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Clints Garage

Started by _Viper_ , Sep 05 2011 08:43 PM

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#26 _DomDom_

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Posted 30 December 2011 - 10:16 PM

Spent another hour on it. Still need to round off the edges... Deciding on the best way to go about that, hmm I wonder if a router with a tiny little head would work

A router would definitely work on aluminium but it won't stay sharp for long. You can get a 1/4 inch bit for a trimmer but get one with a roller bearing so it doesn't mark your metal. How hard is the weld?

Dom

Your work is awesome BTW.

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#27 _Viper_

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Posted 30 December 2011 - 10:23 PM

Was at bunnings earlier and they only had larger router bits.. I guess you would have to go to a model workshop or something like that?

How hard is the weld? umm I dont know how to answer that?

Cheers man. Custom fiddly stuff like this is what I love the most. Not often you get asked by others to do stuff like this tho because for the amount of time it takes to do it would cost way too much.

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#28 ls2lxhatch

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Posted 31 December 2011 - 03:02 AM

Try welding a couple of bits of scrap together to try out different methods. I have my doubts about the router but you never know till you try.

When I smoothed the welds on my fuel tank I found it was a lot easier than I expected. The welds were not that far of rounded before I started.

I put a couple of layers of masking tape on the flat area near the welds. I then put masking tape on one end of a mill finish file and laid the file flat on the plate to get the welds close to flat with the plate.

At this point the masking tape was removed and I used 180 on a rubbing block to get the welds down to the point where I was starting to mark the plate. Then I switched to 400 wet & dry to get the welds to the point where they were no longer visible.

The process was then repeated on the other side. At this point the middle of the weld has not been touched.

I then used a mill finish file down the length of the weld to knock off the high points off the remainder of the weld. Then back to the 180 and then 400 wet & dry and up to finish rounding the weld.

I think I went up to around 1200 before I started polishing. The alloy I used on my tank had quite a bit of grain so the whole tank needed to be sanded.

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#29 _DomDom_

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Posted 31 December 2011 - 08:17 AM

Was at bunnings earlier and they only had larger router bits.. I guess you would have to go to a model workshop or something like that?

How hard is the weld? umm I dont know how to answer that?

Cheers man. Custom fiddly stuff like this is what I love the most. Not often you get asked by others to do stuff like this tho because for the amount of time it takes to do it would cost way too much.

Hi Clint,

You might need to visit a specialist tool shop who should have a range of different bits available either in store or from a catalogue. Something like this, second one down. http://www.carbatec....g-guides_c17790

What I meant about the weld is if it is the same density as the aluminium it should cut the same as the base material, if it is harder it will probably not cut very well. I've cut aluminium with woodworking tools in the past at it cuts pretty well. If you go nice and slow it should come out really smooth too.

Dom

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#30 _Viper_

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Posted 31 December 2011 - 03:12 PM

Finished welding the tabs and smoothing them, which was quite fiddly :( And in the process I sanded this tab down abit too much so now it doesnt match the backing plate, But I think rather then re-welding it I'll just shape the backing plate to match my cover.
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Also welded up the few low spots that were in the weld bead, I ended up putting the curve on the edge by just using a flap disc on a grinder to grind in a 45' angle then the orbital sander to round it off... So top is pretty much done but want to give the front face another sand/polish as even tho I used my soft jaws and a rag the vice still marked the face :/ (cant see it in the pics but its there)
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