Hi there, I'm trying to build a 3d printer for an aqueous environment - and I need parts that are all stainless steel or aluminum. However OpenBuilds (and no other site for that matter) doesn't carry a M5 tee nut that fits the OpenBuilds aluminum extrusions! Anyone have any ideas? I tried printing some tee nuts but they strip the threads out too quickly, and now I'm forced to make my own tee nuts out of aluminum which is just a pain. Thanks!
I don't expect you'll find anything out there as these are a bit of a specialty item that don't have many other uses than to fit V-slot or 80/20 2o series extrusion. Here is a different version which may fit and have a bit more rust resistance. One thing you should be made aware of however is that stainless and aluminum don't coexist well in an aqueous environment. Aluminum reacts to stainless and you'll soon notice a fine white scale forming where the two intersect. Stainless bolts inserted in aluminum threads will not be removable after this scale forms between the two. (The process also makes the stainless brittle but I doubt you'll get to that point.)
Thanks so much! I just ordered a couple packs. Hopefully these will work. That's an interesting point about aluminum and SS - we plan to have these products in use for a few years at a time, but the stresses on the these parts will be extremely low so perhaps it will work.
