Oxy-Acetylene Storage Cage

[awemawson]

Clearing out the Foundry building to re-commission my Induction Furnace has prompted me to start a job that I should have done DECADES ago.

I have two trolley mounted Oxy-Acetylene sets - a full size and a 'Portapak' . For safety they should both be kept securely in a  well ventilated outside facility, but they weren't - added to which they take up floor space.

So the intention is to create a cage 1.5 metres wide, 1.0 metres deep and 1.8 metres high, using 50 mm box section for the frame, 1.2 mm galvanised m/s sheet for the side and back, and 2" square 2.5 mm wire mesh to two front hinged doors.

Pete. some time ago kindly gave me a pile of 50 mm box - very heavy section at 4 mm wall, and galvanised, so that's the frame sorted. I ordered five 1 metre x 2 metre 1.2 mm galvanised m/s sheets and two 3 foot x 6 foot 2.5 mm wire mesh sheets from F H Brundle, and amazingly in these virus affected days they were able to deliver yesterday 

So yesterday I dug a hole for a concrete slab for it's base - it's over deep as I had some rubble to lose !

A jumbo bag of ballast and five bags of cement are on order from Wickes - delivery scheduled for 3rd April but in these difficult times that may or may not happen.

[awemawson]

Meanwhile I needed to extract the over long pallet of 50 mm square box section from the Tractor Shed. Where was it - yes you've guessed - right at the back 

So this morning was taken up with extraction of the sheds contents, and a bit of re-deployment of 'stuff', but even before THAT could happen I had had to sort the brakes on my Forklift. For some strange reason both the hand brake AND the foot brake had ceased to function simultaneously  Believe me this was alarming discovering it coming down a slope ! It turned out to be a simple adjustment of brake shoe clearance but involved jacking up 4 tons of fork lift to remove the front wheels. Why the sudden failure? I have NO idea !

Still, pallet of box section duly extracted, rest of the gubbins put away, and after lunch I was able to cut to length all the bits of box section needed 

. . . welding tomorrow hopefully !

[awemawson]

Welding time!

Too big to weld inside the workshop and too blowy to MIG weld outside, so stick welding it was by default.

It didn't go too badly but as bits were added it got very heavy to keep turning over to get at the reverse of things. I had hoped just to paint over the pre-existing green paint on the box sections but it became obvious that it was peeling so badly it would have to come off.

Now of course it would have been SO much easier to do this before I welded it together . . . but I didn't 

Most is now off courtesy of a 36 grit disk on an angle grinder, but there are two uprights still to do - however I lost the will to live and came in for a shower and cup of tea 

Depending if my back ever straightens up then tomorrow I can finish the paint stripping, cut some hold down tabs to bolt into the concrete base, and make a start on the doors.

[John Rudd]

Looking good Andrew  👍👍

As a fellow sufferer of backpain, I sympathise....hope you recover...

[awemawson]

Thanks John, yes getting my back off the bed this morning was 'interesting' so work didn't start until about 09:30 when the Ibuprofen kicked in!

Two objectives today : cut the hold down quadrants that I will be welding in the bottom four corners, and make the doors.

I'd drawn up the quadrants last night so theoretically it was just a case of cutting them on the plasma table. I'd measured how close my SDS hammer drill would comfortably drill next to a wall (60 mm) so that dictated the shape.  First one went spiffingly,  but the controller started to lock up - Mach3 counting up co-ordinates on the screen but not moving the steppers. Cable wriggling eventually got me the four I needed but investigation is called for at some time in the future.

Then I carefully measured the opening for the doors using a 'Gunter's Pole' , as single handed measurements across an opening are quite difficult with a tape measure - also I wanted to know how much discrepancy there was between the width at the top, and the bottom - the top being fixed by a welded tube, whereas the bottom has a bit of flexibility until bolted to the concrete. Turns out that it was remarkably close.

My idea was to have generous clearance at the hinge edges of the door (12 mm) and the closing centre rails, top and bottom (25 mm) to avoid any problems if it's a bit 'out of square'.

This let me calculate sizes for the door components, which I then cut and this time I remembered to sand off the old paint BEFORE I welded them 

Having them on the edge of my 'loading dock' avoided too much bending over and I was able to weld them up, leading to the trial fit that you see in the pictures.

Cleaning up the rest of the frame involves too much bending over so that will have to wait for another truck load of Ibuprofen 

All together quite a bit done considering . . . so I'm reasonably satisfied with progress.

