U-bolt source for 29mm mount in BT-70 tube?

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bad_idea

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Does anyone know of a source for a U-bolt - preferably stainless - that with nuts could fit around a 30.7mm / 1.21" OD motor mount and within a 55.3mm / 2.18" ID body tube?

I did a search here and checked on many vendors' sites, but tuned up nothing definitive. I suppose the parameters are a little obscure.

Standard 1-3/8" won't likely work without shimming or grinding on the nuts. It's 1.375" ID, which is good, but add a half diameter of each 1/4" leg to get the center to center, and it's 1.625". Then the maximum OD (the distance between opposite points of a hexagon being 1.54x the distance between opposite flats - Edit: whoops, that should "1.154x," i.e., 2/(3^(1/2))) of the 7/16" heads of the matching bolts should be about 0.674", and adding half that to each side makes 2.3" total.

Likewise the standard 1-1/4" won't work, since 1.25" plus 0.25" minus 0.674" is too small.

(If my math is correct.)

If all else fails, the 1-3/8" size will work if the bolts are epoxied on and then any protruding bolt peaks are ground off before the centering ring is glued in or if alternatively, the bolts are each shimmed (or simply lucky) so that the flats are to the outside of the tube, but if anyone knows of something that would work without having to worry about such adjustments - and possibly something lighter with a tighter bend (since a quick link is a lot smaller than the 1" pipe for which the parts I'm looking at are intended), I'd be grateful to know it.

BT-70 is an elegant size, but it is often a harsh mistress when compared to BT-80 or to the minimalist constraints of smaller tubes.

Edit to add, I realized seconds after posting that the inside of the 1-3/8 is going to be a problem too, being only 0.95" at the points of the bolts and at 1.1875, even the flats will need to be ground to fit around the motor mount.

Has anyone had success simply epoxying u-bolt threads without nuts?

Edit again, for math!
 
Last edited:
Round coupling nut
Thanks! I had seen these before but had forgotten they existed, and I didn't know their name.

From the dimensions, 23/64 round coupling nuts will work with either 1-3/8" or 1-1/2" u-bolts.
For mini U-bolts I use what Menards calls "wire rope clips". Discard the big bottom piece, keep the nuts.
View attachment 488485
Home Depot and Lowe's both have wire rope clips and small threaded quick links that I use for all my MPR stuff.
I didn't even know the wire rope clips existed. With the clip in place, I wouldn't have identified them, and with the clip off, I would just have assumed they were u-bolts. Thank you both. I'll see what sizes I can find.
 
You can get stainless wire clamps. That is my main source of small "u-bolts". Most of mine are from McMaster. Some from TSC (Tractor Supply Center)

1 note, if adding extra nuts to have them on both sides of the CR check fit the thread size before leaving the store. Some "cheap" wire cable assemblies have "odd" thread sizes...

This is a 29mm motor tube in a 2.14 ID (54mm) body tube.
20210215_160102.jpg20210215_160446.jpg20210527_151822.jpg
 
The one I showed is for an all fiberglass (except for centering rings) rocket it goes 1490grams Ready-to-Fly on a DMS G80NBT-14A, JLCR etc. Class 1, or can fly 29mm HPR motos.
Because it comes down drogueless then opens the chute, it can be a pretty good jerk on the recovery. I like having that force spread out as much as possible. 1/8 tubular Kevlar y-harness, and 2 of these small u-bolts, gets it evenly the whole way around CR.
20210617_155935.jpg20210625_122523.jpg
 
You can get stainless wire clamps. That is my main source of small "u-bolts". Most of mine are from McMaster. Some from TSC (Tractor Supply Center)

1 note, if adding extra nuts to have them on both sides of the CR check fit the thread size before leaving the store. Some "cheap" wire cable assemblies have "odd" thread sizes...

