tried home depot or lowes? I remember saw some sheets at home depot. not sure if they were aluminum .
well
home depot and Lowes have aluminum , usually 0.0125" thick.
there is also www.onlinemetals.com/
they ship to every place in the country and are not too expensive
J-P
home depot and Lowes have aluminum , usually 0.0125" thick.
there is also www.onlinemetals.com/
they ship to every place in the country and are not too expensive
J-P
Jtbullet,
In the world of sheet metal 1 mm thick is very thick sheet metal. In the US sizes are in thousands of an inch which you will have to convert into metric sizes. If you are going to be bending the sheet metal by hand with simple tools you don't want anything that thick.
If you still want 1 mm thick sheet metal you want .039 that is 39 thousands of an inch and is almost exactly 1 mm. If you only need small pieces go to a local sheet metal fabricator and ask if you can buy some of their remnant pieces. Otherwise you will have to go to the metal suppliers and buy whole 8 x 4 foot sheets. Usually the local Lowes or Home depot has small cut up sizes. However, I would check prices. Where I'm from Lowes is 3 times higher for these little cut up pieces as is Home Depot. And home depot has a better selection.
Hezz
In the world of sheet metal 1 mm thick is very thick sheet metal. In the US sizes are in thousands of an inch which you will have to convert into metric sizes. If you are going to be bending the sheet metal by hand with simple tools you don't want anything that thick.
If you still want 1 mm thick sheet metal you want .039 that is 39 thousands of an inch and is almost exactly 1 mm. If you only need small pieces go to a local sheet metal fabricator and ask if you can buy some of their remnant pieces. Otherwise you will have to go to the metal suppliers and buy whole 8 x 4 foot sheets. Usually the local Lowes or Home depot has small cut up sizes. However, I would check prices. Where I'm from Lowes is 3 times higher for these little cut up pieces as is Home Depot. And home depot has a better selection.
Hezz
Anything thinner than 1mm of aluminium is useless for chassis construction.
I would choose 1,5 or 2,0mm instead.
In fact 2mm aluminium is easily shaped with a few pieces of wood.
Magura🙂
I would choose 1,5 or 2,0mm instead.
In fact 2mm aluminium is easily shaped with a few pieces of wood.
Magura🙂
Aircraft Spruce and Specialty -- has an outlet in California and somewhere in the Carolinas -- this is the company that all the experimental aircraft folks use for aluminum, spruce, aircraft steel etc. you can get anything your heart desires:
http://www.aircraft-spruce.com/
we use them, btw
http://www.aircraft-spruce.com/
we use them, btw
Ya i agree hezz, 2mm is classed as plate.
Guys this is for my projector design, its not for any chassis of any sort, its for a light box and a reflective pyramid, so i wouldnt go as far as aircraft grade or chassis alloy lol, its totally designed and only needs 1mm thick standard alloy.
As for the aircraft grade alloy ive worked with this stuff, good luck in bending that by hand, hell it even snapps off stainless steel screws.
Trev
Trev, Is JT building one of your projectors. If he is I don't see why he needs thick aluminum for the light paramid.
This is the thing. All aluminum that you buy is an alloy and the ones that are the most reflective are somewhat harder and less ductile. Pure aluminum is a whitish color and not very shiny and very soft. Almost too soft for most useful purposes.
But in any event, the thicker varieties are not going to be found at Home depot or Lowes. The best place is to go to a sheet metal fabricator because they are always building specialy metal cabinets to house electronics gear and other stuff. They will likely have small pieces of almost anykind of material that you might want and because the stuff just stacks up they will sell it to you very cheap usually.
Sometimes they will even give it to you if you only need really small pieces.
Hezz
This is the thing. All aluminum that you buy is an alloy and the ones that are the most reflective are somewhat harder and less ductile. Pure aluminum is a whitish color and not very shiny and very soft. Almost too soft for most useful purposes.
But in any event, the thicker varieties are not going to be found at Home depot or Lowes. The best place is to go to a sheet metal fabricator because they are always building specialy metal cabinets to house electronics gear and other stuff. They will likely have small pieces of almost anykind of material that you might want and because the stuff just stacks up they will sell it to you very cheap usually.
Sometimes they will even give it to you if you only need really small pieces.