[Spurry]

Looking good, Andrew. Very interested to see what sort of high security is involved to keep those outrageously-expensive-to-rent    cylinders safe from marauding hordes.

[awemawson]

It's a safety thing rather than security. If you have cylinders in your workshop and have a fire, the brigade declare an exclusion zone round the building and let it burn down, and also prevent you entering to save anything.

It's a sensible precaution anyway to have them outside and only bring them in while being used. I am quite keen though to make it so that a tea leaf cannot use the oxy-acetylene to break into the main workshop, so a bit of physical security will be incorporated.

The frame has been made from box tube that I had to hand (thanks Pete Rimmer) and is very much over specified for the job.

The frame alone without the cladding will weigh about 100 kg

[Pete.]

That box section was a handrail around the flat roof of a 100m tall building so it had to be chunky stuff

Glad it's going to good use now

[awemawson]

Today's objective was to pallatise the frame, lift it high enough to be able to easily access the lower bits that still needed the paint sanding off, and hopefully poke it just inside the doors of the welding shop to allow me to use my MIG welder  to fix the hinges (wind still extremely strong)

So I started by moving the other junk off the loading bay (a scrap apple bin waiting for the next bonfire, and my old retired flail mower that's waiting for a coat of paint and a new owner).

Then lifting using the forklift I lowered it onto a standard euro pallet then realised that this meant that the weight at the front was taken on the doors that were only clamped on using wood working clamps! I slipped a pair of timbers under so the weight was then taken a bit further back allowing the removal of the doors.

Stripping the remaining paint was relatively simple as I could raise the frame to a convenient height and avoid too much back bending.

A quick measure up confirmed that the widened pallet would just squeeze through the welding shop sliding door if the bits of equipment at the front were pushed out of the way. Having done that I thought that a few test welds with the MIG were in order to set the sweet spot for this thickness of metal.

It was at this point I noticed that I was practically out of Argon 

(I've been using straight argon to save renting two cylinders (TIG & MIG)  - Now I have (a very expensive) account with BOC and in fairness this is  only the second time in the last 13 years that I've had to order a replacement size 'W' cylinder, but my goodness don't they take you to the cleaners. This time I ordered a 'W size' in Argoshield Universal, and returned the straight Argon - £78 for the gas with the VAT but £161 with delivery and all the other gubbins that they add on. This is Micky taking in my opinion.  And they have the cheek to charge £127 per annum rental as well

Surprisingly they are still offering 'next business day' (so probably Tuesday) delivery in these days of lock down so things might slow down a bit until the gas arrives.

[awemawson]

Still unbelievably windy, hail stones and bally cold here so definitely a day for inside jobs.

Specifically to cut the mesh for the doors to size and experiment with ways of fixing it on. First a major tidy up to create enough floor space for a pair of trestles and the doors could be brought indoors to dry off a bit.

The 2" square mesh just happened to be a very nice fit when trimmed so that no bits of wire poked out, ie I was able to keep 'full squares'. I decided to mount the mesh on the inside of the doors, firstly to leave the outside of the frames clear to weld the hinges and lock hasp to, and secondly to give a neater appearance.

But how to fix them? Both the frame and the mesh are galvanised, so welding is problematic - metal strips and pop rivets? -  penny washers and bolts? - both methods possible but time consuming and fiddly.

Now in the past I have successfully spot welded 1.2 mm galvanised sheets together - could it be possible with 2.5 mm wire and 50 mm  4 mm thick box section. I did an experiment with a bit of 3 mm fencing wire and amazingly yes it could 

Setting a frame of one of the doors on trestles I was reluctant to commit until I'd proved it with a mesh off cut, but all was well so every other peripheral wire in the mesh was spot welded to the 50 mm box. It undoubtedly weakens the mesh where it is squeezed for the welding but it is still adequately strong (I think  )

So now both doors are done I need to source a suitable padlock hasp and staple, weld on the hinges and base hold down  plates before giving it a few coats of JCB Yellow that happens to be on the shelf. Once painted the galvanised sheet cladding will be cut to size and pop riveted on  but probably not painted.

. . . .a bit blowy and rainy for painting at the moment !

[awemawson]

This morning I welded on the hold down plates that will be used to bolt the cage to the concrete, and also a door 'close plate' to stop the hinges over traveling.

