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One of the things I have not likely explained very well is how I plan to finish the edges of this pan. I have talked about it before, but I am sure that that went over the heads of many. I learned many years ago when my mother was teaching me how to sew, that you ordinarily do not leave edges of material you are working with raw as cut. Your either sew it to something else or hem it. I have been motivated by that idea in much of what I have designed and fabricated later in life. In my plastics fabrications I have found that it is not really possible to hem things I make but I have found that I can put some kind of form at the edge and then cut the plastic right at the formed edge thus leaving a kind of finished edge that does not seen so much like just a raw cut edge. That is a little harder to do with metal, but I still find myself motivated in that same direction.
Thus, I am finishling the edges of this pan in such a way or ways that tends to satisfy my need to have the resulting raw edges seem like they are actually finished less than raw. The result is that as to the rear edge of this pan I am forming the edge up by 100 thou. and then aft by about a quarter inch. That will give me the quarter inch to trim out of and then grind and file to finish about .8 or .10 inch. That will satisfy my need to have something less that a simply raw edge at the trailing edge. It is not a hem, but hems do not work very well in metal, even soft metal. Maybe if it were very thin and the hem would be ok, but even then it has the chance of breaking off at the bend.
Last edited by Jerry Feather; 01-01-2021 at 11:54 AM.
I got to work a little on the details associated with the trailing edges at the bulges today. I stil have to figure out just how to allow for the .100 in edge offset and the ,063 material thickness in finishing the die pieces. Some of it is straight up and down and some of it is the radial thickness of the material. It is a real mental exercise.
The little piece of the form that goes into the place where the male form is cout out at its corner has been kind of giving me mental fits in trying to visualize what it looks like in order to fabricate it. Nevertheless I got it pretty much done and monuted this morning It will take some hand grinding with a dremel to finishe it, but that will be towards the end when s]the very minor details are going to be taken care of.
I did some detail work to the quarter inch plate pieces that are holding the two parts of the large bulge form together so that they will now form the edge I have in mind. I also worked up the mating piece that is the 3/8 inch bar in the base that works against the edge pieces. Then I started to work up the central form piece that will form the edge across the middle part of the pan. Next I'll do the same to the small bulge form; and then I'll b able to work up some of the smaller male form pieces while I have the mill vise bolted in the mill on the base plate. I think it is getting closer and I think I can see the light at the end.
Last edited by Jerry Feather; 03-01-2020 at 03:55 PM.
I decided to refine the shape of that little corner piece I made mainly to control the waste part of the material that is going to be forming the pan. Even though the waste is just that, waste, it still has the need to be formed even in a wasteful sort of way, but nevertheless it is part of the forming process and its forming may be in such a way as to rupture the material being formed. I'm hoping to avoid any of that.
Last edited by Jerry Feather; 04-28-2020 at 02:19 PM.
There are a couple of small refinements left to be done on the dies in the area of the larger bulge, and then I'll move the plate to the other end of the mill table so I can finish up with the smaller bulge and around it. With those done finally, I'll be able to put the top plate onto the mill table and begin to locate these bulge components and some other form pieces onto it. There is also some milling to be done to the top plate, but I don't think that will take too long.
Then, the final phase of this project will be to finish up the details in the end pieces. That may take a while; and I still have to mill some larger beveled pieces to fill in the bevel voids in places. More about that when I get there.
I refined the rear of the small bulge pieces to make the edge I am designing into this pan, but I forgot to take my camera out to the shop. I'll take a couple of pictures of that when I go back out, maybe later today. I was distracted this week with the need to take care of my two little grandaughters for a couple of days while their mother dealt with some medical issues, They are 4 years and 7 months respectively. I haven't moved the plate on the mill table yet, but that will be next, but even then I don't think there is much left to do to or with it at this point. I'm looking forward to getting the top plate in the mill and pushing ahead.
As I mentioned, I finished the back of the small bulge form as it will need to be shaped to finish the edge I want along the back of the pan. Then I finished working up the flat piece of aluminum that will help form the trailing edge across the middle, basically where the pay sort of goes around the oil pan. That took drilling and tapping three more screw holes and the foming its right edge. That basically finishes the base plate, I think. I'm going to take it off the mill table tomorrow and put the top plate there to work it up. I don't think that is going to take nearly as much work. I also tapped 5 of the 10 half inch bolt holes that will both guide the top plate in the forming process and then bolt the two plates together firmly while the ends are being formed. I think it will work, anyway. Now I have to clean off my work table so I can put the base plate back there while I work on the top plate.
After I studied the last pictures a while I saw that I had made the center piece incorrectly, so I had to make it over. I was going to take the base plate out the the mill, but then I decided to leave it there a while so I can use the mill vise to work up some of the smaller pieces that go onto the top plate. I have roughed out the 5 rib forms and will finish them up later and then I'll have only the long cross-ways stiffener piece to work up.
And here are a couple more steps completed on the five rib forms. Just two more steps to go and then some rounding and some mounting holes and these will be ready to mount on the top plate.
I still have the large base plate in the mill because I am stull using the mill vise bolted to it. I took the little step out of the flat end of the rib forms. I am working up what I think is the last form piece for the top plate which is the male form for the crossways stiffener form, and I think before I take the base out of the mill I need to make a pattern for the machine work that will need to be done to the top plate when I get it into the mill. I have been working on a couple of other things for my household and spending a couple hours ever day or so teaching my daughter how to drive, plus I have some orders to fill, so work on these dies has been a little scant in the last several days.
It turns out that there was one more little piece to be fabbed and put on the base plate. That one will help form a tiny bit of the rear edge at the outer edge of the AC bulge form. Now I think I am ready to take the base plate out of the mail and start working on the top plate, and then the end pieces.
Last edited by Jerry Feather; 03-20-2020 at 10:52 AM.
02-25-2020, 07:38 PM
