1/8" and it was still difficult to manipulate. Rats. I was thinking about doing the same thing on my Colt build. Glad I happened across this thread. Back to the drawing board,again,lol.
Joe.
1/8" and it was still difficult to manipulate. Rats. I was thinking about doing the same thing on my Colt build. Glad I happened across this thread. Back to the drawing board,again,lol.
Joe.
Hydromike was able to do it with 1/4 HDPE, but he cut it into two sections I think, and probably had more heat than I did. The thicker material may have been less prone to localized hot spots and warping. Plus his was black and may have absorbed more heat than the white sheet I had. Also I used a wider piece hoping to wrap it up around the sides somewhat. Didn't quite work out as planned
The two piece HDPE for the Chief project wasn't a choice; it's the only way the shipper would ship it to me. I've completed two other 1/4" HDPE skid plates (A 1/4" UHMW plate on the Attex tank trainer, and a 3/16" plate on the 980 Bigfoot) out of single pieces.Originally Posted by JRP3
On the Chief, I only used an ordinary heat gun to heat up the HDPE, but used more patience than wattage. For the gigantor 10' long poly plate for Big 5, I used an acetylene torch to heat it up. I used a small propane torch for the 980. Polyethylene has a pretty decent specific heat, as far as workability and time-to-work with it goes. It takes quite a while to heat up to a workable temperature, but it holds that temperature for long enough to not be racing to mold it by some pretty simple means.
Racerone3 used a big 3/16" sheet for his Attex 8x8, and it turned out spectacular. No special tools other than a heat source needed.
I was able to wrap mine up the sides of my 8x8 like Brian's, but his turned out a heck of a lot more elegant.
Wow, that does look nice. I guess I have no excuses other than my own incompetence
Were any of them done upside down the way I tired it? I wonder if I was losing too much heat to the air, where the other way heat would rise up to the body and keep everything warmer, maybe?
I did the skid plate on my 8x8 upside down. It was difficult.
The plate on the Chief (the two piece plate) was done from the bottom, up and the Hustler was, too. Neither one of those wrap up on the sides like the one on the 'Trainer. I don't think I have any pictures of the skid plate on the 980. I already blasted a hole in the plate on the one on the Hustler when we were at Fall Busco. That made it worth all the effort right-there.
Last edited by hydromike; 01-28-2013 at 10:51 AM.
Looks as if you riveted it down as you went, which I failed to do.
Oh, absolutely. I'm confounded as to how Brian was able to get his formed as nicely as he did without riveting as he went. That boy's got lots of weird techniques for stuff...
I thought I saw something Brian posted about using 2x4's on each side and drawing them together slowly by heating the mat'l and sequentially tightening the screws. I think He even upgraded his idea to use hex head screws because the phillips heads were caming out on Him Then replaced all the screws with rivets..
I'll have to see if I can find the thread.
Joe.
More toys for the AMPhibian. Steel belly band with an angle iron clamping system instead of bolts through the seam. I didn't like the idea of drilling holes in the plastic so I came up with this system. Also allows it to be removed without leaving holes. Did it in four pieces, bent the front half as a single piece, did the rear half by welding three pieces.
This allowed me to attach a plow system tied into the rear trailer hitch, similar to others I've seen on this site.
Front clamps and plow mount supports.
Still need to add some linear actuators to raise and lower the blade. More details and pics in my blog. Building the AMPhibian
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