Originally Posted by FandZ  Looking good.. I can't really tell which parts need to be redone. It all looks pretty good to me. A quick Q. The metal bends that you will be useing for rails. Are you able to get them to deflect any by hand? |
Not even a little. I selected my metal gauges off of a chart and I think I went a little heavier then I had to even as there is ZERO deflection.
I also think I made it harder on the metal shop then it needed to be because I made rather large inside bend radii based on perhaps incorrect research. The article I read said the minimum inside radius should be 1.5 x the sheet thickness and 2 x was better. The sheet metal shop guys said on the relatively thinner cold rolled steel material I am using very near zero is easier and more accurate.
I may redo the design with all steel construction and tighten up the bends. Not sure if I will go thinner though as the 100 pound weight does not bother me in the least. Maybe on the non structural parts like the covers etc.