- Joined
- Feb 27, 2014
- Messages
- 2,130
A friend of mine sells stuff at weekend art shows and has built a backdrop for their booth with a frame made from 1.5" structural aluminum L channel. They needed to provide some additional stability while they were setting up (once setup the structure is self stable.
first I used Fusion 360 to draw what was needed.
Cut the 3" pipe to length on the horizonal bandsaw and then cut it in (not quite half) along the length using the vertical bandsaw. easy peasy, gota love bandsaws.
then some de-burring on the belt grinder.
Mig welded the back to the pipe part. I don't use my MIG very often and while I remembered to turn the gas bottle on , I forgot that the gas lines would be empty and so the first few inches where very ugly until the gas was flowing well. As this is very minimally structural I was not worried. Ground the welds down flush (I had used the belt grinder to put bevels on the edges for the welding).
Next I cut a template out of MDF to help cut the "D" shape out of the bottom plate with the plasma cutter. Had to do this a couple of times to get the offset for the plasma cutter head correct.
It took a little up-close and personal time with a file to get the fit just right.
Next I welded the "D" shape to the base and sandblased the entire part to clean up the welds and prepare for painting
And finally with a coat of matt black paint. The nut I welded on took a couple of tries. first time, I melted the nut. turned down the amperage some and did OK on the second try. (after yet more grinding to remove the messed up nut). The knob is to press into the aluminum L channel to lock it in place.
Probably a total of 2 hours of work, possibly less. But it was spread out over 2 weeks as the sciatic nerve problems I have make walking very painful so I have to do a lot of sitting. probably getting about 10 min worth of time on task per day. Finished up today though. Next project is to finish as small 2x3 paint booth with exhaust fan to the outside of the shop.
Thanks for looking.
first I used Fusion 360 to draw what was needed.
Cut the 3" pipe to length on the horizonal bandsaw and then cut it in (not quite half) along the length using the vertical bandsaw. easy peasy, gota love bandsaws.
then some de-burring on the belt grinder.
Mig welded the back to the pipe part. I don't use my MIG very often and while I remembered to turn the gas bottle on , I forgot that the gas lines would be empty and so the first few inches where very ugly until the gas was flowing well. As this is very minimally structural I was not worried. Ground the welds down flush (I had used the belt grinder to put bevels on the edges for the welding).
Next I cut a template out of MDF to help cut the "D" shape out of the bottom plate with the plasma cutter. Had to do this a couple of times to get the offset for the plasma cutter head correct.
It took a little up-close and personal time with a file to get the fit just right.
Next I welded the "D" shape to the base and sandblased the entire part to clean up the welds and prepare for painting
And finally with a coat of matt black paint. The nut I welded on took a couple of tries. first time, I melted the nut. turned down the amperage some and did OK on the second try. (after yet more grinding to remove the messed up nut). The knob is to press into the aluminum L channel to lock it in place.
Probably a total of 2 hours of work, possibly less. But it was spread out over 2 weeks as the sciatic nerve problems I have make walking very painful so I have to do a lot of sitting. probably getting about 10 min worth of time on task per day. Finished up today though. Next project is to finish as small 2x3 paint booth with exhaust fan to the outside of the shop.
Thanks for looking.
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