Thread: Where to buy T-track?

That's actually a very good price from Timbecon. The freight is where you can really get stung on this stuff, at 1220mm it's too long for Auspost and if the retailer doesn't have a good deal with a freight company the freight cost can be more than the cost of the T-track. You could try some of your local aluminium extrusion suppliers, but in my experience they don't generally stock the T-track we want. McJing have always been my fallback - https://mcjing.com.au/searchresult.aspx?keyword=T-track

$15 seems cheap to me. I was paying $24 when I bought mine from Carbatec.

Unfortunately the Timbecon price is about as cheap as it gets, even on ebay. You could try Ali Express but it probably won't be muuch cheaper. As aldav said, it's the postage that's murder. Machinery house also stock their own brnad of t track and joins.

Thanks all. Was hoping I could pick up some longer lengths with ‘bulk’ saving.

$18 delivery from Timbecon, so I’ll get a few pieces to make it worthwhile.

Sometimes McJing can be cheaper https://mcjing.com.au/ especially if you live close enough to take postage out of the equation.
However Ive got to say I have an account with Timbecon and I usually wait until there is a number of things to buy because sometimes their is no difference on postage between 1 item or 5 items. It seem that the carriers they use have a flagfall so the expense of postage really is in the first item. I find that they give excellent service so shoot them an email. No matter how stupid the question i have asked their response has always been courteous and helpful.

Many years ago I worked for a company that supplied and installed aluminium balustrades. It is my understanding that the boss made drawings of all of the aluminium sections , took them to the aluminium company and entered into an agreement with with them that they would supply him and him only with these extrusions. Perhaps companies such as Timbercon etc have similar agreements with their suppliers?
Gerard

Wouldn't be surprised - seems to be plenty of price-fixing and protectionist practice in this country

Aliexpress - if you have the time to wait for it to arrive by epacket.

Originally Posted by SHEETMETAL

Many years ago I worked for a company that supplied and installed aluminium balustrades. It is my understanding that the boss made drawings of all of the aluminium sections , took them to the aluminium company and entered into an agreement with with them that they would supply him and him only with these extrusions

It's not really protectionist but rather the way the stuff is made.

The hardened steel dies used to extrude these specific sections are very expensive to make and cost recovery is very significant on small production runs unless 1000's of metres of section are sold. Sometimes the Al companies charge the entity wishing to purchase specific sections for the cost of the die in their initial purchase. Sometimes the dies are then owned by the purchaser for their exclusive use. The dies also don't last indefinitely and new ones have to be made (unlikely, given the small amount of WW T track used). The more of the section made the cheaper it gets. This can be very significant because even though Al products are normally is sold by weight and Highway road side T-track contains more Al than conventional T-track, because many km's of the highway track are sold it costs ~1/6th that of the conventional WW track. I've used highway sign T-track for many projects but unfortunately it's not that suitable for many WW applications as it is too tall.

Originally Posted by RossM

Aliexpress - if you have the time to wait for it to arrive by epacket.

Most of the T-track sold on Aliexpress is actually mitre track (19mm opening) so you have to be a bit careful. Once the length is over 800mm the postage gets a bit exxy and that always seems to blow the economies out of the water. Here's one seller who seems to offer a very good deal (40% off at the moment) if you want to order multiple pieces of 800mm track - https://www.aliexpress.com/item/T-tr...AbTest=ae803_3

It gets down to around $11 per 800mm length delivered if you order 10. Because post is included that price compares very favourably to Timbecons if you're unable to pick it up. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a fault in his postage calculator, if you go over 10 pieces the shipping cost jumps alarmingly.

If ordering from McJing make sure you specify the exact sizes required. I just ordered al T track & received track with 1/4 inch gap which is to small.Other than that booboo on my behalf,the service was great. James.