Needing a rail

[Bowhunter]

Where is the best place to find a rail Im looking to upgrade

 

[Johnnie]

McMaster-Carr.com

Search, as I was not prepared enough to get you any part numbers, but there are a number of threads that have the part number for $20 (+/-) dollar 1" square X 8" long rail. excellent stuff, and rail buttons from railbuttons.com fit so nicely inside...

step into the light...welcome to the order of the Rail...

spoiled on the rail I am

 

[BlueNinja]

I hae to agree with the McMaster-Carr suggestion- good rails.

 

[rocketsonly]

If you don't want to pay for the high shipping on long rails, look in your yellow pages for a local metal supplier. Or go to Home Depot or Lowes and ask them which stores carry extruded rails.

 

[Stymye]

this page will pull up the nearest 80/20 distributer by zip code

https://www.8020.net/Office/distriblook.asp

although most other brands of extrusion will also work

 

[rstaff3]

railbuttons.com has a section on what to buy

 

[als57]

Originally posted by stymye
this page will pull up the nearest 80/20 distributer by zip code

https://www.8020.net/Office/distriblook.asp

although most other brands of extrusion will also work

The 1010 extrusion from 8020 works well with the blacksky size buttons. Thats also what most folks are buying from McMaster Carr. The 1515 extrusion is a good match to the large extreme rail.

Only thing is the 1010 rail comes in 145" bars and typically you have to buy a bar. But they'll typically cut it for no charge. List price is about $31 for a bar. So under $16 for a 6' rail isn't bad.

BTW I just bought a bunch of this for LDRS 23.


AL
BRS VP
LDRS 23 Hosts

 

[wyldbill]

Originally posted by stymye
this page will pull up the nearest 80/20 distributer by zip code

https://www.8020.net/Office/distriblook.asp

although most other brands of extrusion will also work

One caution here, get a quote for the freight charges up front. I ordered a 6' section of 1010 through a distributor, and when I picked it up, there was freight charge of $30+ tacked on, more than the extrusion was worth. I argued this down to a little over $20. UPS' site quoted the shipping (including size charges) at about $7. Caveat Emptor.

-bill

 

[rbeckey]

McMaster Carr charged $12 for shipping on a $20 6 foot rail.

 

[karatekicker271]

www.scalerockets.com go to launch supplies and you'll see it

 

[ibeblip]

Buying components & Building to suit, or Buying ready made?

I have a heavy rail that was built before all the rocketry pirates in the world stole my idea. No bragging here, just a fact.

It is a two-section rail approximately 4 meters long when assembled. I do not need that much length and am willing to sell one half or the other if the price is right. (make an offer I cannot refuse)

This rail has an aluminum extrusion (similar to the 8020 configuration for a 1.1" profile) attached to a 1 1/4" square steel tube for stiffening and a solid steel sprew (1" diameter) for mounting to the launch pad.

I'll ask my office assistant to snap some digital photos of the assembly and will post them afterward (if they turn out).

 

[Tools R Us]

Main Frame has some very nice rail, the faces are smooth, no grooves, making clean up easier. It comes in 1" and 1.5" just like 8020 and Matt's buttons fit.

https://www.mainframeinc.com/index.html

 

[belfert]

Originally posted by als57
Only thing is the 1010 rail comes in 145" bars and typically you have to buy a bar. But they'll typically cut it for no charge. List price is about $31 for a bar. So under $16 for a 6' rail isn't bad.

Standard lengths from 80/20 are 97", 145", and 288". Your local dealer may choose to carry only one size.

Brian Elfert

 

[als57]

Originally posted by belfert
Standard lengths from 80/20 are 97", 145", and 288". Your local dealer may choose to carry only one size.

Brian Elfert

The 97" is only available in certain sizes. Not listed in the 1010 style (Blacksky size). Is available in 1515 size ( extreme size ).

Our distributer stocks most of the stuff locally. The rest they can get in a day or two from the factory.

Its neat stuff. The fasteners and accessories are a bit pricey.


Al

 

[DynaSoar]

Originally posted by Bowhunter
Where is the best place to find a rail Im looking to upgrade

There's one on auction on ROL.

 

[Zippy]

I bought my 8' rail from Mcmaster-Carr. The price was reasonable but yes the shipping was a bit high. Whats nice is that it was sent to me in a 10 foot long 3.5" diameter tube. I'm going to get an IRIS and probably a V2 and maybe a third stubby rocket out of that tube. I'm making all the centering rings and nose cones myself though since the 3.5" diameter isn't a common size.

 

[als57]

Originally posted by Zippy
I bought my 8' rail from Mcmaster-Carr. The price was reasonable but yes the shipping was a bit high. Whats nice is that it was sent to me in a 10 foot long 3.5" diameter tube. I'm going to get an IRIS and probably a V2 and maybe a third stubby rocket out of that tube. I'm making all the centering rings and nose cones myself though since the 3.5" diameter isn't a common size.

It seems like if its over 6' in lenght ; the package becomes oversized and I think they have to charge the 30lb rate minimum.


Al
BRS VP
LDRS 23 Hosts

 

[Stymye]

I picked up a 12' length from the local distributer it cost me a total of $25
they even cut it in half for me for $2 more,thats why I posted the distributer link...shipping for extra long items is as much as the rail,itself!

 

[Tools R Us]

We put a picture of the MainFrame rails on the bottom of this page:

https://trailertrashaerospace.com/launch_trailer.htm

Their plant is here in Mesa, AZ. but they have distributors across the US. They have good prices and don't charge us to cut any size piece off of the 20' sticks. Very good people to deal with.