Rail Button Hardware

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Joe Rocket 97

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Looking to get some tee nuts or flange nuts to mount 10-10 rail buttons, Are the screws 6-32 or 8-32 that hold them in place? any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks
 
Most of the ones I've used are 6-32 but there are a lot of different rail buttons out.
 
Depending on where you are located Joe, Lowes or Home Depot carry tee nuts and brad hole tee nuts (tee nuts with out spikes, instead they have 3 small holes for brads). You can also use rawl nuts aka rubber expanding nuts.
 
Dog house buttons can be reamed a tad to fit the collar of a 6-32 weld-nut. Those are my choice and they can be picked up at Lowes in the hardware aisle (never seen them at Home Depot)
 
Warning! Thread Necromancy!

I recently updated a tube fin rocket with the addition of rail buttons in place of a large launch lug.

Lowe's does indeed stock 6-32 t-nuts in their fastener section and they are usually in the drawers of parts. I prefer the t-nuts that are labeled as "brad hole" because they do not have the bent up teeth to keep the part from rotating. A dab of epoxy will hold the t-nut in place.

The 6-32 t-nuts seem to require a 3/16" hole drilled in the body tube. (It goes without saying that the t-nut goes inside the fuselage/body tube and the rail button goes on the outside so I won't say that.) Bend the t-nut flange slightly to make it fit the curve of the body tube. Make sure the screw through the rail-button does not protrude into the body tube where it might snag the recovery system. Choose an appropriate sized fastener or cut to size.

For those wondering how to launch a tube fin rocket from a rail, the rail passes through one of the tube fins and a pair of stand-offs for the rail buttons are used to provide clearance between the fin and the rail. Stand-offs can be made or purchased. I buy mine from Dog House Rocketry (now owned by Mike Fisher). It was necessary to clamp the stand-offs into a vise and drill the holes out to 3/16" to fit the t-nuts. Another solution might be to stack two rail buttons and use only the top button. I chose not to go this route because of the possibility of a mismount at the pad. Excitable boy, ya know?
 
With three piece buttons I noticed the thin parts were about the same thickness as my tube, so I just did two on the bottom ends and filleted a bit of epoxy.
 
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