Then I modified the hinges so that they can be bolted on rather than welded, and then swung the doors. I've welded a cap on the hing pins to stop them being easily knocked out, and eventually will 'slight' the bolts in the Cromwellian sense to prevent them being unscrewed.

After lunch I put on the worst coat of paint I can remember spraying - JCB yellow - to be fair it was blowing a gale but it certainly looks grotty. Most will be covered by the galvanised cladding thank goodness.

[mattinker]

Andrew,

A roller work better than a spray gun for this sort of thing!

Cheers, Matthew

[hermetic]

When I had a set of bottles, I mounted them in the compressor shed chained to the wall, well ventilated, with the regulators on and the pipes led through the wall and coiled up on a wall bracket. Worked well for me for many years, but I was gifted some long pipes with the kit when I bought it!
Phil

Phil I need to roll the trolleys from place to place 'to the job' - work isn't always at the bench

[awemawson]

Andrew,

A roller work better than a spray gun for this sort of thing!

Cheers, Matthew

No doubt I'll be touching it up with a roller Matthew when I've rubbed down the numerous runs, but rolling mesh is no fun !

[charadam]

Andrew,

Great work as always.

I'm wondering what it costs to have bulk tanks outside with the gases piped into the building - or do you need the mobility of bottles on a trolley?

Charles

[awemawson]

Charles I need the mobility of being able to take the trolley to the job.

(I first got the Portapak decades ago to cut rusty hold down bolts retaining commercial washing machines in some Launderettes I'd bought. The machines usually all sit on a tall RSJ to allow water to empty quickly by gravity, but the environment behind a washing machine in a launderette is hot and damp promoting rust so you can never unscrew them ! In that case mobility was essential ! )

[mattinker]

t rolling mesh is no fun !

I always use a roller on mesh, it uses1/8 of the paint and is just as fast!

Cheers Matthew

[RussellT]

After lunch I put on the worst coat of paint I can remember spraying - JCB yellow

I heard earlier today that JCB are making cases for ventilators as part of the UK response to the Covid-19 crisis.  We were speculating here whether that meant they would all have to be yellow.

Russell

[awemawson]

So a bit of minor tarting up of the paint today - now somewhere I have a stash of miniature paint rollers - but where 

I ended up sawing a 100 mm one in half which worked if used with care.

I won't do much more to the cage until the concrete base is laid, and the ballast and cement are not due until Friday. I'd intended to get on with the cladding but as the frame already weighs a calculated 150 kgs, and with the cladding will be of the order of 230 kgs I'm going to move it 'almost' into position then clad it. This is not just due to the weight but also once the cladding is on there is less to grab hold of when pushing and grunting - it's going to have to go through the entire length of the welding shop and also the foundry where a 90 degree turn is called for. It could travel through the stable, but the concrete is rough whereas it's smooth the other way and I'll be using rollers.

The only outstanding thing that I will do first is fix the hasp and staple to the doors but that's not due for delivery until tomorrow.

[Spurry]

Howzabout a couple of nice-fitting 4x2's inside the frame under the top 2x2's then poke the forks in through the open doors and hike it about that way?
Pete

[awemawson]

Yes Pete today I worked out a scheme similar to that but using the pallet truck rather than the fork lift as the fork lift is not at all easy to manoeuvre in a tight space and certainly won't manage the required 90 degree turn in the foundry.

It's remarkably easy to get yourself too close to a wall to actually be able to extricate yourself due to the odd geometry of the rear wheel steering!

[Spurry]

I should have guessed you would have thought of that. My machine bends in the middle so am familiar with getting into situations that it is difficult to extricate oneself from. 90 deg bends are not usually a problem IF there is enough room to get the forks out before having to apply steering.
Pete

[awemawson]

When I had a set of bottles, I mounted them in the compressor shed chained to the wall, well ventilated, with the regulators on and the pipes led through the wall and coiled up on a wall bracket. Worked well for me for many years, but I was gifted some long pipes with the kit when I bought it!
Phil

Phil I need to roll the trolleys from place to place 'to the job' - work isn't always at the bench

Oops Phil, I wondered where my reply had gone - looks like I hit Edit rather than Quote - Sorry 

[hermetic]

No problem Andrew, but I did wonder how you did that!
Phil.

[mattinker]

I ended up sawing a 100 mm one in half which worked if used with care.

Sorry to go on, but I don't understand why you cut them in half! I use a wool wide roller with very little paint a brush in the other hand to touch up holidays, extremely fast!

Cheers, Matthew