Aluminium Profieles Where to Buy them Cheap?

[andycorleone]

Hi, I'm starting a new project to make a 3D camera Rig, I need Cutted Aluminium Profiles, Angles joints, etc. could someone please point me in the right copany to buy them as cheap as possible.

this is the kind of Rig I want to make



more info and pictures:
DIY 3D RIG


Thanks

[TAProwler]

This material is extruded AL and it is made by several manufacturers.
8020 seems to be the most popular and the cheapest place you will probably find it is here:

http://stores.ebay.com/8020-Inc-Garage-Sale!

They have the hardware too!

R/Todd

[jimmyaz]

I am trying to rebuild a new cnc router out of these as well... but they are quite more expensive than I expected.

Well, the material itself isn't to bad, but the pre-cut labor and buying from their distributor price are higher.

I was wondering what do you use to cut them to get straight corners? How can you drill the 90 degree angle to get the anchor screw they use?

[TAProwler]

I saw on a build thread here that one fella was using a good carbide tipped Diablo blade in a compound miter saw to cut the 8020. You probably have to feed it slowly, but it should give a nice clean cut.

Not sure which anchors you mean, but I would think that even a simple, cheap Harbor Freight drill press should do the trick for 90 deg drilling.

R/Todd

[jimmyaz]

Hi Todd,

They called it Anchor Fastner

80/20 Inc. - The Industrial Erector SetŪ

[Treischl]

You can also try Automation 4 Less. Unlike the EBay Store, you can specify the length you need. The problem I had with the EBay Garage sale was the precut lengths resulting in a lot of leftover material. If you pay attention, you will notice that the EBay garage is actually charging you for the cut on the short lengths. Sheesh. As far as I am concerned, if someone charges you for the cut, you should be able to spec the length you want. They also have the connectors, etc.

[andycorleone]

thanks you for all the replies that exactly was I was looking for

[AssassinXCV]

You can also try Automation 4 Less. Unlike the EBay Store, you can specify the length you need. The problem I had with the EBay Garage sale was the precut lengths resulting in a lot of leftover material. If you pay attention, you will notice that the EBay garage is actually charging you for the cut on the short lengths. Sheesh. As far as I am concerned, if someone charges you for the cut, you should be able to spec the length you want. They also have the connectors, etc.

I got similar garbage from one of the industrial plastic shops near me; went to buy some UHMW to make a spindle mount, $10 for the plastic, $5 just to do one cut on their tablesaw that was close(but more material ofcourse) to the length i wanted. How can they charge for cuts when you're just buying the material? You dont see hardware stores charing you anything to cut rope to the length you want.

[TAProwler]

That is an anchor fastener counter-bore and that, done correctly, will take a little more equipment. They, no doubt, put those in with some sort of milling machine. Any local machine shop could also do it for you, but it will cost you something.

If you want to do it yourself you'll need at least a drill press and an appropriate bit. The easiest would be if your drill press was big enough to hold whatever sized endmill that you will need to make those counter-bores.

It looks like the two sizes of the counter-bores are 9/16" and 13/16". Find an endmill or some other type of flat bottom cutting bit that you can chuck into a drill press that you have access to and cut away.

< DISCLAIMER> I have never tried this, I have now idea how it will work - I'm just thowing it out there as an option to consider. If you need to go real low budget (and I wince as I say this) - get yourself a new (correct size) hole saw and chuck it into whatever you've got that will go roundy-roundy (at least a decent small drill press). Make the cut until the hole saw stops at the correct depth. Then you'll need a dremel or something to hollow out what is left inside the hole saw kerf. The problem with a hole saw is that it has a small drill bit that "leads" the hole saw and it will leave a hole in your 80/20 below the depth of your hole saw cut. The hole saw will also tend to "grab" into the aluminum if you don't keep the hole saw perpendicular to the cut.

Practice plenty on junk stuff before you try to cut into your table pieces.

BTW - 80/20 has the machining specs in their catalog on page 566-567.

Hope that helps. R/Todd

[zool]

Most material suppliers, lumber yards included, use cost accounting to determine how to price materials and services.

A company's total cost of operations fall into two broad categories:

1. Fixed costs which are expenses that do not change as a function of the activity of a business, within the relevant period; or, in accounting terms, costs not included in "cost of goods sold". Examples are: Cost of real estate and equipment [interest on loans], insurance, taxes, salaries, employee benefits, rent, utilities, ongoing periodic maintenance.

2. Variable costs which are a direct function of production volume, rising whenever production expands and falling whenever it contracts. Examples are: raw materials, packaging, and labor [wages and benefits] directly involved in a company's manufacturing process.

In asking for services, beyond the direct cost of the materials, a person is moving from one cost category into another. Or, there is a cost of ordering, receiving and stocking materials, then there is the costs of changing the form of the materials, in the cases above notes, cutting or machining.

The reason the example of cutting a piece of rope in a hardware store is not reasonable to be included in the discussion in that there are no additional costs that can be readily segregated from fixed costs. This is a case of a clerk taking a knife [ever see a hardware store guy without a multi-tool on his belt?!] and removing a section of a rope from a reel. When asking to have a piece of UHMW cut, this takes a readily identifiable tool [table saw or like], which takes space to operate, needs servicing, has a blade that is consumed a bit with each use, and having an employee provide a service that is specific rather than general.

There is also the concept that by machining [changing the form] of a product for a customer, the firm is saving the customer the time and cost of doing that machining themselves, therefore they have added value over and above the cost of the materials, and, in a rational economic world, the customer would recognize the value of that service and be willing to pay for it.

If firms did not recover as many costs as possible, then the firm would cease to exist [costs would exceed income] and the consumer would be left with fewer choices, and in turn, as the remaining firms would experience an increase in demand, they would raise prices to what is known as the equilibrium price.

Equilibrium price refers to a condition where a market price is established through competition such that the amount of goods or services sought by buyers is equal to the amount of goods or services produced by sellers. This price is often called the equilibrium price or market clearing price and will tend not to change unless demand or supply change.

And at this point, no doubt, everyone would like me to stop!!

Whether anyone agrees with any of this or not is not what is being conveyed. This is just the way it is in a "market based economy".

[AFAIK]

andycorlene, have a look at kjn ltd they sell the profile and all the extras, they also cut and are based in the UK.
KJN - Suppliers or Aluminium Profile and Accessories

[frige]

MiSUMi Global Site

for you in the UK:
Aluminum Frames | MISUMI, the catalog company of Mechanical Components for Factory Automation. eCatalog

I never bought any extruded aluminum, but did a lot of research. This place had great prices and great selection.
-frige