80/20 profiles 1.5" question

[rocky100370]

Hi

Does anyone have a favorite place to purchase these profiles for a low cost?

TIA

 

[dashboardpws]

McMaster Carr is a good source. We get a lot of our material there.

 

[Cheese]

They used to have a store front on eBay, that sold drop and off cuts.

 

[rubber_ducky]

I ordered from tnutz.com

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[madjalapeno]

I just ordered a bunch of stuff from Misumi, all cut to length at a good price.

 

[pixelated]

So far, I've bought all of my 8020 from McMaster. The only price comparisons I've done are between them and 8020.net and overall they are about the same, with some stuff less from one than the other, and vice-versa.
What I like about McMaster is that they are very fast with shipping with reasonable shipping cost. IMO, McMaster's website is easier to navigate than 8020 to find the profiles and components, but 8020 has more background information.

 

[Michael Kellough]

McMaster for the rational online catalog and stocking. Zoro also has 8020 stuff, sometimes at lower cost.

 

[sae]

80/20's distributor model is terrible, it's really only worth using the big industrial suppliers as has been mentioned (McMaster/Grainger/Zoro).

I tried going direct, and also got quoted through one of their regional suppliers they sell your info to when you request a catalog, and they were going to charge me truck freight from 80/20 to their supplier, plus local delivery on the supplier's truck. Yeah no thanks.

 

[mattgam]

I'll second tnutz I've bought a ton of extrusion from them.  Good prices on all the accessories too

 

[RobS888]

Is the 1.5 80/20 strong enough for an mft style table?

 

[serge0n]

I placed my order with 8020.net back in March. Still waiting for delivery. I will never use them again. Absolutely no indication on their website that they have been flooded with orders and have significant fulfillment issues.

I'll try tnutz or McMaster next time.

 

[rocky100370]

Thank you all for your input. I received a quote from 80/20.net and about fell off my chair. A very simple 4'x3' 20" deep frame for workbench was over $800. Ummmm no thanks.

 

[dashboardpws]

For anything other than an item they can just pull off the shelf (and even then they seem to have a pretty relaxed attitude about timing), 8020 is a problem. If you need anything cut to length, that's going to take forever and in many cases they're going to force you to buy it through a distributor, which adds a layer of opacity, cost, and time, too.

McMaster, as has already been mentioned, is fast and reliable. I always get anything I order in two days. The material is as good or better than that from 8020, and for the finished lengths we use the pricing works out well for us.

TNutz also has various very good qualities, particularly in terms of the small parts and in machining. For example, we use quite a few short lengths of t-slot that are threaded on both ends. The price is frankly spectacular compared to the struggle we've had getting the same thing through 8020. One thing you won't get, though, is a McMaster level of quality on the extrusion. This is really dependent on what you're using it for, but be aware that in some cases the low cost equals sections that aren't straight, or it sometimes seems they've mixed a metric size with an imperial (important in terms of what fasteners you use), and cleanliness can be a concern.

 

[Cheese]

I don't know...I never had an issue when ordering 80/20 from either the 80/20 company or from their store front on eBay. Everything arrived within 3-4 days, clean...straight....and well packaged.

This is definitely a non-starter for me "...but be aware that in some cases the low cost equals sections that aren't straight, or it sometimes seems they've mixed a metric size with an imperial (important in terms of what fasteners you use), and cleanliness can be a concern."

It seems to me that any cost savings with Tnutz is offset by receiving potential lengths of scrap, additional time spent reordering metric/imperial items and waiting a second time for their delivery, not to mention the clean up on aisle 5.  [smile]

For a 4' x 3' x 20" bench here's some 80/20 from Zoro. Add some fasteners, some connectors, some levelers and with free shipping you're probably into it for around $300.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/224308645654?epid=1422469167&_trkparms=ispr=1&hash=item3439d64f16:g:144AAOSwILpf99EW:sc:ShippingMethodStandard!55104!US!-1&amdata=enc%3AAQAFAAACcBaobrjLl8XobRIiIML1V4Imu%252Fn%252BzU5L90Z278x5ickkgCVySCgrNFPU8Iu85TabMKREEs5lKf6lN23A2HeEZj7mNYB5flLlBubOl37%252B82cXvH9LD52KOLjC5F1ttwY8zIMHJRyOJjJCztQI9MUd9zezjHuwX%252Fo3rZzA2VfU930qomyaiJT%252B%252Bz1cbEtezEy0lVstKiF%252FymNQm99dM%252FPaw8Ol4RAZtldx7tM%252BLPEJ%252FcAzqbwICH7dOJweTjJafdeVb1A2cDhJNNXgW8uIzHywb7Q%252FR23jOKLqJ73VlwERybERF62D%252BN9FI0wpAN63PSw2Bc9ykfAOfylQvpgKDKkBarYMZmyFx9rkrFKr6qJXZk8L%252Btzo3MIp0lDZaP%252BjXYeGDv7bdR67F83s6dxLdNUSvZvNYZS3iHZpnTsD52Hf7i2Hn%252FX7prlB4gzQHmTBSSyn9%252FjQN1Sx9fY0sJrKPFsEdIeb6KRL9cB1zE9LaAuHViTIAzoo71DaRP1cEhG54uKgb%252BIwFXiSlD96ZZYIiUE1m9%252BiL03xDUW444G30kiv4%252BTvajQ7idKb36xXGuSCaLQ%252BAhhMrJuaomES9jdOC1kDOG9znaXa3te7VpxPojYvkTNo2MK3cHvWWIceUKm76dMzZ1Ax0SW76moqxLWehEyQ0K7mh2D4uz5sP%252F9c9vxso821fN5iKetCtnCCcSWmfD2YI9KzzaP7XC1uJNeMy8WswaD9kHH%252BTW9omz1aCn5Iik%252B0FgpsnDP4hxjhsdPc85DeOHS%252BVBwPYpLuObTzdPheKu3Fy%252F3eHe8UemKYHtKE3azrFwfAC8Xhkj3epKfPaCRZtw%253D%253D%7Ccksum%3A224308645654277c5ca594274ee6abf09c36f1bc946d%7Campid%3APL_CLK%7Cclp%3A2334524

 

[rocky100370]

Which series will accept the Festool clamp?  Thank you all for your help!

 

[hdv]

Festool/Bessey Quicklamps fit in the slots of imperial 15 and metric 40 8020 profiles.

 

[Cheese]

Here's a piece of 15 series.

[attachimg=1]

 

[rocky100370]

Thanks for the pic Cheese. Can this be cut with the standard blade on my Kapex?

 

[dashboardpws]

You CAN use a typical carbide wood-cutting blade to cut aluminum if that's all you have, but I wouldn't expect to make a lot of cuts. Be certain to use a lubricant, even something as simple as 3 in 1. Anything is better than nothing. Aluminum isn't particularly hard but it IS "sticky" and will adhere to your blade to varying degrees, making a nice, clean result challenging without the right tool. Take your time and you can do it. If you're lucky to have a stationary disc sander you'll want to dress the ends with that afterwards.

 

[pixelated]

I use a Diablo aluminum blade in my miter saw (not a Kapex) for cutting the 8020 and other AL stuff. It does an excellent job. For lube, I've been using waxy stick tapping/cutting lube I ordered from McMaster which seems to work well and doesn't make a splattering mess.

The AL blade also makes nice cuts in wood if you get lazy about changing it out. [wink]