Plate Metal and Flat Bars

Versatile structural components with a variety of uses.

Plate Metal

As barebones as it gets, Plate Metal is a 5x15 or 5x25 hole plate consisting of the standard square VEX bores every 0.5 inches (12.7mm).

Given the lack of flanges on either end of the plate, Plate Metal tends to be flexible along the longer flat face. As such, it is not advisable to use plate metal for any use-cases that require rigidity in that direction - Plate Metal is considerably stronger along the thin edge faces. One of the more common uses for Plate Metal is to cut and form it into custom-shaped pieces, rather than cutting plastic to achieve the same result. Using Plate Metal for this functionality keeps the standard VEX bore spacing, as well as introducing more rigidity compared to VRC-legal plastics.

Plate Metal can be found at vexrobotics.com.

Flat Bars

Similar to Plate Metal, Flat Bars are flat surfaces consisting of the standard VEX square bores, appearing in a 1x25 hole variety.

While not as apt for making custom pieces as Plate Metal, Flat Bars are still effective as a source of mounting parts that require little rigidity over longer distances. Use-cases that require stronger connections, such as bracing important subsystems on a robot, should be left to stronger components such as C-Channels or Standoffs.

Flat Bars can be found at vexrobotics.com.