80/20 Aluminum Extrusion T-Slot Sysport

[rmwarren]

[member=12380]greymann[/member] - I had pretty much the same experience sans the handy neighbor w/ milling machine, my 20mm end mill is still unused as I figgered out belatedly that it was too large for my drill press chuck. As [member=36908]BadRobot[/member] pointed out, where 80/20 gets really expensive is in the cost of specialty fasteners/boring/tapping/etc. If you can buy used/overstock you can save a ton but sometimes this limits what you can do.

I also settled on end taps in the 1515 ULS and drilling access holes, which works great and is cheap but does limit your ability to adjust something after the fact. All that is needed is a chop saw w/ AL blade, the drill guide and a 5/16" tap and you can do most anything.

To avoid the need for extrusions lined up with every drawer glide I opted to add side panels thick enough so the inside face is just proud of the extrusion, then mount the glides to the panel. Using 15 series this meant I needed a panel 25mm thick. The end product, mocked up, looks like this:

[attachimg=1]

Here's a recent post with some more details, if you scroll down there is more trial & error info on using 80/20 with Systainers.

The panels are doubled up 1/2" ply, with an 8mm thick tab routed along each edge. I cut one piece of 1/2" ply to the exact size to fit the 80/20 side frame and then the second one 20mm larger in each direction, glue them together creating a 10mm long tab & then using a top-bearing router trim bit reduce the thickness of the tab to fit the extrusion. If you are using the 10 Series extrusion you can probably just use 3/4 ply and rabbet the edges to fit the slots.

The 15 Series extrusion slot is 8mm wide, and each face of the extrusion is 15mm. The nominal 1/2" ply doubled is just under 25mm thick so the face is ~2mm proud of the extrusions when installed this way, and the only fasteners needed are 4 screws at the extrusion corners. With the panels pre-bored for 32mm hardware you have decent adjustability for the drawer glides.

Hope this makes sense.

RMW

I agree with all of BadRobot's points.  When I started with my 80/20 building, I settled on one size.  In my case 40mm stock.  Then kept looking until I found overstock extrusions of 2, 3 and 4 feet.  They were much cheaper than the equivalent in exact mm length. 
I also bought the counter bore bit thinking I would do it myself only to find that it was a 20 mm bit with a 20 mm shank.  Luckily, I have a neighbor with a very expensive metalworking mill and he does the few I really need.  The initial setup took some time because the depth and the setback for the counter bore needs to be very precise.  Since it has digital controls, he now just has to dial the settings in and go. 
I use the tabs and screw where ever possible and do the tapping and access drilling myself using the 80/20 jig and like BadRobot I like the look better.

 

[BadRobot]

More pictures:

 

[rmwarren]

[member=36908]BadRobot[/member]  - Great update. I like the inset vertical extrusions, I assume they align with the holes in the drawer glides and now you can adjust to any height/spacing? Eliminates the necessity of having a horizontal extrusion for every glide?

Nice job!  [thumbs up]

RMW

 

[supimeister]

Love the sysport [member=36908]BadRobot[/member].  If it weren’t for my L-dollies, I would definitely consider it, but I do hate how much space they waste and lack drawers if not L-racks.

any chance one of you 80/20 lovers have tried to use 80/20 for panel clamps?

 

[nclemmons]

With the addition of the interior vertical extrusion on each side, do you need the rear ones?  Could you not just make a framed top and a framed bottom to give you a large base for stability and connect them with four extrusions to support the hole placement in the drawers, further reducing both weight and cost but not compromising rigidity?

Thanks for sharing!

 

[promark747]

The 15 Series extrusion slot is 8mm wide, and each face of the extrusion is 15mm. The nominal 1/2" ply doubled is just under 25mm thick so the face is ~2mm proud of the extrusions when installed this way, and the only fasteners needed are 4 screws at the extrusion corners. With the panels pre-bored for 32mm hardware you have decent adjustability for the drawer glides.

Hope this makes sense.

RMW

Think you have a typo there...the face of the 15 series is 1.5", not 15mm.

 

[rvieceli]

[member=7714]promark747[/member]

You are both correct.

What Richard was talking about was the fact if you think of the side of the extrusion... The piece is divided down the middle by an about 8mm slot. On each side of that slot is an aluminum piece that is about 15mm wide. So that from the rear of that slot to the front face of the side is about 23mm.

You are correct though that the over all size of the extrusion is 1.5 inches.

Ron

 

[BadRobot]

Side view:

 

[BadRobot]

I had some leftover Aluminum Extrusion T-Slots so I built a UPS / printer stand.  I have not put drawers yet but I put side rails in it.  Just need to time to make a drawers.

