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Comment by contingencies | Hacker News Reader

Beware this article is, confusingly, an elaborate ad for a company called "80/20". In metric terms we would say an 8020 profile means 80mm x 20mm. However, the profiles shown in the article do not match this format, they use the term "8020" to refer to a company called "80/20".

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By now, 8020 is almost the "kleenex" (generic term) for aluminum extrusion, which is only incidental to companies using variation of those names.

For those unfamiliar with extruded aluminum, https://hackaday.com/2021/05/25/getting-started-with-aluminu...

> T-slot extrusions used to be somewhat mysterious, but today they are quite common thanks to their use in many 3D printers ... The cheapest way to buy extrusion is to get it surplus in whatever lengths you can get — usually leftovers — and cut them to the size you want yourself ... There are many places you can buy extrusions and related items. Misumi is a common option as is 8020. The big suppliers like Grainger, Fastenal, and McMaster-Carr carry a lot of this sort of thing, but they are often pretty expensive.

Maybe in the US. Not elsewhere.

Yes, elsewhere. Anyone in the hobby CNC or 3d printer community knows this as 8020 or 2020 extrusion. the numbers actually are supposed to reference the dimensions of the beam... not a damn company name or the 80/20 principle. That seems like an attempt at hijacking an existing search term.

I was also very confused by this. I kept thinking "that looks like 2020 extrusions, why does he keep harping on about 8020?".

Googled the company and found they've named themselves not after the dimensions of their products but the "80/20 rule".

Just weird.

The 20mm profile also comes in multiple widths and double thickness combinations, so there is indeed a 80x20mm profile (4x1).

Also, it’s 1 and 1.5 inch t slot, not 20mm.

Weird name indeed.

Hey! Authors here. Thanks for pointing this out, Walters comment addressed it very well. 8020 has become sort of the "kleenex" of extruded aluminum in the van world, especially. We added a quick blurb to clarify this on our guide this morning as I am sure others are confused as well. I will also say have no fear, our guides were created wayyy before 8020 tossed us an affiliate code to integrate, so it's not an ad. Hope that helps and thank you for reading!

It's so hard to tell what's an ad these days that I'm not sure that this even qualifies.

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