80/20 Aluminum T-slot Building Systems – Build your Idea

Re:80/20 Aluminum T-slot Building Systems – Build your Idea by Quequau on Sunday January 29, 2023 @08:39AM (#34567963)

I wonder how much outfits like Send Cut Send are eating into 80/20's market share. I know I've used laser cut sheet stock for a few projects that probably would have used aluminium extrusions in the past.

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Re:80/20 Aluminum T-slot Building Systems – Build your Idea by doctorwho42 on Sunday January 29, 2023 @09:03AM (#34568162)

Probably not as much as Chinese extrusions have. You can find some pretty cheap and compatible aluminum extrusion on the internet these days. Ebay used to be the best, but now there are dedicated websites and everything. Extrusions have never been cheaper

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Re:80/20 Aluminum T-slot Building Systems – Build your Idea by fbnlsr on Sunday January 29, 2023 @10:29AM (#34568946)

Are you sure? I've been looking at getting myself a sim racing rig made of aluminium extrusion and prices have skyrocketed in the past couple of years.

I'd love to get some links on those cheaper extrusion websites you're talking about.

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Re:80/20 Aluminum T-slot Building Systems – Build your Idea by ama5322 on Sunday January 29, 2023 @09:03AM (#34568172)

I doubt much if we think decades. Sheet stock has always been used in conjunction to modular systems such as these, via manual or CNC machining (slots and holes are trivial to do). The advantage of a modular system such as these is the ability to build a scaffold with only straight cuts and a few off-the-shelf connectors.

In most cases you need a sheet metal press to form a scaffold out of _just_ sheet metal.

For anything structural (ie: when thickness matters), the price of custom-cut sheet stock is not that competitive anymore.

The price of machine-cut metal sheet has dropped quite a bit the last years though. I think it's filling a new niche, not really replacing the space of modular extrusions.

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