[jspatz1]

The decision to use 80/20 depends a great deal on what fabrication resources you have. If you do not have access to the tools and shop resources to fabricate a more custom design from raw mateials, then it can be a great shortcut for some teams to achieve what they could not do otherwise. It is definitely NOT the most weight efficient approach, and is very expensive. All things being equal, for a team that has the means to fabricate whatever they want, it is not the most efficient or graceful method. It was designed to save time and labor in industrial machines and frameworks where weight was not a consideration. We do not use it because we are blessed with good fabrication capabilties, but for a team working from a garage with a hand drill, it can be a lifesaver.