rail buttons

[bobby_hamill]

Does anyone have a photo showing an Estes BT-55 tube with a micro railbutton and a 1010 rail button attached ?
I am looking to do a visual for comparison. I will be using only 24mm motors in the BT-50 motor mount tube

Thanks

Bobby

 

[Lotronex]

Not sure if this is what you're looking for.
Micro:

1010 (missing the screw, I just have it sitting on the micro):

 

[bobby_hamill]

@ Lotronex​

if that airframe is an Estes BT-55 that is exactly what I was looking for

 

[Lotronex]

@ Lotronex​

if that airframe is an Estes BT-55 that is exactly what I was looking for

Yep, it's a BMS BT55, which is identical to the Estes BT55.

 

[rharshberger]

There is also a Mini rail button that is between the 1010 and the Micro in size.

 

[bobby_hamill]

​

@ lotronex thanks for posting that image as that is what I am looking for .
I plan to use the micro rail buttons for my scale Black Brant 2 using a BT-55
What I plan on doing is building a rail launcher that can handle both 1010 rail buttons
and the micro rail buttons.

 

[cwbullet]

There is also a Mini rail button that is between the 1010 and the Micro in size.

There is a 20mm rail, 15mm rail, and a 10mm rail.

 

[rharshberger]

There is a 20mm rail, 15mm rail, and a 10mm rail.

20mm is the Mini, 10mm and possibly 15mm fit the micro iirc. I own both a 20mm and a micro rail cant remember but I think its a 15mm Makerbeam.

 

[terryg]

Mini rail buttons are the sweet spot for me. Micro rail buttons can sometimes bind on the rail.

 

[cwbullet]

20mm is the Mini, 10mm and possibly 15mm fit the micro iirc. I own both a 20mm and a micro rail cant remember but I think its a 15mm Makerbeam.

I can design rail guides for each if there is a demand.

 

[bobby_hamill]

​

@Lotronex

​

Do you have a mini rail button you can add to the photo above ?
I just wanted to make sure the mini rail button was not to big to use on a BT-55 airframe
Thanks .

 

[bobby_hamill]

Chuck
Do you have any photos of the rail guides you have designed .
I would love to see some examples of them

Bobby

 

[cwbullet]

Chuck
Do you have any photos of the rail guides you have designed .
I would love to see some examples of them

Bobby

Yes. I tend to design and adjust to the tube diameter.



This is for mini rails. I have one for 15 and 10mm also.

 

[terryg]

Thrustline honest john BT55 tube with mini rail buttons. 1010 button in comparison.

 

[terryg]

24 mm tube with minirail buttons

 

[terryg]

29mm tube with mini rail buttons. 0

 

[terryg]

Micro railbuttons on a BT20 (18mm) fiberglass tube from Mach1 rocketry.

 

[terryg]

They also work well for scale projects.

 

[terryg]

Yes. I tend to design and adjust to the tube diameter.

View attachment 647762

This is for mini rails. I have one for 15 and 10mm also.

Cool, these would work great for retrofiting existing kits.

 

[lr64]

Air drag is significant, though I suppose swoopy rail guides would only look good on certain rockets, even if they resulted in slightly higher apogees for almost anything. Screw holes not yet included. Could be flathead or counterbored, though the fastener would have to have a relatively small or thin head so as not to protrude. Alternatively, for someone willing to fiddle around, there could be threaded holes that aren't visible from the top, but then the fastener would have to be installed and tightened from the inside.

I don't think this guide would look right on the two scale rockets above, though it might on some of the others. This is just a preliminary piece I came up with for an earlier discussion. This is a parametric model, so it might not be too hard to tweak it for other rail sizes besides 1010. I suspect the two diagonal lines wouldn't be very visible on a real piece, especially after a few swipes with sandpaper. I am not tremendously experienced with surfaces in CAD, but I might be able to beat it into submission and get rid of the lines.

There is probably some jazzy CAD operator who could come up with a rail guide that would make this look clunky and/or make it to exploit the strengths and avoid the weaknesses of 3D printing.

 

[cwbullet]

Cool, these would work great for retrofiting existing kits.

Yes. They glue to tubes.

 

[Art Upton]

Air drag is significant,

Most folks will not notice the air drag from Lugs or Rail Buttons. Towers with neither are only used in competition or setting records; not most sporting purposes [Most sounding rockets use rail guides]

Just want to make sure folks don't worry about it too much, just like over building MPRs.

 

[lr64]

When there's a limitation on altitude, drag allows the use of noisier motors without busting the limit.

 

[JoePfeiffer]

I also find the micro buttons tend to bind. Mini buttons look fine to my eye on rockets as small as BT-50, and work much better for me.

 

[Art Upton]

I also find the micro buttons tend to bind. Mini buttons look fine to my eye on rockets as small as BT-50, and work much better for me.

Same here, I had to get a "Special" silver rail for the micro buttons that was $48 for 4 of them in a bundle only on Amazon back a while. The Black Maker rails are not made to good specs and bind. The Rail Button guy told me that after I learned the hard way.

Do not have problems with the mini buttons, but they wont fit bt-50 on a 4 fin rocket with the rail I have. The rail I have does not fit in-between the fins.

 

[JoePfeiffer]

Do not have problems with the mini buttons, but they wont fit bt-50 on a 4 fin rocket with the rail I have. The rail I have does not fit in-between the fins.

Is it a 2020 rail (I actually haven't tried mine with a four fin rocket)?

 

[Art Upton]

Is it a 2020 rail (I actually haven't tried mine with a four fin rocket)?

Well, I was just in the garage to finish up some minor reorg to make it to my bench and shelf.
I found my 2020 rail and I had a Generic E2X rocket in BT50 with the thin plastic fin can and it has micro buttons on it.
I was able to slide the 2020 rail on it between the 4 fins, but it was very close fit and might drag a little.

Any larger fins in Balsa would be dragin' on the 2020 rail in 4 fins, as I remember testing about 4 years ago.

Art

 

[Art Upton]

Here is the silver Beam Rail I bought for Micro Buttons to not hang up like they do on the skinny black beam.
I could only find them in 4 pack back then, perhaps there are other options now?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XJ5XHBM

 

[lr64]

From the drawings available from the company, it ought to be fairly easy to figure out if a particular size of button will work:
https://www.makerbeam.com/2000mm-1p-black-makerbeamxl-15mmx15mm.html

They don't seem to list any US distributor. However, in addition to Amazon, you can find some of their stuff on eBay. Not necessarily a better deal.

 

[Art Upton]

They don't seem to list any US distributor. However, in addition to Amazon, you can find some of their stuff on eBay. Not necessarily a better deal.

Search in Chyna , that is where many are made