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- Feb 24, 2015
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- 1,382
Every time I've needed to use my HF engine hoist, the support feet weren't wide enough for the task. I decided to make new support feet that would be wide enough to fit around the stands I have my equipment on.
First the plan. I decided on Z legs that would provide a little more then 32" clearance between them.
For the center of the Z, I opted for schedule 40 2.5" pipe with 3/6" wall. I thought the round tube would be less prone to torque than square tube, though a bit more work.
The wheels of the arms will line up pretty close to the original wheel position, as shown with the dotted lines. I was concerned they might want to twist with a load on them. Since they line up, I don't think that will be a problem. If it is, I'll run something across them through the tube. It will have to be removable, as they won't fold up with it in place.
The rest is made with the stock tubing.
First, I marked the cuts on the stock tubing. I used a ruler with the legs mounted.
This pic was posed after the fact. I wedged the legs in the slot to keep them parallel to the angle.
With the legs marked, I made some wooden wedges to hold them in the correct angle in my horizontal band saw. I didn't want to turn the clamp because it is a pain to get it perfectly square again.
To mark the birds mouth notches in the square tube, I cut a 1" section of the pipe for a guide and clamped a straight edge to draw the cutouts for the 8 cuts.
I'll cut birds mouths with my plasma torch. I measured the distance from the edge of the nozzle (3/16") and cut some circles 3/16" larger than the tube in 1/2" MDF for torch guides. That thickness guide holds my nozzle about 1/16" up from the cut, which is perfect. Two circles made 4 guides, in case I burned some up.
After cutting them in half, making guide lines and marking the pieces, I clamped them up for cutting.
I clamped two pieces at a time for cutting the birds mouths.
None of my guides burned up. A little dross and some paint to grind off.
After all the notches were cut, I layed everything out to check to see if they would work.
Everything looks good. Ready to weld!
That's enough for now. I'm half done with the welding. To be continued...
First the plan. I decided on Z legs that would provide a little more then 32" clearance between them.
For the center of the Z, I opted for schedule 40 2.5" pipe with 3/6" wall. I thought the round tube would be less prone to torque than square tube, though a bit more work.
The wheels of the arms will line up pretty close to the original wheel position, as shown with the dotted lines. I was concerned they might want to twist with a load on them. Since they line up, I don't think that will be a problem. If it is, I'll run something across them through the tube. It will have to be removable, as they won't fold up with it in place.
The rest is made with the stock tubing.
First, I marked the cuts on the stock tubing. I used a ruler with the legs mounted.
This pic was posed after the fact. I wedged the legs in the slot to keep them parallel to the angle.
With the legs marked, I made some wooden wedges to hold them in the correct angle in my horizontal band saw. I didn't want to turn the clamp because it is a pain to get it perfectly square again.
To mark the birds mouth notches in the square tube, I cut a 1" section of the pipe for a guide and clamped a straight edge to draw the cutouts for the 8 cuts.
I'll cut birds mouths with my plasma torch. I measured the distance from the edge of the nozzle (3/16") and cut some circles 3/16" larger than the tube in 1/2" MDF for torch guides. That thickness guide holds my nozzle about 1/16" up from the cut, which is perfect. Two circles made 4 guides, in case I burned some up.
After cutting them in half, making guide lines and marking the pieces, I clamped them up for cutting.
I clamped two pieces at a time for cutting the birds mouths.
None of my guides burned up. A little dross and some paint to grind off.
After all the notches were cut, I layed everything out to check to see if they would work.
Everything looks good. Ready to weld!
That's enough for now. I'm half done with the welding. To be continued...
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