DIY Screw Switches for Rocketry

In high power rocketry its good practice to have some kind of keyed switch or remove before flight system that isolates the avionics from power. Important as often these systems are connected to small wells filled with explosives that are fired at points in the flight to split airframe sections and deploy recovery parachutes etc. Isolating the system (killing the power) enables the flyer to handle, carry and prepare other aspects of the rocket and only arm the system when necessary.

I've used small 3.5mm stereo jacks and sockets and when the stereo jack is removed 2 pins are connected under a spring steel load to which I have soldered a power cable. I have also experimented with rotary key switches. I have never flown key switches and recently read about some failures using rotary key switches and I've always wondered at what force/speed would it be possible that my clamping stereo jack socket might separate in flight and and kill power?

I then came across the idea of screw switches. A screw switch essentially is a system where a circuit only becomes connected when a screw is tightened. They are often made by hand by epoxying a nut onto a metal bar which is insulated and another metal piece added on top which will be connected when the screw/bolt is tightened. I wanted to try and make one that was accurately repeatable so I could make a multiples but also smaller, tougher and neater.

So I quickly decided on using double sided copper clad fr4 and a PEM nut press fitted to one side. I CNC routed the boards with a hole to receive the PEM nut and 2 holes for M2 mounting bolts. As the M2 mounting bolts would connect the 2 sides of the FR4 I routed a clearance area which generously clears the head of the M2. I fitted a PEM nut (press fit using a 1.5 ton arbour press) to the first prototype and continuity checked that the two sides of the board where still electrically isolated. To make the switching screw I have epoxied another PEM nut onto an M2 bolt and when fully tightened it connects the 2 sides of the board. On the other end of the M2 bolt I made a small punch mark to disrupt the last couple of threads on the bolt which means it cannot be fully unscrewed.

As the device is copper clad I routed the board to have a tab on one end  (at the top of the picture below) onto which power wires can be soldered either side. Therefore when the M2 bolt is fully tightened it connects the wires and allows current to flow.

It then just needs to be mounted in a position inside the rockets electronics bay where its possible to have a small hole in the airframe allowing a small screwdriver to be inserted to open and close the switch. As a mockup I made a small 29mm bulkhead and added a standoff to mount the switch too.
Finally one of the great benefits of a CNC is repeatability, I have now knocked up a few of these and they sit awaiting deployment in upcoming rocket builds.

EDIT!! So some people where asking questions and struggling to see how this worked so I've done a little video explanation and demo! 

DIY Rocketry Screw Switch from concretedog on Vimeo.