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Unread 28-05-2014, 01:15
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DampRobot DampRobot is offline
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AKA: Roger Romani
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Re: What is the easiest way to cut make aluminum gusset

Depending on where you're located, you could pay a waterjet (or laser or sheetmetal) shop to cut your gussets for you (or even better, get them as a sponsor). Depending on how many you want cut, you'll probably end up spending less than $150 to get them watejerjetted, which even over 4 years isn't all that much. You'll also get much better quality than you possibly could by cutting them yourself. We have all the equipment (except a sheetmetal sheer) mentioned in this thread, and even given the expense and extra lead time, having the gussets done right and quickly is so worth the extra money.

If you don't want to go the waterjet/laser/turret punch sponsorship route (and by the way, large numbers of relatively simple identical gussets is a relatively good use of a sheetmetal sponsors time), I'd try to buy some kind of CNC/DROed mill/router. If those are out of your price range, I'd suggest going the printout route for the holes and buying a nice band saw. Band saws are good tools for the shop anyway, for cutting tubing to length, prototyping, etc.
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