This is a 29mm motor tube in a 2.14 ID (54mm) body tube.
View attachment 488585View attachment 488586View attachment 488587
The one I showed is for an all fiberglass (except for centering rings) rocket it goes 1490grams Ready-to-Fly on a DMS G80NBT-14A, JLCR etc. Class 1, or can fly 29mm HPR motos.
Because it comes down drogueless then opens the chute, it can be a pretty good jerk on the recovery. I like having that force spread out as much as possible. 1/8 tubular Kevlar y-harness, and 2 of these small u-bolts, gets it evenly the whole way around CR.
View attachment 488603View attachment 488604
Given I'm working with roughly the same dimensions, your design is directly relevant to me. Do you recall what size of wire clamps you used for this rocket? Also, what does the other end of your harness look like? I hadn't thought of using multiple attachments like this.
If you can't find what you are looking for, I think a regular ol' eyebolt is just fine for this size rocket.
I'm reusing an existing fin can, and maybe I've been too stuck in the mindset of when I was building the original rocket, because it didn't even occur to me to use an eyebolt. The original rocket used a piston, so I had the shock cord connected to a steel leader that was centered in a bulkhead (perforated to let ejection gasses through) at the end of the motor tube. Given I'm planning to reuse the fin-can in a zipperless coupler design, there's no particular downside to an off-center attachment for the shock cord.

Thank you both for the suggestions. This is more food for thought. I am glad I didn't get around to making my McMaster-Carr order yesterday.

Edit to add: I didn't account for the coupler when I made the first post above. I actually only have 54mm to work with on the outside.
 
I decided rather than pay McMaster-Carr prices for parts I might not decide to use in the end to instead buy a cheap 1-1/2" u-bolt off Amazon and give it a try. If it's too much trouble to fit or if I think I'll have too little bearing surface on the centering ring, I'll try some of the other suggestions here, for which I remain most grateful.
 
Maybe a dumb question here, but why not just epoxy the harness to the side of the motor tube, slot the centering rings to allow the harness to pass and forgo the ubolts?
 
Wow, has this thread been helpful. I like using U-bolts but the smallest stainless ones that I've found on McMaster are still kinda large for MPR. These cable clamps are exactly what I've been looking for. I ordered some 4mm ones from Amazon to see how they look and they're perfect (link). See the pic below. If these are still a little large, they have 3mm ones too.

Randy

ubolt.jpg
 
Maybe a dumb question here, but why not just epoxy the harness to the side of the motor tube, slot the centering rings to allow the harness to pass and forgo the ubolts?
Not a dumb question. :)

It's simply my preference to have all kevlar easily removable and replaceable. Realistically I'll not likely fly this rocket or any rocket enough to wear out a heavy enough kevlar harness, but I just like things this way.

Also if I were to epoxy to the side of the tube I'd prefer to have it go under two or more centering rings, and I'm modifying an existing fin can forward of the second centering ring. This was originally built for a piston and had recovery mounted to a steel leader that was centered in the motor tube.
 
I have ground down nuts before, fitting a 1/4" U-bolt between a 54mm motor mount and a 3" airframe. I believe I got everything in place with some loctite red (epoxy would work too), then ground it with a Dremel so that it fit. Worked a treat.
 
I search McMaster-Carr for anything I can think of that I can't find at the local hardware store. They have the best selection of all of the industrial hardware providers.
 
I search McMaster-Carr for anything I can think of that I can't find at the local hardware store. They have the best selection of all of the industrial hardware providers.
Indeed. I recall John Carmack saying something in the early '00s to the effect that the next generation of rockets would owe a lot to McMaster-Carr (even if only for testing and prototyping).
 
Not a dumb question. :)

It's simply my preference to have all kevlar easily removable and replaceable. Realistically I'll not likely fly this rocket or any rocket enough to wear out a heavy enough kevlar harness, but I just like things this way.

Also if I were to epoxy to the side of the tube I'd prefer to have it go under two or more centering rings, and I'm modifying an existing fin can forward of the second centering ring. This was originally built for a piston and had recovery mounted to a steel leader that was centered in the motor tube.

copy that. How would you replace the harness if the ubolt nuts are inaccessible after motor mount installation?
 
Planning to use a fastener as yet to be decided to connect to the ubolt. In lighter rockets, I've used 150 lb. fishing leaders but haven't decided what I'll use for the rebuild.
 
1 way is to make the kevlar leader to the u-bolt a loop. Then if need to replace. Tie the new one to the old, and use it to pull the new one thru. Other nice thing is you can shift it slightly each time to keep motor charge from scorching the same place each time, and inspections are easy.
 
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