This package contains the ExtrudAlign™ kit with 9mm holes perfectly positioned for centered drilling / marking on 20mm profile T-slot and V-slot extruded aluminum rails. The ExtrudAlign™ system is the end result of many, many months of iterative design and improvements to build the simplest, all-purpose marking, drilling and thread tapping guide system available. Each hole aligns perfectly on the 10mm or 20mm positions centered in the rail channels for making perfect 90 degree connections. The holes also align perfectly on the rail bores at the ends to allow for easily threading perfectly straight.

Each of the three plates have sockets for gluing 6mm x 2mm magnets. These sockets are designed to be pressure-fit, but gluing with CA glue is recommended. The magnets and the raised posts align all the plates appropriately. The large and small guide plates have large rectangular alignment pegs that fit snuggly in T-slot and V-slot rails to ensure the plates remain correctly aligned to the workpiece. For more information, see the included Guide Book. Also included are links to source the magnets, and in the case of the 9mm Bore package, appropriately sized protective bushings.

The 5mm and the 3mm variant do not leave room for metal bushings or sleeves. This package does support metal bushings.

Pre-printed and ready-to-use versions are also available for sale at the Official Hack & Saw Shop. The ready-to-use kits are currently available in 3 different colors and have metal bushings already installed.

Recommended Printing

• Walls: 3-4 walls
• Bottom/Top Layers: 3-4 layers
• Infill: 6-10%, rectilinear
• Supports: None
• Material(s): PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA

Add one instance of each of the three plates to a single bed and align the flattest face of each plate to the bed.

Notes regarding material choice

Practically any material can be safely used. In our experimentation, we used 4 walls, 4 bottom and top layers and 8% infill using rectilinear pattern on FlashForge AD5M printers. We tested PLA, PETG, ABS and ASA. PLA proved sufficiently strong enough to tolerate regular use and mild to moderate accidental abuse. PETG also worked very well though we did experience some minor delamination after a lot of use and oopsies. If you are seeking best abuse tolerance, ABS/ASA may be your best bet. However, it will be extremely important for you to ensure dimensional accuracy and material shrinkage considerations with your printer and slicer.

IMPORTANT

The following notes are important for your sanity. The designs have very tight tolerances to ensure the most accurate positioning. Making sure that you understand the following recommendations will save you a lot of headaches and aggravation.

1. For best performance and quality, please ensure that your printer has been calibrated for dimensional accuracy. There are plenty of tutorials and such publicly available to help you achieve this.
2. When printing, please ensure that your slicer takes into account any material shrinkage. Most slicers support this in their material library / selector. Some even have tutorials to help you measure material shrinkage.
3. Before gluing the magnets into place, test fit all pieces to understand the alignment and plan your magnet direction ahead of time.
4. If you are printing the 9mm bore kit and installing the bushings / sleeves, ensure that you are applying even force and that the bushing is correctly centered and perfectly vertical. A lightweight arbor press is ideal for this process. However, if you do not have access to one, then just proceed slowly and carefully. The bore tolerance is tight, but should not require much force to install the bushing.

Thank you

If you purchased any version of the ExtrudAlign™ system, we sincerely thank you. This product was 100% a labor of love and we'd love to hear your feedback. Also, share a picture or video of your ExtrudAlign™ in action on your socials with #extrudalign.

We can be found on The Hack & Saw site, on Threads @hackandsawco and on Instagram @hackandsawco.

"Hack it or Saw it. Whatever you do, just make it."