Can someone point me to any rails diy tutorials?

I took 15mm aluminum rod and a die and threaded the ends of it, sandwiched 2 identical pieces of wood on either end with washers and bolts to hold it in place (perfect rectangle). I then made platforms for everything that goes on them and used small u-bolts to affix them to the rails:

http://www.yafiunderground.com/Images/rails.jpg
http://www.yafiunderground.com/Images/rails2.jpg

i have a die/tap set. that'll work for the rods themselves. What did you use to interface rods to camera platform?

Once it's all painted black I guess it won't matter if components are aluminum, wood, or carbon fiber.

1/4"-20 thread with a wingnut

to attach to the tripod, I took the hexagonal mounting doohicky from my bogen head and screwed it to another board with u-bolts which then interfaces with the rails.

U-bolts idea is pretty clever. I did a quick search yesterday on McMaster-Carr and misumiusa for Shaft Collars.
Found this widget, a collar with clamp lever.. maybe a quick release.
https://fa.misumiusa.com/gwos/catalog/catalog_view_pc080.aspx?CATALOG_ID=0001&CATEGORY_ID=002&PRODUCT_ID=10132

No price, need to register first :(