first time go? i hope so, lol

[mos68x]

I used all the material to cut these 96 plates, but they will be fine. Besides, I have spent too much time and money to try and change designs midway. Trying to find all the locations to drill holes would be too hard too without spending some time on AutoCAD. It won't be that hard to straighten these out since this material is really thin, so for the time being I'll stick with this design still. The only hang-up I'll have is that I need more acetene washers, which I'll have to order from www.McMasterCarr.com unless someone here knows of another place to look.

Right now the tank itself weighs about 14 lbs without anything in it, just bolts and shell and no gasket. These plates already weigh quite a bit, at least for the small area for them, so I'll weigh them too. The whole reason that I'm tracking weight as well is because all this work doesn't do any good if the whole system weighs a TON. Besides, my other vehicle is used on the race track for my business(when I get time to go), so weight in that one is a very BIG deal.

[mos68x]

Correction: Acetal Flat Washers (AKA Delrin)

[mos68x]

[mos68x]

I don't know how many people are really watching this thread, but for those that are interested I have decided to try and find a way to stiffen the thin plates that I will put in the box. I like the weight part of it, but obviously the durability has me concerned.

However for the time being I think that they will serve their purpose well, I just have to find a way to stiffen them to a suitable level for my satisfaction. To get the results that I want I am thinking of doing a similar process that many HVAC guys do in the ductwork for the heating/cooling systems. When you have a very large THIN piece of sheet metal it is obviously very flimsy, so to rectify tyhat problem they use cross pattern creases, ie from corner to opposite corner. The only other thing I can think of to get what I want is to get a beading machine that will put creases in the edge of the material, but leave the center warped as well. Besides that I have yet to find any machines that I can buy for less than $1200, and I think it ought to be obvious that I'm not going to spend that much to get something so small in return. Since I do a lot of metal fabrication I think I'm going to just use what material I have around here and make myself a small, quick loading sheet metal brake for this part of the project. At most I'll have to buy another length of angle iron for the brake. But I think that I can get the results that I want if I can just do the same cross pattern creases in the sheet metal and then devise another way to flatten them back out so that there is still the marginal crease left.

If anyone can think of anything useful, please let me know.

[mos68x]

Well I just recieved a UPS tracking email for a package that I ordered 2 months ago for some KOH. I hope that it does actually show up, it would be nice to not have to deal with a bunch of ashes just to get a tiny little bit of what I want.

IF the stuff shows up then I will post up about it, I'll just be sure to warn you guys about the length of waiting time to get the product.

[glenn_aircooled]

[mos68x]

[mos68x]

[gas-mechanic]

Hi mos68x,

...been reading your posts with interest!

I believe I read that your plates are around 3/64" thick, right? How about trying this (simple?) method to put an x-groove in the plates, and maybe keep them flat, too:

First, get a pair of rods the size of the grooves you want to make. You could use something like 16d nails.



Weld the rods into a cross.

Tape the cross onto one of the plates.

Rest the plate onto 4 equally-spaced steel blocks (thick enough to withstand some serious downward pressure - I would guess at least 1/2" thick or thicker). {You should weld a steel band around the 4 blocks with the spaces set to hold the blocks in position while the pressing is going on.} The spaces should be a bit wider than the rods.

Now use a jack to raise up a heavy object. You might try a vehicle, but I'm not sure it would be heavy enough, unless it's a D-9 Caterpillar bulldozer or something like that! LOL
If you have a basement, I would place the jack under the main beam of the house - close to a wall - and use a 4x4 post to reach it.
A bottle jack would be best for this. You could try a heavy-duty bumper jack, but I think it would be way off balance until you got a load on it. You would need a helper to help hold the jack and post until you got it going. You would need a thick plate to go under the base of the jack.

This is a slow and tedious method that SHOULD work in place of a heavy duty bearing presser stand or something like that.

Instead of all this labor, you might find a machine shop that could do it, or even an HVAC company that has a roller unit set up to make the grooves for you.

If all this is confusing, I could try sketching it for you, but my artistic skills aren't too great! LOL

In any case, good luck with your project!

[mos68x]

[gas-mechanic]

Below is a very poor sketch. I hope it is graphic enough for you to see what I am suggesting. If not, feel free to ask for clarification, but if you want me to dig out a ruler for straighter lines, then it will cost you!




Not sure of the physics of it all, and I expect some of the more-educated among us will certainly jump in to verify that it will work, or shout out that it will cause your house to raise up off the foundation because it will take more pressure than this to indent the 3/64" plate this way! LOL

Maybe you can call in the Kentucky Wildcats to stand over the main beam for added weight? Not a sports fan here, actually had to Google to see what team was in KY!

Good luck!

[mos68x]

No, the plates I'm using are 28ga(.015) so it is closer to 1/64". What you are suggesting would work, although it would not be easily "reloadable". Since I'm doing 96 plates I'm having to think of that too, so I'm trying to use what I have here that I can use and still repeat with decent consistancy and accuracy. I'm getting tempted to just buy a small brake and then return it.

[freddyflatfoot]

Just a quick question on working with S.S. I was wondering if I could cut it with a jigsaw/metal blade, and using a cutting compound/oil, to keep the work cool. Any comments? Rob

[mos68x]

[mos68x]

Hey gas-mechanic, let me know what you think of this idea...

It is similar to yours but instead of using the house(I don't have a basement) I'm using the truck instead.
Basically it is this from the bottom up, a piece of wood..something pine since it compresses good. Then on top of that I'll put the piece of metal blocked in on the sides so that I can get good repeatability. On top of the metal I'll put my SS angle iron(to avoid metal contamination) inverted(with the point part of it pointing down) with a piece of cold rolled angle on top of that.

Here is where I'm not sure yet, it really depends on what I can find around the area or for cheap.

On top of the angle iron I'll either put the bottle jack(just found the one that I had) or a vertical supprt of some sort. Either way I'll put it under the truck's hitch for best leverage and it is far easier to get to. I thought about trying to use my bottle jack right next to the bottle jack so that I could easily drop and raise the truck for ease of changing pieces and not having to move the jack out of the way. I could also use the trailer since I do have it chocked in place and the tongue of it is far heavier than the ass of the truck, plus it has a built in jack too.

My basic idea is that I'll use whatever heavy item to compress the angle iron into the wood to form the sheet metal. The wood is a good cheap die since once compressed it'll form to the shape desired and provide good contact with the item being compressed. I think it'll give me exactly what I want and not cost me an arm and a leg.

Let me know what you think