Sheet Metal Fabrication vs. Using Channel

[carpedav000]

What about milling/laser cutting lightening patterns into channel stock?

[cadandcookies]

Originally Posted by carpedav000

What about milling/laser cutting lightening patterns into channel stock?

Completely doable. When I was on 2220, we did waterjet triangle cutouts on 4" channel in 2011, circular cutouts in 2012, and then we switched to tube for 2013 and 2014, which had rounded rectangular cutouts. Only had strength issues in 2012, and that was because of other stupid design choices. 2014 we had some of the most aggressive drive train lightening I've ever had manufactured and we had precisely zero issues with our drive train.

[GeeTwo]

Channel and angle are certainly accessible to more teams; We don't have any real ability to work sheet metal efficiently and effectively.

Most of the places that I have seen sheet metal used effectively that I could not even imagine how to do with angle/channel (short of a whole lot of welding, and reducing strength) were in the form of manipulators, for example some relatively flat claws with rollers between the two sheets such as were used by several ball pickups for Aerial Assist and a number of RC grabbers for Recycle Rush, and long arms with lots of lightening that looked almost like cantilever bridges until you got a bit closer.

Most of the chasses based on sheet metal appear to be executable in angle or channel extrusion for not a whole lot of additional weight, though I will admit that these are appearances, and quite possibly deceiving.