Aluminium Flange Covers-How to

[EMMKAY]

Hi all,

I need to make a couple of alu covers for a tank. The thickness of the cover is 75 mm and the diameter of the tank cover is 1000mm and 1500mm respectively.

What is the best possible way of achiving this from square aluminim plate of 75mm thickness.

I have a cnc plasma cutter and a cnc router amongst the usual of milling machines and other workshop tools. Am willing to buy other tools apart from heavy machinery to get the job done.

Any suggestions!!!!!

[One of Many]

If I am reading this correctly, Send it out....unless you and your equipment have the capability to handle up to 1550mmx1550mm(60"x 60") x 75mm(3") thick square plate of near 1 metric ton(2200lbs.) capacity.

The supplier should have the capability to cut it for you. That is BIG stuff for a router! Will the CNC plasma machine you have cut through 75mm Aluminum and cover the travel range to cut the 1500mm diameter?

DC

[fpworks]

Sounds like armor. Waterjet may be your best option for the 2D work, then finish up with a machining center.

[EMMKAY]

One of Many: the plasma can handle the diameter no problem. I have a 400amp chinese plasma unit. but I have never cut alu with plasma.

fpworks: no waterjet in the whole province let alone the city and that is a city of nearly 16million. and certainly no machining centre for that diameter. Couple of workshops do have horizontal lathes for works upto 2500mm dia, but at 16usd per running inch for 3inch thickness the costs do go up a lot!!!!

These are lids/covers for some food grade storage oil tanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! no idea why alu.. as I would have thought SS was the main material where food grade is concerned


One of my options was to use the router and cut the alu using 1-5 mm cutting depth and multiple passes. The other option is to use a band saw and fabricate a jig which allows me to hold the plate and rotate it along its centre.

Any other ideas..!!!!!

[fpworks]

Oh well...too bad there isn't any local machines large enough.

I have some plasma cut aluminum, 25mm thick. It is 5052 used in ship building. The edges are fairly rough and there is 3mm draft on the 25mm thick plate.

[One of Many]

Post your question in the plasma cutting forum. I'd imagine it may be possible, but with different gasses and/or high pressure air. It looks like 400 amps will cut 2" thick steel. It is not unusual for aluminum capacity to be greater.

I like the turntable and bandsaw idea if you can control the feed rate . The router will be removing lots of material using a minimum 3/4" cutter for 3" depth around 188" circumference. Long cutters need to be held very true at those spindle speeds as vibration is a major problem. That still sounds like several days of cutting.

DC