jockaneezer

Thanks for the replies. As you can see I've ammended my profile to show my location, Cumbria, UK, close to the border with Scotland. I'm stuck at home at the mo' with a chest infection so have been checking out other designs on the net and have had a bit of a rethink regarding the design and am currently drawing up a few ideas/mods so your comments are spurring me on, thanks. David, some of those books look to be a good source of knowledge, thanks for the link.

maybe should have chosen my words a little better, forgot what you guys call trailers, we call caravans, two countries separated by a common language eh ! My trailer design is different to most things on the market, so it's not gonna be too easy to copy and hopefully I will go into production with them, so I need to work out some stresses etc for wheel and hitch positions as I dont want to be on the end of any law suits. The design will have to be down to experience, if it looks right and suck it and see principle then, plus a bit of onroad testing by myself and friends.

I am currently working on a hybrid trailer to pull behind my RV to carry my motorbike. The base of the trailer is going to be a basic rectangle approximately 85" X 40" made from hot formed box section carrying a 600lbs bike on a central formed channel. My problem is I'm not sure what size material to use. My first thoughts were for 1" X 2" box but I would like to save weight and money by using 3/4" X 1 3/4" do you think this will be suitable ? Obviously a lot will depend on where I fit the suspension cross braces etc, but does anyone know a simple formula for working out the strengths of material I will require ? Thanks, Graeme.

interesting. my old Dad used to refer to nails as "clout nails"

Thanks for all the helpfull info chaps,should be able to get sorted now. Jock.

Hi,I'm having difficulty sourcing borax for fluxing in the UK. I have been dabbling with band saw/strapping scrapmascus and have been using SIFBRONZE brazing flux, is this a suitable medium ? I have been getting some good welds but usually with some scale inclusions and I don't know whether they are due to the type of flux or to my inexperience. I am using a propane torch for the heat source. Any thoughts on the subject would be appreciated, thanks. Jock.

My kind of post ! Will give that a try when the weather improves in the spring. Not in the same league but this summer i built a wood fired pizza oven from clay and straw and was impressed with what you can do with this material. Lots of flooding around here at the moment and i was getting my clay from the local river so need to wait till that subsides. Got a nice squirrel type blower fan from an industrial gas fired tube heater which should supply lots of air and my son's just started an apprenticeship as a tree surgeon so need to look at converting free wood offcuts into my own charcoal. Best of luck with the project.

there's a video on youtube of someone doing this type of operation but using a pressure washer instead of compressed air. much safer in my opinion. think they may be making an expansion box exhaust for a two stroke motor bike.

dlpierson has a valid point, but could you maybe place a simmilar sized piece of steel alongside it and watch the heat on that ?

i have made small diameter (up to 5/16") reamers and D bits for use in model engineering applications from silver steel bar (01 I think) heated to red then plunged into a potato with no need to temper. mostly used on brass though. with the bonus that if you have a few to make, you can eat the spud afterwards !

thanks for all your worthy replies. by coincidence i was thinking of adding in some pieces of handsaw blade (you know the hardpoint, "throwaway" types) i also have access to power hacksaw blades but was avoiding them as they are the bi-metal type. i also have an 18"x 4"x 1/16" piece of 01 ground flat stock but was saving it for when i get a bit more proficient.

seen the suggestions about using pallet strapping for practicing pattern welding with and i was wondering if i need to clean off the blued finish before stacking ?

hi sharron, we still use this type of press at my work, but where you have the enerpack unit fitted we have a rack and pinion press fitted. the oppisote end has a hand wheel which raises and lowers the table. ours has a two speed ram and is hand operated although i have been threatening to put a motor on it for the last 33 years ! i will see if i can find any info on it but am doubtfull. graeme

this post was great timing for me. gonna have a go at pattern welding. got plenty of 1 1/8" wide pallet strapping that test hardened up fine and i also have some 1/16" thick ground flat stock (think its what you guys over the pond call 0-1 ) not expecting miracles but will be a bit of a challenge. got invited to a free teach in on making viking knives for re enactment groups earlier this year and want to take it to the next level.

I'm toying with building a tyre hammer and have considered drilling three different mounting holes for the crank pin at different distances from the centre shaft so I can adjust the throw. Dont know how this will work out but looks feasible on paper.