What I did this weekend.. part 2

[irving2008]

This is sort of a CNC related project... all will become clear eventually... some of this I did last couple of weekends... the last bit I did today...

First take a propane cylinder... empty of course... got three for nothing on FreeCycle...

check its empty, then remove the valve and fill with water... leave for a week or so...


about 350mm up put a length of masking tape round the cylinder and mark a line using a pencil taped to a bit of broomstick in true DIY fashion!


Attack it with an angle grinder and cutting disc... a 115mm B&Q 500W one will burn and die before you've finished, so Screwfix came to the rescue with a 230mm 2000W one on special offer for £30 delivered next day... goes through 4mm steel plate like a hot knife through the proverbial butter...


In the bottom 65mm from the centre, cut a 22mm hole (tricky without a suitable hole cutter and being a budget project I wasnt going to buy one... so drill 5 holes and finish with a rotary file... its going to be out of sight so the finish isnt critical nor is the diameter!)


In the side, just above where the base finishes, cut a 38mm hole. The hole needs to be tangential to an imaginary 150mm tube in the middle of the cylinder, so I set it up on the mill table with the centre of the hole offset so that the outer edge would be tangential. This is a bit more critical so use a hole cutter. Fortunately I had a couple of them, the B&Q one lasted 1minute and is only good enough for cutting blancmange, the Bosch one fared a little better and finished the job but is pretty useless now :cry:


Finally remove the centre section of the top to about 80mm diameter. I did this by clamping the top upside down on the mill table, drilling round the weld that holds the valve boss, then cleaning it up with a boring head.



Total cost so far ... NIL... and only a small amount of swearing :lol:

Next couple of weeks.... what to do with the following...