515 rails by an additional 4'.

 

[Cody Webster]

Ok, I didnt know how smooth the transitions were using those pieces. The 6 foot with 2 foot extension sounds good.

 

[SteveThatcher]

80/20 inc makers of 1010 rail makes splice plates for joining two rails end to end we use them if we need to extend our 1010 or 1515 rails by an additional 4'.

I know you can buy them, but I would just make them...

 

[rharshberger]

I know you can buy them, but I would just make them...

With your toys it wouldnt be hard...[emoji14]

 

[SteveThatcher]

Ok, I didnt know how smooth the transitions were using those pieces. The 6 foot with 2 foot extension sounds good.

I can't remember what rocket retailer I bought it from, but I did have a 6 foot section with a 2 foot extension. As long as both parts are cut flat, the extension usually matches up very precisely. The one I had came with a single coupler bar. If I was doing the same thing now, I would use two - one of each side.

 

[SteveThatcher]

With your toys it wouldnt be hard...[emoji14]

I spend a good part of my career picking up the "toys" along the way... I do have a neighbor up the street that has real toys - boats, snow mobiles, and at least a camper... I consider mine more functional...

 

[rharshberger]

For once (and it pains me to do it), I will concur with Andrew_ASC that rail exit speed is more important than rail length. That being said I will still recommend a 6' rail for MPR rockets.

 

[Cody Webster]

Does anyone know if mini buttons will fit makerbeam Xl? Or do the minis only fit the openbeam?

 

[SteveThatcher]

Does anyone know if mini buttons will fit makerbeam Xl? Or do the minis only fit the openbeam?

according to their website the "groove" is only 3mm wide on the Makerbeam XL. The mini buttons require 5mm clearance (I just made a mini rail last week by milling a 5mm slot in a 12.7mm square aluminum extrusion). I couldn't find drawings for the Openbeam rails and the only comments I could find reference 3mm also, so honestly not sure about the open beam.

 

[Cody Webster]

I ended up looking on railbuttons.coms website, it says that the 80/20 2020 series (20mm) fits the mini buttons. Guess I may give that a try. Then again, I would hate to order and it not fit.

 

[SteveThatcher]

I ended up looking on railbuttons.coms website, it says that the 80/20 2020 series (20mm) fits the mini buttons. Guess I may give that a try. Then again, I would hate to order and it not fit.

it should work perfectly. I have a Mach1 Omicron with mini buttons on it and I just checked it on some 20mm rail material I have from another project. The brand I have is Mitsumi, but it is all dimensionally the same. Of note, the 20mm stuff is used on a lot of the Chinese 3d printers that are showing up over here.

 

[Cody Webster]

Great! Thanks