Aluminum extrusion supplier?

[seven10]

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, I wasn't sure if it should be here or in the home cockpits section.

Would anyone happen to have recommended suppliers for aluminum extrusion (t-slot rails) that are either in the US or can ship to the US for a reasonable price? I ended up ordering a bunch of Virpil controls and I will need to build some sort of frame to mount them to as mounting off my current desk is not really an option.

[MadKreator]

15 minutes ago, seven10 said:

Sorry if this is in the wrong section, I wasn't sure if it should be here or in the home cockpits section.

Would anyone happen to have recommended suppliers for aluminum extrusion (t-slot rails) that are either in the US or can ship to the US for a reasonable price? I ended up ordering a bunch of Virpil controls and I will need to build some sort of frame to mount them to as mounting off my current desk is not really an option.

Try tnutz.com. I have ordered quite a bit though them when I was building my cnc router and various other things. Its been several years so I’m not sure how they are on prices these days. But I’m definitely a shop for the best/ reasonable price kinda guy, so at the time it was them. And they have all sorts of sizes, brackets, nuts, everything for building with extrusion.

Edited March 2, 2023 by MadKreator

[seven10]

13 minutes ago, MadKreator said:

Try tnutz.com. I have ordered quite a bit though them when I was building my cnc router and various other things. Its been several years so I’m not sure how they are on prices these days. But I’m definitely a shop for the best/ reasonable price kinda guy, so at the time it was them. And they have all sorts of sizes, brackets, nuts, everything for building with extrusion.

 

Thank you, that already looks a lot better than the pricing I was seeing from people like McMaster Carr. I should be able to frame out some mounts without destroying my wallet that much further for now...

[MadKreator]

1 hour ago, seven10 said:

Thank you, that already looks a lot better than the pricing I was seeing from people like McMaster Carr. I should be able to frame out some mounts without destroying my wallet that much further for now...

OOH yeah McMaster is the last stop… well the stop right before Grainger lol McMaster is a good place, just not  for everything. I thought tnutz was fair, and pretty much a  one stop shop.

[seven10]

1 hour ago, MadKreator said:

OOH yeah McMaster is the last stop… well the stop right before Grainger lol McMaster is a good place, just not  for everything. I thought tnutz was fair, and pretty much a  one stop shop.

That's what I figured, there is always a premium for the convenience and easy of use there

[Stewmanji]

I'll second tnutz.com. I've had many great purchasing experiences from them over the past several years.

If you're looking at building something more like consoles that would sit on either side of you (ala a real cockpit) you could consider dropping down to 2020 (20 mm x 20 mm) extrusion. It's often used with 3D printers but it's very sturdy, cheaper, and more available than the bigger extrusion (10 series, 15 series, or the larger metric extrusion options). I originally built my simpit framework out of 15 series (1.5 inch x 1.5 inch) but I've since built both side consoles out of 2020 and it's rock solid. Perfect for mounting my throttle, button boxes, joystick, etc.

You can find 2020 all over Amazon but I've purchased mine from Zyltech.com. Highly recommend them as they have a great cut to size service as well.

Photos attached to give you some ideas (it's a work in progress so apologies for the mess).

Edited March 3, 2023 by Stewmanji

[MadKreator]

21 minutes ago, Stewmanji said:

I'll second tnutz.com. I've had many great purchasing experiences from them over the past several years.

If you're looking at building something more like consoles that would sit on either side of you (ala a real cockpit) you could consider dropping down to 2020 (20 mm x 20 mm) extrusion. It's often used with 3D printers but it's very sturdy, cheaper, and more available than the bigger extrusion (10 series, 15 series, or the larger metric extrusion options). I originally built my simpit framework out of 15 series (1.5 inch x 1.5 inch) but I've since built both side consoles out of 2020 and it's rock solid. Perfect for mounting my throttle, button boxes, joystick, etc.

You can find 2020 all over Amazon but I've purchased mine from Zyltech.com. Highly recommend them as they have a great cut to size service as well.

Photos attached to give you some ideas (it's a work in progress so apologies for the mess).

 

 

Awesome! I wish I had the extra space for a dedicated build!  I bought a big ass wrap around desk one year for my business in my “ office”  which works well.. only to find in the long run, I do 99% of everything on my ipad and laptop sitting in the shop. The desk hasn’t left the flight sim config for a couple years now Even when doing a few quickbooks things or general computing.. maybe its time to downsize lol 

[Stewmanji]

I know exactly how you feel. I used to have the same kind of desk with a huge hutch on one side and I only ended up using about 10% of it, haha. 

Regarding space, it helped when my flight sim hobby grew to be too much and my wife kicked me to the basement! Before that I was wedged in to one small corner of the living room. I swear, this hobby is one big rabbit hole...you're always moving on to something bigger and better...it's great!

[seven10]

2 hours ago, Stewmanji said:

I'll second tnutz.com. I've had many great purchasing experiences from them over the past several years.

If you're looking at building something more like consoles that would sit on either side of you (ala a real cockpit) you could consider dropping down to 2020 (20 mm x 20 mm) extrusion. It's often used with 3D printers but it's very sturdy, cheaper, and more available than the bigger extrusion (10 series, 15 series, or the larger metric extrusion options). I originally built my simpit framework out of 15 series (1.5 inch x 1.5 inch) but I've since built both side consoles out of 2020 and it's rock solid. Perfect for mounting my throttle, button boxes, joystick, etc.

You can find 2020 all over Amazon but I've purchased mine from Zyltech.com. Highly recommend them as they have a great cut to size service as well.

Photos attached to give you some ideas (it's a work in progress so apologies for the mess).

 

This is super helpful, I was always wondering if 10 or 20 series would be stout enough for peripherals. I have used 20 series for some open frame PC's in the past, but not for a simpit yet. My challenge right now is I have a limited space to work with, I have a corner desk that is both my work desk and what I currently use to sim from and need to be able to move my frame out of the way when I need to work. It has been easy to do that so far since I have been using an X-56 hotas set on my desk and Thrustmaster pedals, but now with the Virpil stuff coming I will want to mount things more solidly and at a better hand position.

My current idea is to build the initial floor frame which the stick and pedals will directly mount to. The throttle, collective, keyboard, and trackball I want to come up with a detachable arm solution for when I need to break the frame down. I will not mount a chair yet, but want to be able to incorporate one later once I am able to take over a different room in the house and have a full time sim rig setup. I am just wondering if a frame without the seat mounted will be stable enough to support all those controls.