Where abouts can you buy cheap thin aluminium sheet?

[Pete W.]

Hi there, Simon,

Why not 'borrow' a traffic cone and use it as a temporary core (maybe borrow a term from sculpture and call it an 'armature') while you lay up a cone in fibreglass over it?  The fibreglass cone should be plenty stiff if you lay up enough thickness.

I think the sculpture term is 'armature' though that might not apply if you eventually remove it?

Structural fibreglass (aka 'GRP') requires freedom from included air bubbles, complete wetting of the glass fibre by the resin and the correct ratio of resin to glass but your application probably isn't so demanding.

Forgive me if you're experienced in GRP - I don't intend to try to 'teach Grannie how to suck eggs'!! 

I could write much more but I'll leave it at that for this post and await your response. 

[S. Heslop]

Hi there, Simon,

Why not 'borrow' a traffic cone and use it as a temporary core (maybe borrow a term from sculpture and call it an 'armature') while you lay up a cone in fibreglass over it?  The fibreglass cone should be plenty stiff if you lay up enough thickness.

I think the sculpture term is 'armature' though that might not apply if you eventually remove it?

Structural fibreglass (aka 'GRP') requires freedom from included air bubbles, complete wetting of the glass fibre by the resin and the correct ratio of resin to glass but your application probably isn't so demanding.

Forgive me if you're experienced in GRP - I don't intend to try to 'teach Grannie how to suck eggs'!! 

I could write much more but I'll leave it at that for this post and await your response.

I don't know the first thing about fiberglass, but i'd like to hear more! I did once use the resin to waterproof a model boat when I was 12 or something, following a guy's advise. It was a nice idea except I couldn't get paint to stick to it.

Sounds like a bit much for this project though. At the minute i'm just working up the courage to order some aluminium. I hate spending money!

[S. Heslop]

I'm having doubts as to what gauge i'd need to buy though. 1mm aluminium seems like it might be too thick. Looking at galvanized sheet steel, it's alot cheaper too so I might go with that.

I'd like to buy it in person for this reason, but with no car I'm really limited to ordering online! I suppose I could also try phoning the steel stockists I usually go to and asking if they have any thin galv sheet.


Edit: Also, sorry about coming across as so indecisive, but i've really got very little money left after finishing university.

[vtsteam]

Simon, FYI I bend round stuff like that out of 24 ga. galvanized steel. I believe that works out to about .6mm.

[S. Heslop]

Simon, FYI I bend round stuff like that out of 24 ga. galvanized steel. I believe that works out to about .6mm.

Excellent! I guess i'll order some tomorrow.

Found a website through google searching for 'galvanized sheet steel UK', and was looking at the delivery charges. "Remember you can collect for FREE from our premises in Tyne andWear. Your order is likely to be available on the second working day after being placed. Please confirm before coming to see us." What a coincidence! It's just over the river too, near where Doubleboost lives.

[vtsteam]

Suggestion -- get yourself a length of pipe about 35 to 50 mm dia. and drill through for bolts at both ends. Attach to the edge of your workbench and space it with a washer out so you can insert your cone blank between the bench and pipe.

Then you can pull on the sheet to bend a small amount gradually lowering it into your bending vise as you do successive pulls. You can also tap with a hammer to do the tight end of the cone if needed. To get even bending, draw radial guide lines on the cone blank, because one end needs to be bent faster than the other. Don't try to bend all in one go, do a few passes through your bending vise to keep it even and avoid hard spots.

The ideal simple sheet metal setup (if you have  wooden benchtop like me) is to let a piece of heavy angle iron into the edge of the benchtop, so you have a sharp corner of steel there. Drill and tap it to accept bolts at convenient spaces and make matching clearance holes in another similar loose piece of angle iron, so they can be bolted together, like a very wide Tee shaped vise. That will work to make sharp bends in sheet metal. Substitute your pipe with drilled holes to make round bends.

You can also use your pipe as a long anvil if you hang one end from a U shaped strap on the bench or wall, and support the other end in a temporary post. You might need a little hammering of your cone blank after curving with the bending vise to get a smooth bend in the start and finish edges, rather than a flat spot.

[dsquire]

Steve

That is a great idea, the pipe in the vise. With a carefull eye and a skill full hand on the hammer you could have most any size cone you want.   

Thanks for that one Steve.

Cheers 

Don

[S. Heslop]

I did something that in the past to make my sheet metal forge (even got a video of it. My earlier videos send me to sleep...). I think you mean pulling it through all at once though, kinda like how you curl paper strips up?

[vtsteam]

Nope, Simon, I do mean making a small bend at a time and shifting it and making another. It isn't a slip roll (bending rolls). The pipe is stationary, not rotary and you don't slide the blank over it while applying bending pressure. Think of it as one jaw of a vise, and your workbench top edge as the other.  The bolts go into the pipe crosswise to attach to the bench top -- not axially like a roller.

While it sounds like doing it that way would create a faceted bend -- or series of bends -- it is actually surprising how smooth you can make it. Just don't try to bend too much at once. I like to move the metal back and forth -- kind of a wiggle, feeling for the amount of bend.

