Show off your sheet metal fab projects

[NASTYZEN]

Thanks for the comments guys. Littletoes, the wagon gate was my work, I think Nastyzen had just quoted my post. He does the killer work on aluminum bodied cars made from scratch..... Oh to be an apprentice.....wax on, wax off..


Got it put back together this morning. They even had matching yellow caulking at the bus dealership to seal everything up...

Look's great Robert.Nice fix for the bus.Who fixed the house damage?

 

[NASTYZEN]

Oh well... I might not have the talent that some of you have here! :O
But here's my parts done with sheet metal...

A pair of 10 gallons aluminium fuel tank...

-First I cutted the sides and bottom...

-Then I pressed the sides and worked them straight with crimpers...

-Folded the bottom to match the sides...

-All ready for soldering...

-Soldering done...built the baffle and inserted it in...

-All done with top and filler neck! Also pressure tested and no leaks!

Falcon, you sure do have talent by the looks of your tank's.They sure turned out nice.
You mentioned soldering?I'm curious as to what product you used for your project.Utectic,Aladin or other? Also, how do you seal the top part?
Thank's for taking the time to post.Show us some more please.

 

[MP&C]

Look's great Robert.Nice fix for the bus.Who fixed the house damage?

That was a lean-to on the back of his maintenance shop. Still like that, he's on his own...

 

[MP&C]

Oh well... I might not have the talent that some of you have here! :O
But here's my parts done with sheet metal...

A pair of 10 gallons aluminium fuel tank...

-First I cutted the sides and bottom...

-Then I pressed the sides and worked them straight with crimpers...

-Folded the bottom to match the sides...

-All ready for soldering...

-Soldering done...built the baffle and inserted it in...

-All done with top and filler neck! Also pressure tested and no leaks!

Carl, for us non-AP types, are those auxiliary fuel tanks or main tanks? I take for granted based on the shape they sit inside/on top of the wings. How much range on avg do you get from the 20 gallons? Oh...nice work, by the way.

 

[NASTYZEN]

Replacement tub for a March 77-B.Formula Atlantic race car.
Built sometime around 2003-2004.

Not the same car but this is what it's supposed to look like when all the parts are together.

 

[MP&C]

Thats a lot of riveting!

 

[NASTYZEN]

Thats a lot of riveting!

LOL!
Yes it was!Several hundred and it was also glued with structural adhesive,witch made for a gooey friggin mess.
On the good side,they are all pop rivets.
I'm restoring three Lola T-360 tubs right now and half the rivets are those purple solid ones.Wonder how that will go at assembly time with the darn glue.

 

[ibedayank]

LOL!
Yes it was!Several hundred and it was also glued with structural adhesive,witch made for a gooey friggin mess.
On the good side,they are all pop rivets.
I'm restoring three Lola T-360 tubs right now and half the rivets are those purple solid ones.Wonder how that will go at assembly time with the darn glue.

hope ya have elbow lenght rubber gloves and lots of em

 

[YellowLakeWelding]

That can't be good for those rads when a rear tire blows. Must be an awful mess.

 

[falconflyer04]

Falcon, you sure do have talent by the looks of your tank's.They sure turned out nice.
You mentioned soldering?I'm curious as to what product you used for your project.Utectic,Aladin or other? Also, how do you seal the top part?
Thank's for taking the time to post.Show us some more please.

Thanks Nastyzen,

For the soldering part, since those are aircraft fuel tanks, we send them to our soldering technician to be sure the welds are perfect. I would have to inform myself about the exact soldering procedure!

As for the sealing part, there is two part to this... First when I received the tank back from soldering, they go through a deep cleaning with alumiprep to make sure all surfaces are free of any contaminants. Then, the interior joints on the bottom and sides gets a nice coat of PRC / Pro-seal aerospace sealant.
While this sealant dries, the top are cut and prepared by installing the filler neck.
Finally, a nice coat of sealant is applied on all joints of the top skin to the bottom of the tank and everything is riveted in place with solid shank rivets!

Carl, for us non-AP types, are those auxiliary fuel tanks or main tanks? I take for granted based on the shape they sit inside/on top of the wings. How much range on avg do you get from the 20 gallons? Oh...nice work, by the way.

