Questions For T-Slot

[chuckmerja]

So 1" would be OK if buying SAE stuff? vs the 1.5"? I didn't price the Bosch stuff, but it appears T-slot (http://www.tslots.com/) is cheaper than 80/20 (http://www.tslotparts.com/) (http://www.8020.net/T-Slot-1.asp) after discounts for students/roboteers. Are they interchangeable??

[IndySam]

80/20 will give discounts to FIRST teams. I have also heard of Fastenal giving discounts on 80/20.

YOU can also check the 80/20 Ebay page for some great deals.

[jreuter]

1073 regularly uses builds our chassis from 8020 - the 1 inch "1010" series.

The following fasteners are the ones we use most. The price is from an order a couple years ago, but it will give you an idea of what to expect.

Part Number Price
Butterfly 3381 $1.50
Single Plate 3382 $0.21
Double Plate 3280 $0.69
Drop in 3376 $1.70

The butterfly's are used for right angle mounting.
The single and double plates are for general purpose mounting of other items to the 8020.
The drop-ins allow you to add a fastener into the t-slot without taking an end off to slide it in.

A handful of their T plates and other corner brace plates are useful.
A handful of 1" triangles for the inside corners are also useful
(Sorry, don't have the part numbers handy.)

You will need a variety of 1/4-20 machine screws. I recommend hex drives, and some T-handled hex wrenches.

Hope this helps.

[slijin]

Originally Posted by jreuter

The following fasteners are the ones we use most. The price is from an order a couple years ago, but it will give you an idea of what to expect.

Part Number Price
Butterfly 3381 $1.50
Single Plate 3382 $0.21
Double Plate 3280 $0.69
Drop in 3376 $1.70

What supplier was this order for? Also, is what you term a "butterfly" just a corner or L bracket?

Most 80/20 hardware, as far as I'm aware, has 1/4-20 threading; make sure to have a variety of lengths below 1" for mounting. Depending on the application, you'll want either a corner or L bracket (both of which are compatible with extrusion).

Having some 1/4-20 taps on hand may prove useful as well; we occasionally find threading the center tube to be useful when mounting pieces.

You may want to buy some other materials, such as wood or lexan - cardboard even - for prototyping; there's only so much you can do with 80/20, and it's sort of overkill for a proof of concept imo.

[Trent B]

Butterfly he means end fastener those are 8020 parts

Bar 1 has the butterfly screwed into the hole running down the center by tapping the hole

Bar 1 is attached to bar 2 by sliding the butterfly in like a tnut and tightening it down through a hole in the bar called an access hole

See the second page of here http://download.8020.net/2011_Produc...Catalog_17.pdf

[Dad1279]

Free t-slot design software here: http://www.framexpert.com/