Ultradog MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Twin Cities
- Jun 28, 2023
- #1
I want to cut 4 off the bottom of this little cabinet and replace it with new metal.
The flat sides I believe I can do without warping them all to heck. They are 10 gage steel.
Would like to Accurately determine the Outside radius of the corners so I can find some pipe or tubing - or manufacture something - to duplicate them.
How can I measure the radius?
Dumb it down please. I flunked arithmetic.
Cabinet is upside down in the photo.
D
Doug-Iowa
Member
- Jun 28, 2023
- #2
I cheat. I go through my shelves for paint cans, pipe, pop cans, fittings, anything I can match up to the radius and when I find something close I use it for a template.
I have a nice piece of steel looks just like what you need. Too bad Im not headed north anytime soon.
M
Mike(NEOhio)
Well-known Member
- Location
- Newbury, Ohio
- Jun 28, 2023
- #3
Put a square on the corners and read where the curve meets the flat side. That's equal to the bend radius.
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
- Jun 28, 2023
- #4
So the corner arc is one-quarter of a circle. So multiply the corner arc length by four to get the circle circumference. The circle radius is the circumference ÷ 2π. Therefore the corner radius is the arc length x (2 ÷ &pi
. In other words, multiply the arc length times 0.64.
MarkB_MI
Well-known Member
- Location
- Motown USA
- Jun 28, 2023
- #5
> Put a square on the corners and read where the curve meets the flat side. That's equal to the bend radius.
Best answer.
Absent Minded Farmer
Well-known Member
- Location
- Gehl Country, Wis.
- Jun 28, 2023
- #6
Save yourself on the maths & get a contour gauge.
Mike
Steve in VA
Well-known Member
- Location
- Natural Bridge Virginia
- Jun 28, 2023
- #7
Agree. Simple.
T
TimV
Well-known Member
- Jun 28, 2023
- #8
Or just a cheapie radius gauge. 8 bucks for the one in the link--just one example of many at the given site, and many more at plenty of other places. Yet another one of those simple tools that pays for itself the first time you use it versus wasting time and material with guesswork. One shown is metric, as a many of the cheapies, but the conversion is simple.
radius gauge
C
caterpillar guy
Well-known Member
- Jun 28, 2023
- #9
Just cut a cardboard to match the corner then fit your sheet to the cardboard. OR bend it around a pipe that is close preferably slightly smaller then open the corner up just a bit and you will have it. Or just have somebody at the steel shop you buy the steel from roll the corners from your pattern with a picture. I have also used the cabinet for a pattern as I bent the steel to fit around the outside then close it up just a bit. Inside works better for that.
S
Stan Coryell
Member
- Jun 28, 2023
- #10
Yup. If you measure the outside, make sure you deduct the metal thickness. Technically, you need the mean,but it won't be critical. The ID radius is likely an even number (which would be the outside of the punch or top die). The bottom is determined by ID radius of part and metal thickness. This is why the ID would be 1, 1 1/4 and so on.
C
cdmn
Member
- Jun 28, 2023
- #11
We used a bees' wax that we melted and poured on the part. It would harden quite hard.
There might need to be some parting agent, like a powder, lube, or cellophane. Draftsmen (before CAD) had circle templates used for drawings. We had projectors that shown a light on the cast
wax, and it showed the profile on the screen with a grid that you could use to see the size. It could be magnified for small parts.
Profile projector
T
Tim PloughNman Daley RIP
Well-known Member
- Jun 29, 2023
- #12
Jerry-
Do you have a Radius Gage Set? If not I can loan you mine. Say the word.
Tim Daley (MI)
Gary Mitchell
Well-known Member
- Jun 29, 2023
- #13
Unless I was worried about the aesthetics of the finished product, I'd be inclined to cut out some pieces of thin plate to bolt or weld over the ugly part, weld up the corners, and stick some angle iron or sqr tubing around the interior of the bottom for a decent base. gm
C
Caryc
Well-known Member
- Jun 29, 2023
- #14
(quoted from post at 15:28:39 06/28/23) Save yourself on the maths & get a contour gauge.
Mike
I agree, this is a handy little tool to have.
D
dr sportster
Well-known Member
- Jun 29, 2023
- #15
The race car fab suppliers have large radius gauges
OP
OP
Ultradog MN
Well-known Member
- Location
- Twin Cities
- Jun 29, 2023
- #16
All good replies.
Thanks to Mike(NE OH) for teaching me how simple it was.
But I still went with cdmn's advice.
I didn't have any bee's wax but I did have some Durabond - setting type sheetrock joint compound.
I greased the corner so it would release after it was set up them mixed a batch and gobbed it onto the round corner.
Bent a couple welding rods to use as rebar in it.
After it set up I pulled it off and cleaned it up with an angle grinder.
Perfect pattern.
Then I went to the steel yard with it.
After test fitting my pattern on different sizes of pipe and tubing I discovered it was exactly the same as 2 3/4in DOM tubing.
Can't afford dom tubing but found a scrap of
2 1/2in shedule 40 pipe that is 2 7/8in OD.
I will turn it to 2 3/4 and be good to go.
Gary Mitchell, you mentioned the aesthetics.
Yes, that is important here.
Dunno if I have the fabrication skills to 'restore' this poor little shaper cabinet but it will be good practice.
My theory is that a well and carefully done repair does not detract (too much) from the aesthetics of an old tool or machine.
Thanks to all.
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