Those are main tanks for a Bushcaddy R-80 aircraft and yes they sit inside the wings close to the fuselage.
The approximate range with an Rotax 912ULS 100hp engine at 75% cruise is close to 4 hours of flight or ~350nm.
Thanks!

 

[MP&C]

All the welding on the tailgate done, time to clean up the inside to get it ready for Epoxy Primer...

 

[wiz56]

DANG! those sure are some pretty welds

How do you get those welds to look like that.............is it mig or tig

 

[colt zantop]

it looks like a mix...the smaller pieces look like tig and the larger square tubing looks to be stitch mig.....AWESOME WELDS!!!

 

[ng8264723]

What do you do for a skin

 

[muibubbles]

no where close to any of you pros but heres mine... its a chair i designed for a school project... its actually my first project using sheet metal... or metal for that matter

more pics and version 1 of the chair can be seen on my site..
http://muibubbles-design.com/index.php?/juxor-v20/
still need to add the inset panels then upholster the seat cushions and paint..

 

[NASTYZEN]

That's cool ,looks racey.

 

[MP&C]

Those look like some seats you'd find in an airport....turned out nice!



The next bus showed up tonight. The insurance company finally accepted responsibility for their insured (who ran directly into the side of a BIG YELLOW BUS) so we are finally OK to fix it. .....after 3-1/2 weeks. And I get people asking me why I don't do insurance work....

With a booth only large enough for a car, the trick is to make all the repair pieces so they can be bolted or riveted on. The front flanges of the luggage boxes seen above will be cut out to the inside bend, and a repair piece made to replace it. This will allow us to keep the original door gaps, instead of covering the damaged piece altogether and having the gaps tighten.

The area where the name is located was left rather wavy, and since that panel goes all the way up to and under the windows, we will cut it behind the rub strip just above and make a replacement for the lower section only.

Where we left off in the disassembly this evening, more disecting tomorrow...

This repair should also present the opportunity to do a demo on torch shrinking an aluminum door skin to remove the stretch......

 

[NASTYZEN]

Can't get away from the yellow can you?

 

[littletoes]

Tell me thats a DIFFERENT Bus!

Otherwise, that driver should have some 'splainin' to do!

 

[nonhog]

Love this thread and thanks to those posting in it. Maybe I'll try my hand at
messing up some sheet metal and post it. Don't hold your breath.

 

[MP&C]

Can't get away from the yellow can you?

....like a magnet

Tell me thats a DIFFERENT Bus!

Otherwise, that driver should have some 'splainin' to do!

Different bus, and not his driver's fault....this time.


Today's progress....

The bent section cut out......

All the parts made up, now to prep for painting...

 

[littletoes]

Love all the pics, thanks for taking the time!

What are all the "pins" that you use to hold on the sheets??? Think I've seen them before, but have never known what they are.

 

[muibubbles]

Thanks for the comments!

kinda off topic but do you guys have any suggestions/ tips to welding THIN sheet metal and prevent it from warping? i used 20 ga mild steel and did 1" stiches every 6" away but stll got warp..

 

[VegasBruce]

With 20 ga, you just do a series of tacks, let it cool and do it again. Any type of welding will warp 20 ga, unless you cool it as you go.

 

[VegasBruce]

Love all the pics, thanks for taking the time!

What are all the "pins" that you use to hold on the sheets??? Think I've seen them before, but have never known what they are.

http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=7845

 

[NASTYZEN]

Thanks for the comments!

kinda off topic but do you guys have any suggestions/ tips to welding THIN sheet metal and prevent it from warping? i used 20 ga mild steel and did 1" stiches every 6" away but stll got warp..

No miracles I'm afraid.Stitching helps ,as mentioned by others. I have a 3/8 thick by 12 in. long piece of copper I clamp my work too to draw most of the heat away.Any time you weld something it will shrink and warp,all you can do is think ahead and try to control it.

 

[muibubbles]

Love all the pics, thanks for taking the time!

