Any Metalworking Oppos?

"NoahthePorscheGuy" (porsche) 04/21/2016 at 22:12 • Filed to: None

0

51

Anybody have any ideas on how to go about making a aluminum hemisphere out of .063 sheet metal? I need to make a hollow sphere for an intake with 3.5 inches radius, and we would weld the two halfs together but I am trying to figure out the best ways to make the 2 halfs. Debated using an english wheel but our shops planishing hammer is broken. Thinking about doing something really sketchy involving a hydraulic press and a stainless steel bowl as a die. Help

edit: we do not have a lathe that we are allowed to modify for metal spinning.

1111111111111111111111 > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:14

3

This is a job for a lathe. Look at your thin mixing bowls, or any horn instruments.

deprecated account > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:17

0

Hydroforming?

garagemonkee > 1111111111111111111111 04/21/2016 at 22:18

0

This. Alternatively, does it have to be metal?

Also alternatively, can you just buy the stainless bowl and use that as the thing?

NoahthePorscheGuy > deprecated account 04/21/2016 at 22:19

0

how much setup work is that going to take do you think? We were originally going to english wheel it because we are on a budget and my manpower is free. I was contemplating using a store bought bowl as a mold for hydroforming but really have no idea.

1111111111111111111111 > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:19

0

Failing the lathe....check alibaba. You can get polished inox, or aluminum any size cheap.

NoahthePorscheGuy > garagemonkee 04/21/2016 at 22:20

0

double post accident

NoahthePorscheGuy > 1111111111111111111111 04/21/2016 at 22:20

0

we don’t have a lathe capable of being used to turn metal. Or at least not one they will let us use to turn metal.

Its for an air intake on a racecar. Weight is an issue so a stainless bowl is too heavy and also will suck to weld together.

NoahthePorscheGuy > 1111111111111111111111 04/21/2016 at 22:21

0

hmmm. How long does shipping from china take?

1111111111111111111111 > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:22

0

Do you have a furnace? You should be able to cast them fairly easily.

Nibby > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:22

2

LATHE

or just melt steel and pour it on your head (if you’re bald)

NoahthePorscheGuy > 1111111111111111111111 04/21/2016 at 22:25

0

we have a furnace somewhere at the school but don’t necessarily have the funds to create a mold. I should mention it is for a FSAE Team. We have some sheetmetal, alot of tools, and very little money.

deprecated account > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:26

0

Lol I have no idea. I’m just a 16 year old who happens to have watched Mythbusters and Colin Furze.

1111111111111111111111 > deprecated account 04/21/2016 at 22:27

1

You’ll get close, bit I don’t think you’ll ever get half a sphere, more like a lozenge.

NoahthePorscheGuy > Nibby 04/21/2016 at 22:27

0

second option seems feasible, first option won’t work because we can’t use any of the lathes for metal turning. (i asked)

BmanUltima's car still hasn't been fixed yet, he'll get on it tomorrow, honest. > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:28

0

Every time I’ve ordered something from there I chose free shipping and it took about a month.

1111111111111111111111 > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:28

0

How much money do you have? That’s the China equation.

In a Mini; let them mock me as My Mini Countryman is higher than you > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:29

0

*Starts twitching from moment of inertia problems

garagemonkee > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:31

0

If weight is a concern, then maybe make a wood plug, cover in bondo, seal, mold release, and make the whole thing out of fiberglass. How it looks on the outside isn’t as much of a concern as how well it functions on the inside. You could probably turn the plug on the lathe you have access to.

tromoly > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:31

0

Are you building a sphere for an FSAE intake?

Birddog > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:31

1

Look into Architectural Metal companies. Email a rep and see if there isn’t already a product out there.

Page 2 of this one seems close but not quite there.

http://www.sharpeproducts.com/store/domed-we…

NoahthePorscheGuy > tromoly 04/21/2016 at 22:32

0

yep.

1111111111111111111111 > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:32

0

Hmm. What about using copper discs? You could form them easily from the shape of a record to a hemisphere then braze them together. Do the math for final thickness of the dome and you know what gauge to start with. All you would need is copper, leather, and a hammer.

NoahthePorscheGuy > 1111111111111111111111 04/21/2016 at 22:32

1

0

facw > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:33

0

Just weld together two of these?

http://www.amazon.com/3D-Aluminum-Ball-Sphere-Baking/dp/B01CZT4C3O

If that fails, make boob cake?

tromoly > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:36

0

Thought so, it seems to be a popular shape.

Do you guys have Carbon capability? If so building male molds on a mill may be easier.

Clown Shoe Pilot > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:36

1

too bad your alot is made of tools instead of money.

NoahthePorscheGuy > garagemonkee 04/21/2016 at 22:37

0

Interesting. I’ll talk the engine/composites guys about that. We were originally going to make it out of carbon fiber but our composites guys are swamped with nose cone issues. We did have a sponsor donate some fiberglass not too long ago. I’ve not worked with fiberglass except for patching sailboats, What do you think would the surface finish be like on the inside, since i’m assuming it would require a female mold? Thanks!

plak424 > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:40

0

Just curious, which team, which motor and why a sphere? Also is this for Michigan in 2 weeks?