I don't know your cone layout and how small the small end is -- I assume it is truncated with a pipe at the bottom and an unloading hatch of some sort. But anyway, the small end might require some light hammering (just tapping a tiny amount forward of the pipe to blank edge) to get it to bend -- all depends on the feel. You'll know when you do it.

[caskwith]

Are you making this as a project (ie the making is part of the fun) or are you just wanting a cyclone for purely practical purposes?

If it's the latter I can heartily recommend Cyclone Central, I have 2 and they are brilliant and there is still some assembly to enjoy in the process but you know the end product will be good and not a waste of time and money.

[S. Heslop]

Are you making this as a project (ie the making is part of the fun) or are you just wanting a cyclone for purely practical purposes?

If it's the latter I can heartily recommend Cyclone Central, I have 2 and they are brilliant and there is still some assembly to enjoy in the process but you know the end product will be good and not a waste of time and money.

£110 looks like a serious waste of time and especially money for some bits of plastic sheet you assemble yourself. At less than £10 for a sheet of steel (or £25 for polycarb), with the only extra labour being marking and cutting it out (which is no problem with just tin snips on metal that thin), you're saving £100. You'd think they'd at least assemble the cone for you at that price.

Interesting that they seem to make it from polycarbonate though. Although it looks like they also sell a pressure valve to prevent the cone from collapsing if your hoses get clogged.

[S. Heslop]

Been a little busy with other stuff but i've finished the sheet metal part now.



Was a real wrestle getting that cone together. I'd also chosen 4.8mm pop rivets thinking 'bigger is better!' but I had a hard time setting those even with both hands. My fingers are killing!

I'm pleased the cone ended up the right size. I couldn't try testing the fit before drilling holes (I tried but it was too much to juggle), so I just had to have faith in my measurements.


Really I should've just used screws though. I think the only real reason to use pop rivets is when you don't have access to the other side of a hole.

[vtsteam]

Looks good Simon. From here it looks like you went with aluminum.

[S. Heslop]

Looks good Simon. From here it looks like you went with aluminum.

It's 0.5mm galvanized steel. It had exactly the kinds of properties I was after, possible to flex into a cone but not too thin it might buckle.

There's still a few more things to do to complete the collector, of course. But there's already a million videos and articles online about building the things so there's really no point in keeping a log of it.

But yeah, thanks for the help.

[vtsteam]

Well, it's always nice to see your work, even if others have done something similar. 

[S. Heslop]

I was tempted to make a video of it, but I don't like the idea of making videos of things when there's already enough of them out there. Although I was tempted to do it and tag on a review for a game i've been playing lately, Dust Force, about sweeping up dust. Don't play games much these days, but tried it on a recommendation. Thought it was a funny coincidence but maybe not enough to make a video about.

A woodworking guy i'm subscribed to on youtube, Pocket83, recently started making videogame videos and he lost 100 subscribers overnight. Another woodworking guy, Steve Ramsey, occasionally makes a goofy (but still woodworking themed) video for special occasions, and he gets alot of negative feedback from them. I think it's kinda funny how that happens. I guess people like consistency!

This dust collector has become more of a project than I expected though, although that happens with most things. Still got a few more things to go after this before I can start making banjos too.

[micktoon]

Hi Simon , looks like its turned out a nice cone, it will be interesting to see how well it works, I could do with making something like this myself really so watching with interest   
 As Steve says always nice to see how people do things even if otheres have done it before as we all have different tools and ideas once we start to get into a project so there is always something to be learnt 

 Cheers Mick

[caskwith]

Are you making this as a project (ie the making is part of the fun) or are you just wanting a cyclone for purely practical purposes?

If it's the latter I can heartily recommend Cyclone Central, I have 2 and they are brilliant and there is still some assembly to enjoy in the process but you know the end product will be good and not a waste of time and money.

£110 looks like a serious waste of time and especially money for some bits of plastic sheet you assemble yourself. At less than £10 for a sheet of steel (or £25 for polycarb), with the only extra labour being marking and cutting it out (which is no problem with just tin snips on metal that thin), you're saving £100. You'd think they'd at least assemble the cone for you at that price.

Interesting that they seem to make it from polycarbonate though. Although it looks like they also sell a pressure valve to prevent the cone from collapsing if your hoses get clogged.

Well all the parts are CNC cut so there was no messing around marking out my own shapes, the fit was very precise and discounting glue drying time (glue was included as well, and that is the best part of a tenner) I had it all assembled in about 10-15 mins. I looked into building my own, I tend to work on a basis of about £20 an hour when it comes to shop projects and I don't reckon I could have sourced materials and built something that good in under 4 hours so I was happy. YMMV of course but I thought I would throw the idea out there, guess it all depends what you think your time/labour is worth.

[ken572]

Hello caskwith

Look in your directory for Copper or Chrome plated printing plates
from a printing house. In the late 1980's they were using plate's
up to 60" x 78" for the larger printing presses. When the printing
order is done they scrap the plates.Thicknesses ranged from .015",
 .020", .025" and  sometimes .030" Thick. Price could range from
FREE thru Scrap rate per lb.

Ken.