8020 vs Misumi Extrusions?

[bway]

I am in the process of design and building a customer laser. I have always used 8020 extrusions for prior projects so I am trying to figure out the advantage to switching to Misumi for this project? What are the pro and cons of each brand?

Thanks,
Brad
Avon, OH

[bdring]

Misumi is about 1/3 the cost and a lot easier to buy in my experience.

[SpacedCowboy]

Are the parts interchangable ? I have a fair amount of 80/20 stock lying around waiting for its next project. Can you use Misumi fastenings on 80/20 stock and have them work as well As if they were attached to Misumi stock ? The intuitive answer is "yes, of course", but I've been bitten by assumptions before [grin]

simon

[dwjp]

I tried to use 8020 t-slot nuts in misumi extrusion and they didn't fit. Beware!

[Liberty4Ever]

Compared to buying 80/20 through conventional distribution, the Misumi aluminum extrusion is easy to buy, but I don't think it's nearly as easy as it should be. Misumi has a 30 minute seminar to tell us how easy it is to use their website to build an order, submit it, get a quote, and finalize the order. And Misumi takes a week to ship an order. I was looking at the aluminum extrusion framework at McMaster-Carr yesterday. It's more expensive than Misumi, and they sell it in 2' increments so I'd almost certainly be cutting it to length myself. But the super easy online ordering and overnight delivery via inexpensive ground UPS delivery from the constellation of strategically placed McMaster-Carr warehouses is almost enough to make me want to order from them instead of Misumi. I guess I'll suck it up and place another Misumi order for my laser frame. If I make enough Misumi orders, their arcane and complex online ordering will probably get to be only a small inconvenience to me... eventually.

Misumi's 30 minute online seminar on their extruded aluminum also bragged about how they offer a lot more options and features and accessories than 80/20, Bosch, etc.