NoahthePorscheGuy > tromoly 04/21/2016 at 22:42

0

yes we have carbon capability but our composite guys are overworked and busy on the nose cone, which is why they pawned it off to the freshman they saw playing with the english wheel.

Clown Shoe Pilot > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:42

2

How about filling your proposed pattern bowl with something fairly impact resistant and then just wailing on the .063 material w/ various hammers?

Like this guy:

NoahthePorscheGuy > plak424 04/21/2016 at 22:42

0

Cal Poly, 450z, i have no clue, I just do what i’m told. Yes :o

NoahthePorscheGuy > Clown Shoe Pilot 04/21/2016 at 22:45

0

looks like that might be what I end up having to do.

NoahthePorscheGuy > Clown Shoe Pilot 04/21/2016 at 22:52

0

plus its not even our tools!

Phyrxes once again has a wagon! > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 22:55

1

Is find a local sheetmetal shop or community college and beg/plead/bribe them off the table? Chances are you can find an old school machinist who will help some kids interested in his trade out.

I know this as my students successfully pulled this off when I was coaching an First Robotics Competition team. Two different companies made a bunch of sheetmetal parts at material cost and the welding instructor at the community college did some aluminum welding for us.

Good luck!

BoulderZ > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 23:00

0

You say you have lathe access, but sounds like they’re wood only. That application looks like spun metal, to me. Make a wood form (fairly easy), then spin the metal over that. As someone else mentioned, typical stainless steel bowls are made often made that way. Spun metal isn’t too difficult, just don’t try to do the whole form in one pass.

NoahthePorscheGuy > Phyrxes once again has a wagon! 04/21/2016 at 23:01

0

That might be the ticket. We can do the welding ourselves but maybe we can find someone. The big issue is it needs to be done asap so i’m scrambling and if I cant figure out a quicker way i’m going to be hammering away all night.

NoahthePorscheGuy > BoulderZ 04/21/2016 at 23:03

0

we only have manual metal lathes, but you need a wood one to spin metal as far as I can tell. We are a big college with a sizeable machine shop.

BoulderZ > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 23:09

0

Oh, bummer. Yeah, wood lathe required for that approach.

Die-Trying > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 23:15

0

can you check the pet store for a dog dish?

plak424 > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 23:39

0

You have a drawing or model of it? I’m the technical advisor for the Hartford team and have had some experience with intake design. Just interested to see how you would apply the sphere.

Good luck at the competition

Bman76 (no it doesn't need a WS6 hood) M. Arch > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 23:42

0

Talk to some local shops, they tend to respond well to students if you approach them looking for an “expert to help”. I recently used a local shop’s CNC lathe for a week for free doing this. Or use fiberglass, which is super easy.

plak424 > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 23:42

0

Also you could cut 4 quadrants from sheet metal and use a roller to shape them to the radius you need, then butt weld all the joints.

uofime-2 > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/21/2016 at 23:49

0

Do you have good RP machines (like an SLS preferably with nylon 6-6)?

You’ll need to add stiffening ribs and probably use tongue and groove for bonding on some reasonably thicker flanges (alternately o-ring groves and fasteners)

You didn’t happen to backfire and blow up a previous RP one did you? those singles will do that.....

John Dyste > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/22/2016 at 01:00

0

Rather than doing it in 1/2. Do quarters. Then you can roll each in one direction and weld together. Maybe?

John Dyste > John Dyste 04/22/2016 at 01:00

1

Try it with paper.

garagemonkee > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/22/2016 at 01:05

0

If you made a male mold (a plug) instead, possibly even out of dense, close-cell foam, that works well for one-off pieces like this. The outside will be rough, but the inside will be from the plug. We did this in aerospace for small-run parts, have a male mold made out of foam (painted in gel coat, then covered in mold release film), cover in carbon fiber, vacuum-bag and cook (in our case since we did prepreg, for fiberglass it’d likely be wet layup), then chip out the foam. You’d lose the plug, but you really didn’t need it anymore.

Frank Grimes > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/22/2016 at 02:49

1

sandbag and a deep hammer or build a buck and build in pieces and weld together on buck

Frank Grimes > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/22/2016 at 02:50

1

anneal the metal before hammering

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/22/2016 at 03:26

0

Make a post dolly from a track and field shot put or something similar. Basically exactly what clown shoe pilot recommended. If you’re using aluminum you can always anneal it add it work hardens. Very good chance Ron Covell has videos of that as well.

Frank Grimes > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/22/2016 at 19:03

0

I am going to highly reccomend this.

if you dont have the big machines do manual shrinking it all can be done with hand tools but takes longer.

tromoly > NoahthePorscheGuy 04/22/2016 at 21:23

0

Ah.

I still never understood why the sphere is used, isn’t most the intake design in the runner length and plenum volume? Guess that’s why I was never an engine/drivetrain person.