Thanks for the descriptions. What are the internal
dimensions of the tanks. From your web pages I can see 4
smaller ones and one larger one for the copper
electroplating. From your pictures the tanks look like they
were made from 3 mm sheet. Did you consider putting an outer
lip on the tops of the tanks ?
I found that using lots of spring clamps are VERY helpful
when welding. I clamp a large piece of chipboard to the
bench so it hung out about 40 cm, I then could do all my
work on this board and easily clamp things from underneath
using sliding G clamps.
Markus Zingg wrote:
> Hi Adam
>
>
>>I can see the 3 mm sheet being bent that way say upto 300 mm
>>in length. I made a plastic bender because I was planing on
>>doing larger tanks 450 mm length on 4.5mm thick PVC. You
>>seem to have done things quite nicely with what you've got.
>>
>>What thickness material are you using ?
>
>
> 2mm and 4mm.
>
>
>>Did you have to reinforce all the welding zones with blocks
>>of wood before you started welding so that the "hobby glass"
>>sheets didn't bend under the heat ?
>
>
> They too bend under heat. What I did was first (using the 9mm reducion
> nozzle) bend a long sheet (25x65cm) to a 'U' shape. I did this by
> first bending one side, placing the sheet on a table into a 90degree
> angle and let it cool out, then bend the second side. I thereafter
> palced a thick wood block on the table as a base (in order to prevent
> burning the table) and also created a little peace of wood that fit's
> into the 'U' measuring ~4.5cm x 3cm using 5mm think wood. I then could
> put the 'U' onto the side part (9x30cm) and place the wood into the
> 'U' to prevent it from loosing shape. I then used one hand to hold the
> 'U' down and also feed the plastic into the welder (of course this
> time unsing the welding nozzle) and the other to hold the hot air gun.
> It takes some practice but onece you figured it out it works not that
> bad. You somehow miss a third hand :))
>
>
>>I found that I had to make special wooden frame inserted
>>into the tank so that during welding the pressure of the
>>welding rod didn't collapse the sheets.
>
>
> See above, you probably did the same thing then.
>
>
>>From your past posts on the "hobby glass" I get the feeling
>>this is ridged clear pvc sheeting. Try burning some and see
>>how it compares to flame color/smoke smell to some real PVC.
>>PVC is very difficult to get burning by its self and
>>produces a harsh smelling smoke, (HCl fumes).
>
>
> I'm currently not at home, so can't try this right away. I happen to
> know how PVC smells when burning. Some 22 years ago I happend to learn
> tool maker as my first profession where we were building molds to
> fabricate plastic parts. I have a collection of the diverse plastic
> base materials somewhere. Have to grab that out and compare the
> flames/fumes of them with the glass I'm using.
>
> Markus
>
>
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