Hezz
Heya Hezz,
2 things, the pyramid is more secure from heat, and has a higher structual strength, its not just a pyramid, its to also hold frensels in place. The inside will be coverd in mylar so colour wont matter nor how shinny the alloy is. Ill post up updated designs soon on how it is in its final designed state.
Trev
That white will be oxidisation i think you will find hezz, ive never seen any white alloy other then oxidised or white powder coated stuff lol, the powder is a white silver colour but thats raw alloy. Regarding the strength of the pure alloy, well realy there is none that you can buy in the shop, only in a lab you will find this, ( i get what you mean thought low grade). Hezz, the low grade alloy is strong, it depends on what you do with it, 1 bend in a sheet of 1mm thick alloy will give it 3x its strength,and this adds up with each bend, when exstruded about 6x its strength depending on shape.
Trev
Trev,
In that case I can see why you would want the structural rigidity. But the best place to find the stuff is the small sheet metal fabrication shops. Otherwise you will have to buy a whole large sheet of the stuff that you want.
In fact, they are often building specialty metal cabinets for the medical and food and electronic industries and they often have scraps of high grade aluminum alloys around that would not only be more rigid than standard cheap grades but also more shiny.
If you are able to find some of the higher grade aluminum sheets you will find that you may be able to use a thinner metal than you might think. And as you noted when you bend up the metal it's structural rigidity becomes greater with each bend. You will know best what you need but your best chance of finding the small pieces are at a small sheet metal fabrication shop. The really big places probably won't want to deal with you for something like what your after.
Hezz
In that case I can see why you would want the structural rigidity. But the best place to find the stuff is the small sheet metal fabrication shops. Otherwise you will have to buy a whole large sheet of the stuff that you want.
In fact, they are often building specialty metal cabinets for the medical and food and electronic industries and they often have scraps of high grade aluminum alloys around that would not only be more rigid than standard cheap grades but also more shiny.
If you are able to find some of the higher grade aluminum sheets you will find that you may be able to use a thinner metal than you might think. And as you noted when you bend up the metal it's structural rigidity becomes greater with each bend. You will know best what you need but your best chance of finding the small pieces are at a small sheet metal fabrication shop. The really big places probably won't want to deal with you for something like what your after.
Hezz
Yeah i get mine from an alloy carpenter here, i just buy his offcuts, i get them cheap, he gets them sold, some of these are even half a sheet lol.
Trev
Jtbullet,
If by some reason you are out in the country and there are no shops around where you live there is a web site called online metals or metals online and they specialize in cutting small sizes to your spec of most kind of metals. Then they send it to you in the mail. Their prices are reasonable.
Hezz
If by some reason you are out in the country and there are no shops around where you live there is a web site called online metals or metals online and they specialize in cutting small sizes to your spec of most kind of metals. Then they send it to you in the mail. Their prices are reasonable.
Hezz
On my Aluminum MK2 design I'm not using anything CLOSE to 1mm thick alloy. The strength of the box comes from the 1/8" alloy angles. The alloy covering is just a skin. I'd recommend angles or square tubing for the actual box. MUCH stronger then any 1mm thick alloy.
Same goes for my pyramid. Thin alloy, nothing close to 1mm thick and I use a 400 watt lamp! I'd say the size is equal to common aluminum flashing! Very thin with no worries about stressing the alloy from heat. Flashing is used in chimneys and rooftops where they BAKE. You have nothing to worry about when using thin alloy. If your box gets hot enough to stress the alloy... the alloy is the last thing you have to worry about!
____________
www.diybuildergroup.com
very soon!
Same goes for my pyramid. Thin alloy, nothing close to 1mm thick and I use a 400 watt lamp! I'd say the size is equal to common aluminum flashing! Very thin with no worries about stressing the alloy from heat. Flashing is used in chimneys and rooftops where they BAKE. You have nothing to worry about when using thin alloy. If your box gets hot enough to stress the alloy... the alloy is the last thing you have to worry about!
____________
www.diybuildergroup.com
very soon!
JCB, its all custom made, half of these sizes u cant find and will cost a mint just to buy a small peice, thats even if u can find a small peice, all is made from 1mm alloy for a reason, its the way its made and its the way it stays.
Trev
In your design you have room for rivets, im my design the is no room for rivet's (shadows) and just a thin skin just wont do it.
Trev
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