Molding metal frame

could

If this isn't a wind up then surely the obvious way of making it is to weld it up from whatever cross section your box frame is. BTW 'some kid of brass' and 'stainless steel' are both FAR from being non-oxidisable'

AWEM

Certainly both are feasable. How many do you envision making? The cost for tooling to make one from molded metal might cost $20,000. The cost for the second molded one might be $1.00.

Milling one from a cube of metal would not be a big deal, unless you need square inside corners. Those would probably need to be filed. A person would need rather long end-mills.

You need to provide more information to get a better answer. What are the sizes of the bars? Are they square in section? Will the product be subject to high temperature? Other environment variables such as vibration, stress, etc.

Have you made a prototype, yet? How "square" does the unit need to be?

Interesting.

Paul

I rejected doing it by welding the pieces because I need that NO LIGHT AT ALL may go through the joints of that frame and that is something welding does not guarantee,as far as I know.

What sort of brass/stainless steel are non-oxidizable?

Ralph

Yes, you can get welds that good (I can buy them, but I can only make them with difficulty). Sealed pressure vessels are welded all the time (by people who do it better than me).

That small of a piece will be interesting to weld, particularly since you'll probably want TIG.

If you don't mind machining it on all six sides it won't require a deep end mill at all -- mill a slot around "top" and "bottom", then mill a square hole out of each "side" while holding by the "top" and "bottom". Make sure you hold both part and dross, because when you finish your last square hole things will break free. Take it out of the vice and you'll be able to draw the leftovers out through "top" or "bottom".

Welding/brazing (depending on material) out of stock would be the fastest and easiest.

Nick

I just need a unit of that frame. And I do not think to pay $1000.

The shape of the inside corners does not matter, as far as they are not too prominent.

The preferred section of bars is a solid isosceles triangle aprox. 10 mm (out sides). Those out sides would have a channel on each side, but I imagine that can be drilled later on.

If cheaper, a solid square section instead of a triangle would be acceptable.

The frame would no undergo high temperatures but some vibration.

Do you mean a prototype of wood or cardboard? I don't understand "how =ABsquare=BB does the unit need to be?".

Ralph

I rejected doing it by welding the pieces because I need that NO LIGHT AT ALL may go through the joints of that frame and that is something welding does not guarantee,as far as I know.

What sort of brass/stainless steel are non-oxidizable?

Ralph

Andrew Mawson ha escrito:

So solder it up from square section brass, with neatly cut mitred joints. If you have moderate skill and minimal hand tools (saws, files, cheap gas torch, a firebrick and some silver solder) then you can make it yourself.

I wouldn't weld it - for somethign this size, presumably needing fair accuracy, then I'd find the lower temperatures of silver solder easier to manage than the risk of distortion from gas or TIG welding.

"Non oxidisable" depends on where you're putting it. Brass or nickel silver are fine for a fishtank (although I'm not sure about the effects on the fish), you'd need something a bit special if it's going into hot chlorine.

As someone suggested, a soldered-up prototype might work for you. I know square section brass tubing is available at hobby shops and hardware stores around here.

What I meant by "how square" was how critical are the dimensions? What tolerances are acceptable to the project?

Paul

Once you figure out how to do what you're asking about you'll be ready to progress to ones like this:

Jeff

And the college question is now answered ? :-)

Martin Eastburn @ home at Lions' Lair with our computer lionslair at consolidated dot net NRA LOH, NRA Life NRA Second Amendment Task Force Charter Founder

Tim Wescott wrote:

Then you better forget what you "know". That's nonsense. Sorry.

Nick

Pah! Far too easy

For shame. What you did to that poor peice of metal. :-) Gawd! how does one even contemplate such a form? ...lew...

But didja look at the page which describes the "direct metal printing" process by which the artist's CAD drawings gets turned into metal sculptures?

It sounds like the fabled "Santa Claus Machine" may be just around the corner. You know, the one you pour basic raw materials into and anything you ask it to make for slides out a chute a few moments later.

Speaking of in and out, I read today in the latest issue of JIR about a college student describing entropy this way. He said, "It's like you can't shove road apples up a horses behind and have oats come out of its mouth."

Happy Holidays,

Jeff

For all the top posters, I've cliped but left what I consider necessary to insure understanding what I'm talking about. :-) Jeff, No I hadent looked at those pages. WOW! A long time ago in a far off galaxy ( about 55 or more years ago in PA ) I remember reading a SciFi story where things were built like that but with the added ability to change the atoms to be able to do conductors, insulators, semiconductors, etc and end up with a solid block. It looks like technology has almost caught up. Love the entropy definition. :-) ...lew...