Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Re: [papercreters] Elephant Trunk "exit port"

I wouldn't fasten the tube or the flange to the bottom of the tank. I would
cut the hole in the tank the true size of the inner tube. Then I would
insert my flange inside one end of the tube so the tube wraps around the
outer edge of the flange, stuff the tube through the hole from the inside,
then fasten the flange to the inside of the tank going all the way through
the tank and through an exterior flange. Pop riveting directly to the tank
isn't a good plan, in my opinion. And stuffing the flange into the tube
keeps the tube and the flange relationship stable while you're working.
Make the interior and exterior flanges the same size, drill through both
flanges at the same time, make a alignment mark and it should all go
together fairly easily . . . with a helper to set and hold the outside
flange. I'd want to use the biggest steel poprivets I've got . . . but
bolts would be much better. If the flange material is sufficiently thick so
allow for countersinking, panhead bold would keep the outer flange flush
enough to allow the squeeze gate to work correctly.

ElfN

----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Randall" <eric@eric-randall.com>

>
> Hi Nori,
>
> I'll be interested to hear how it goes for you with your with using
> the tire for the exit port, like
> http://www.makepapercrete.com/The-Papercrete-Tow-Mixer.html.

I think
> using a small car inner tube might make it easier -- I was
> experimenting with a small truck tire inner tube and found it awkward.
>
> Before cutting a hole in the bottom of your tank, I recommend you
> work out the flange that you will use to bolt (pop-rivet?) the
> elephant trunk to your tank, and get your tire wrapped around it. I
> believe for it to work properly, you have to have the flange pretty
> closely sized to the outside diameter of the tire tube you use. Also
> you'll need to turn the tube inside out around the flange so you can
> get the flange to seal up tight to your tank (it won't want to lay
> flat on the tank bottom while you drill and pop-rivet it). Since the
> tubes can be tough to stretch, I think the best material to make this
> flange with would be something really stiff, like a piece of 1/8"
> steel. Also, because there is only so much stretch, you probably
> don't want to make this flange more than 3/4" wide, so you can
> actually stretch the tube around it.
>
> The easy part is cutting the hole in the tank, so postponing this
> task until you've got a tire and flange that you can work with might be
wise.
>
> Best,
>
> Eric


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