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| Where abouts can you buy cheap thin aluminium sheet? |
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| Bluechip:
Stiff, clear and inexpensive ?? You'll have to wait until it's been invented ... :thumbup: Just how perfectly conical does this wotsit need to be ? If you have accepted reinforcing rings out side the thing maybe consider making it from tapered strips ?? Mons Meg seemed to work OK as did Dulle Griet and a lot of other bangy things ... PVC is cheap, easily bent/worked but none too transparent, and adhesive is cheap [ loads of PVC weld jollop knocking about ] and if you really need to see what's going on, stick an acrylic window in it. Nice curtains too if you want ... Dave |
| S. Heslop:
--- Quote from: Bluechip on August 13, 2014, 07:16:50 PM ---Stiff, clear and inexpensive ?? You'll have to wait until it's been invented ... :thumbup: Just how perfectly conical does this wotsit need to be ? If you have accepted reinforcing rings out side the thing maybe consider making it from tapered strips ?? Mons Meg seemed to work OK as did Dulle Griet and a lot of other bangy things ... PVC is cheap, easily bent/worked but none too transparent, and adhesive is cheap [ loads of PVC weld jollop knocking about ] and if you really need to see what's going on, stick an acrylic window in it. Nice curtains too if you want ... Dave --- End quote --- Alot of the first dust cyclones I ever saw were made from tapered wooden strips. It seems labor intensive though, i'd need to make some kind of tapering jig for the tablesaw most likely... I suppose they wouldn't have to be too accurate if I can plug the gaps with car body filler. PVC though, I might go with that and use some hard see-through acrylic I already have for the very top of the thing, so I can still peep inside from above. I want to stick to just curling a bit of plastic up since it seems like the easiest thing to do. I might also buy a bit extra since it seems like i'm always needing stiff-but-flexible plastic sheet, and i'm running out of expensive A3 art portfolios to tear apart. I did once see one cyclone made in a similar way to those cannons, where the guy had cut a whole bunkle of MDF rings. It seemed like the most difficult way you could possibly build a cone! |
| vtsteam:
What about galvanized steel at a sheet metal shop? Most cyclone collectors are made from that rather than aluminum. I often use stovepipes for small quantities of sheet steel -- they often come dis-assembled in flat form. the seam can be locked together or unlocked. You can also put two together to make a wider piece, albeit wth a seam. |
| S. Heslop:
--- Quote from: vtsteam on August 13, 2014, 08:29:56 PM ---What about galvanized steel at a sheet metal shop? Most cyclone collectors are made from that rather than aluminum. I often use stovepipes for small quantities of sheet steel -- they often come dis-assembled in flat form. the seam can be locked together or unlocked. You can also put two together to make a wider piece, albeit wth a seam. --- End quote --- I was hoping thin aluminium might be flexible enough that if bent into a cone and riveted in place, it'd form a relatively smooth cone by itself. In my experience even thin steel tends to not want to bend all at once, and getting a smooth cone by bending it bit by bit would be a hell of a job. |
| vtsteam:
Simon, I've bent cones out of thin galvanized and it's quite easily flexible and stays at least as straight as aluminum. I've even flame welded butt seams together of the non galvanized stuff into cones back in my pulsejet days. But pop rivets work fine. I haven't experienced it denting when rolling into a cone by hand. You need the right gauge though -- somewhere between easy to dent and hard to roll -- but that's a pretty big range and common, since that's also the size needed for making ducting, and stovepipe, and , well, cyclones. I bet if you visit a sheet metal/ductwork shop, and tell them you want to make it yourself just for the experience of it, they'll sell you the material, and give you helpful advice on rolling it. |
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