Okay, but…
A) $5/foot for 2cm x 4cm extrusion is expensive to people who don’t know why it is so expensive. To them,it is VERY expensive. Look at the market for the product. It’s a very price sensitive market. Do you want cool looking or do you want wide spread adoption and higher volume?
B) You can buy aluminum C-channel which is just as strong and lightweight and of course, does not rust.
C) C-channel (even steel C-channel) is easy to cut with a hack saw. I’ve done it many times. It’s actually easier to cut than T-slot extrusion.
D) C-channel works fine with regular rollers and belts. No specialized (read: expensive) v-wheels required. Again, do you want something fancy looking or something inexpensive that works just as well. And if you absolutely must use V-wheels (why, I don’t really know), then you can always just use plain angle iron and put it on it’s edge in a “V” orientation and use v-wheels. That would be even CHEAPER.
E) You can attach stuff anywhere on slotted C-channel as well.
F) C-channel can be bought all over the place and is widely stocked… at super low prices.
Look, I’m not trying to be argumentative, but every criticism I’ve seen on the Farmbot is centered on the cost. Do you want it to look fancy or do you want it to be widely adopted? Because at the high price level it’s currently at, you are severely limiting adoption rate. Also, while you and I have an appreciation for the “coolness” of T-slot, I bet the average home/urban farmer wannabe does not have nearly the same amount of appreciation or even differentiation between T-slot and C-channel. I think it’s worth at least asking your potential customer base, since the savings would be in the hundreds of dollars range (if not thousands on larger farmbots).
EDIT: I apologize for mistyping the price of C-channel in my first post (typing too fast without editing… not a good habit). It’s 8 feet for $10. Not 1 foot. I can see why you would think it isn’t better than t-slot at that price… but again, it’s $10 for 8 feet, which is a fraction of what t-slot costs…
Thanks and hope Farmbot is a huge success!
Eric