 

[Michael Kellough]

With the addition of the interior vertical extrusion on each side, do you need the rear ones?  Could you not just make a framed top and a framed bottom to give you a large base for stability and connect them with four extrusions to support the hole placement in the drawers, further reducing both weight and cost but not compromising rigidity?

Thanks for sharing!

I think you're right. A minimal version would be a squarish frame to hold the casters with the four uprights to catch the drawer slides screws. Then you could use two or three short pieces to stabilize  the tops of the uprights but the drawer slides themselves go a long way towards that.

There are a dozens of options at 8020 for keeping the uprights upright.

 

[BadRobot]

With the addition of the interior vertical extrusion on each side, do you need the rear ones?  Could you not just make a framed top and a framed bottom to give you a large base for stability and connect them with four extrusions to support the hole placement in the drawers, further reducing both weight and cost but not compromising rigidity?

Thanks for sharing!

I think you're right. A minimal version would be a squarish frame to hold the casters with the four uprights to catch the drawer slides screws. Then you could use two or three short pieces to stabilize  the tops of the uprights but the drawer slides themselves go a long way towards that.

There are a dozens of options at 8020 for keeping the uprights upright.

Without the rear support, it is stable.  Just keep in mind that this is 1020 T-Slots, not 1010 T-Slots.  It is a lot beefier.

Additional, I have a folding MFT table hang in the back.  It makes even stronger since it runs horizontal between 2 rear vertical posts.  I will take pictures with I use it next time.

 

[rmwarren]

[member=7714]promark747[/member]

You are both correct.

What Richard was talking about was the fact if you think of the side of the extrusion... The piece is divided down the middle by an about 8mm slot. On each side of that slot is an aluminum piece that is about 15mm wide. So that from the rear of that slot to the front face of the side is about 23mm.

You are correct though that the over all size of the extrusion is 1.5 inches.

Ron

That's exactly what I meant, the slot is 8mm, each face is 15mm (X2), total of 38mm or 1.5".

Thanks Ron.

RMW

 

[rmwarren]

[member=18813]supimeister[/member] - what are "panel clamps"?

RMW

Love the sysport [member=36908]BadRobot[/member].  If it weren’t for my L-dollies, I would definitely consider it, but I do hate how much space they waste and lack drawers if not L-racks.

any chance one of you 80/20 lovers have tried to use 80/20 for panel clamps?

 

[supimeister]

[member=18813]supimeister[/member] - what are "panel clamps"?

RMW

Love the sysport [member=36908]BadRobot[/member].  If it weren’t for my L-dollies, I would definitely consider it, but I do hate how much space they waste and lack drawers if not L-racks.

any chance one of you 80/20 lovers have tried to use 80/20 for panel clamps?

Sorry, I don’t mean to distract from the thread... Something like thishttp://damstom.com/panel-clamps/
or thishttp://www.ptreeusa.com/clamp_panel_glueUp.htm

 

[rmwarren]

[member=18813]supimeister[/member] - what are "panel clamps"?

RMW

Love the sysport [member=36908]BadRobot[/member].  If it weren’t for my L-dollies, I would definitely consider it, but I do hate how much space they waste and lack drawers if not L-racks.

any chance one of you 80/20 lovers have tried to use 80/20 for panel clamps?

Sorry, I don’t mean to distract from the thread... Something like thishttp://damstom.com/panel-clamps/
or thishttp://www.ptreeusa.com/clamp_panel_glueUp.htm

Got it. At the risk of furthering the distraction while responding to the question... yes. I have thought about it but not come up with anything interesting.

Years ago I had a set of these clamps and you could replace the wood with 80/20 but that's all I've got.

And now back to your regularly scheduled topic...  [big grin]

RMW

 

[Michael Kellough]

Panel clamps....you could thread eye bolts into the ends of two lengths then maybe use clevis rod ends but I don't know of any ready-made hardware to get you the rest of the way.

 

[BadRobot]

I converted the space under my workbench into storage organizer.  I just used leftover t-slot I had.  Only spent $17 for 1/4 plywood and time to cut it to size.

 

[Arvid]

this would be a nice rack setup in a van or box truck. nice and light weight and clean. something would have to be figured out how to mount it from tipping over. but i can see this design working well in a van.

 

[BadRobot]

This is my multifunction stool that fits Festool Systainer MIDI.

 

[BadRobot]

this would be a nice rack setup in a van or box truck. nice and light weight and clean. something would have to be figured out how to mount it from tipping over. but i can see this design working well in a van.

There are a couple options that you can attach t-slots to the floor or wall, for instance, Aluminum Floor Mount Base Plate.

[attachimg=1]

I built the entire garage wall with 80/20 t-slot as skeleton.  Then I just attach or rearrange as I want.  It can reuse over and over again.