Todays project... lofted dust collection port in sheet

[mike os]

Cant believe the manufacturer only makes these ports in plastic for commercial machines....

so as they want £50+ for a part we know will break 10 minutes after it is fitted and we will mess around for a couple of years fixing it, time to make a more permanent part

Shape for the lofted section, this is for half the shape, yellow lines are for the folds

Decided it would be easier in 4 pieces.... that way if I made a mistake it was easy to correct, just make another one

got to use my bargain Metalcraft bender for the first time on a job, so easy it was unbelieveable

I could have added the this to the sides, but again thought keep it simple, bang on size, and square, took longer to mark and cut to length than to bend

 

[mike os]

Roll a ring to fit the pipework connectors, Cheap rolls I picked up for an on site job a few years ago, but really quite useful for smaller stuff like this

Tack up

Little gap bit it is 1.6mm so easy to fill,

Ready to try on site and then paint

About 4-5h work, and really quite pleased as I have never attempted something like this before, and this is my first sheet metal project since my accident

 

[Maker]

Looks good, how did you bend the sheet for the tapered section?

 

[mike os]

I have a small homemade press, would have been a pain otherwise, flypress would have done ok too

 

[Paul.]

Nice little bench jobs those aren't they, the problem I find is getting the customers to pay the 4 or 5 hours labour to produce them, especially when the oem plastic part is pennies to buy.
Good job, specially for a first attempt.
One I made a while ago, very similar http://www.mig-welding.co.uk/forum/threads/another-transition-piece.51001/

 

[mike os]

Thanks Paul... it was a few of your posts that showed me how to do it

 

[Paul.]

Glad something I posted was of use to someone,
Before you fit the ring, its worth dressing the flats out to round it up on the joint to make a good fit up. a bit of similar sized tube or bar inside will serve as a dolly, even better, a toe dolly is good for this kind of stuff, you don't need an expensive one for basic metal forming.

 

[mike os]

Was unsure how to best do that. .. should have welded the transition piece then dressed further, but came out ok... just hope it lasts