This time, I did remember to use my camera a little more effectively!
The old cover plate measured 33 inches long and 11.5 inches wide. As continual footfalls had dented it, this time the plate was going to be thicker at 2mm (which is about 2/3 of an 1/8th of an inch!) and will possibly have some angle bracket welded underneath to make it even stronger. K M Steel Fabrications Ltd of Haydon, Radstock kindly supplied the sheet steel and cut it to size.
The rolling machine with sheet inserted ready to roll! |
Lines were drawn for the folds and the start and finish of the curvature |
By moving the start of curve line to be directly below the right side of the roller and making a mark directly below the left side of the roller, I could then make the 'HERE' mark half-way between the two roller side lines. Thus, putting the 'HERE' line to the left of the roller then made sure the line for the start of the curve was at the pinch point of the rollers. Same for the end of curve line only the other way round.
Put the 'HERE' line to the left of the roller... |
...then raise the rear roller and wind the sheet through... |
...then a bit more... |
...until finally! |
This is how it happens in practice (also on YouTube).
A flange was then required at each end of the sheet for the mounting holes. This was the first time I'd used a sheet metal bending machine since about 1972 but it wasn't difficult.
Sheet metal bending machine |
So, having clamped the sheet in place at right angles to where you want the bend, it's simply a matter of raising the handle at the front like this (also on YouTube):
Note that, owing to only having two hands, the plate was already bent and the video is for illustrative purposes only!
And the final result:
The new cover plate with template; the old cover plate is above! |
My thanks are due to Lackham College, Lacock, Wiltshire, for letting me skive-off my Monday evening welding class to do metal forming instead. It's all part of the fabrication process, honest!
I always read this blog on the Google reader but never know what to say - today is little different - it's all so alien to me; quite fascinating in its way though.
ReplyDeleteVia the blog, I'm keen to show how it's done and what lies beneath the surface. Being described as 'alien' probably means I am actually succeeding in showing things that are no longer familiar to people.
ReplyDeleteNow what is Google Reader for?
Link to K M Steel Fabrications updated as requested.
ReplyDelete