Thinking outside the box...
Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:34 pm
Has anybody considered using the inside of a single piece of box beam for a press rather than trying to fabricate something?
I was thinking that a 7 foot long section of 10" by 8" beam of wall thickness 1/4" would probably make a great press. A first quote looked like the metal would not cost too much. So a couple of questions:
1) Does anyone know of any downsides to this approach? - Is is useful to be able to look at things from the side?
2) For the guys who have some experience, what would your ideal internal dimensions be for a single ski press (width and height)? I was thinking that about 9" - 10" would be about right on the width, but on the height I was not sure - most people seem to have about 8" but there does not seem to be a need for this much or am I missing something?
3) Also for people using U sections or I sections sidewqays, what wall thickness are you using? I was seeing theoretical deflections of order 5mm across the width of the beam for a 1/4" thick section (this is pessamistic because the mold will have some stiffness which I have not modelled).
As ever, thanks for all the advice,
B.
I was thinking that a 7 foot long section of 10" by 8" beam of wall thickness 1/4" would probably make a great press. A first quote looked like the metal would not cost too much. So a couple of questions:
1) Does anyone know of any downsides to this approach? - Is is useful to be able to look at things from the side?
2) For the guys who have some experience, what would your ideal internal dimensions be for a single ski press (width and height)? I was thinking that about 9" - 10" would be about right on the width, but on the height I was not sure - most people seem to have about 8" but there does not seem to be a need for this much or am I missing something?
3) Also for people using U sections or I sections sidewqays, what wall thickness are you using? I was seeing theoretical deflections of order 5mm across the width of the beam for a 1/4" thick section (this is pessamistic because the mold will have some stiffness which I have not modelled).
As ever, thanks for all the advice,
B.