What are all the "pins" that you use to hold on the sheets??? Think I've seen them before, but have never known what they are.

me either... the link didnt help much either but i found this video..

basically a clamp to fit into pop rivet holes.. awesomeness

 

[ng8264723]

In regars to the tailgate. I PM'ed you and asked on thread what are you doing for a skin. Did you miss those questions?
thanks
Chris

 

[MP&C]

Sorry Chris, I must have missed your post... We got a skin for the tailgate from Jay Hammond Chevy Parts. I think it is made by CARS Inc, so anyone who carries tri-five chevy parts should be able to get one..

 

[ZTFab]

How do you get those welds to look like that.............is it mig or tig

Practice.....lots of it!!!

it looks like a mix...the smaller pieces look like tig and the larger square tubing looks to be stitch mig.....AWESOME WELDS!!!

Thanks.

Correct, the shock tabs were TIG and everything else was MIG but it was all done continuous, short circuit transfer mode, no pulsing or "stitch" welding.

 

[MP&C]

Parts painted Friday afternoon....

Re-assembly Saturday night/Sunday morning....

All ready for school tomorrow....

 

[ZTFab]

Nice work Robert!

 

[ALWX65]

Practice.....lots of it!!!



Thanks.

Correct, the shock tabs were TIG and everything else was MIG but it was all done continuous, short circuit transfer mode, no pulsing or "stitch" welding.

I understand pulse and stitching but could you explain "short circuit transefer mode" or point me in the direction of videos or reading material.

ALW

 

[ZTFab]

I understand pulse and stitching but could you explain "short circuit transefer mode" or point me in the direction of videos or reading material.

ALW

No problem ALW.

In GMAW (Gas Metal Arc Welding) there are 3 basic transfer modes.

Short Circuit
Globular
Spray

These modes describe the way in which the electrode is deposited onto the parent metal. Essentially,high(er) voltage (and corresponding wire speed) deliver different transfer modes.

Most, if not all MIG welding that is done is short circuit transfer as Globular tends to cause lots of spatter and is hard to control in out position welding and Spray Transfer is for thick materials since it requires voltages above 27 volts and shielding gas with less than 15% CO2 content.

Here is a video that shows the difference in transfer modes. Take special note to the sound difference as the voltage and wire speed are adjusted to change the transfer mode.

Short Circuit will sound like frying bacon, Globular transfer deepens in tone and is more sporadic, and finally true Spray transfer will only make a slight hissing sound.

Hope that helps.

 

[NASTYZEN]

Parts painted Friday afternoon....

Re-assembly Saturday night/Sunday morning....

All ready for school tomorrow....

Nice job Robert and on time to boot. I'm sure the kids were thrilled to see there bus this morning.

 

[wiz56]

No problem ALW.

In GMAW (Gas Metal Arc Welding) there are 3 basic transfer modes.

Short Circuit
Globular
Spray

These modes describe the way in which the electrode is deposited onto the parent metal. Essentially,high(er) voltage (and corresponding wire speed) deliver different transfer modes.

Most, if not all MIG welding that is done is short circuit transfer as Globular tends to cause lots of spatter and is hard to control in out position welding and Spray Transfer is for thick materials since it requires voltages above 27 volts and shielding gas with less than 15% CO2 content.

Here is a video that shows the difference in transfer modes. Take special note to the sound difference as the voltage and wire speed are adjusted to change the transfer mode.

Short Circuit will sound like frying bacon, Globular transfer deepens in tone and is more sporadic, and finally true Spray transfer will only make a slight hissing sound.

Hope that helps.

I don't know about the rest of you but that video didn't help to explain the method of the beads that were shown. The tig is not a problem for me but the mig would seem to be a cold weld. I have a Miller SP 350 how would you set it up for the beads shown??

 

[olddude13]

Here's my bike project i finished last spring

 

[olddude13]

more shots of bike

 

[ZTFab]

I don't know about the rest of you but that video didn't help to explain the method of the beads that were shown. The tig is not a problem for me but the mig would seem to be a cold weld. I have a Miller SP 350 how would you set it up for the beads shown??

That video and my explanation were about different transfer modes, specifically Short Circuit Transfer as ALW asked about, not about my welding technique(s) for the MIG welds I've shown.

 

[ZTFab]

Here's my bike project i finished last spring

Awesome Bike olddude.