Eventually I plan on building a kegerator, that's something I've always wanted.

If I were you personally I'd avoid using an oxy setup because the amount of heat put into the base metal will cause it to distort. If I had to chose I'd consider a plasma with a very large cutting capacity because it would allow you to make fater cuts, keeping heat input down. I would even go as far as putting a bag of ice on the plate while I cut it with a plasma to help heek the heat down.


Now if I only had oxy or. Grinder with a cut off wheel I'd go the grinder route cutting a little at a time allowing it to stay somewhat cool, and having time to cool back down. You wouldn't have acess to a metal bandsaw would you? Or a buddy that could help you out for a case of tall boys if you needed to machine this thing flat again would you if it warped?

Sorry if this message is jumbled, I've been having isses with the internet on my cell, plus I've been drinking capt. N coke like water for th past few hours while the g/f plays Ratchet n clank on the ps3.





Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Sunday, July 01, 2012 12:50 AM

Even if you dont warp the @!#$ out of it unless you have perfect settings and perfect hand speed you will make slag on the whole edge and have to grind that off. Its a pain to grind off because due to the plasma cutting that slag is super duper hard.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

I didn't even think of the heat warping the steel!

I used a jig saw, worked out fine.

you didn't tell me that you put the beast next to the tool chest! That is a match made in heaven. Paint it red and you are set!

Leafy wrote:Even if you dont warp the @!#$ out of it unless you have perfect settings and perfect hand speed you will make slag on the whole edge and have to grind that off. Its a pain to grind off because due to the plasma cutting that slag is super duper hard.

He would have the same issue with slag on an oxy setup as well...plus it's not that hard to remove, most chips right off with just a little wack from a hammer. Then a quick pass with a grinder to take the edge off and he's done.

I could never get it to come off with the slag hammer, maybe I never hit it right.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

Maybe send the template in to be cut on a water table...Then you can cut it out of aluminum

I would recommend a plasma cutter as well. The oxy setup will marr it too much and is much harder to control. Jig saw COULD work but man that will kill the motor in that thing working that hard. not to mention blades. Cutoff wheel will take forever even if its on an air tool.

Plasma cutting would be your quicker and better option id say.

Philly brings up a point, why do it in steel when your not welding anything to it?

If thats your biggest plate, that would not be anything to cut out on a band saw in 1/4" Even in steel.

If you set up an oxy torch correctly you should have minimal to no slag... If you are getting excessive slag buildup you are not moving the torch quick enough, or not using a high enough oxy pressure.

Sweetness, If I were making that plate, I would not enclose the snout of the charger in that round hole (the part with the four bolts mounting the charger to the plate)... make it easy on yourself and cut out an opening between two of the mounting holes so its only 3/4 of the way around... it will be much easier to clean up the inside diameter of the cut edge.

As for welding, Miller and Lincoln both have good information on their website on MIG welding... The biggest thing I can tell you is prep the surfaces as well as you possibly can... the better the prep, the better the weld.

Do not use brake clean as a final degreaser before welding, especially if you grind the weld area before you weld. It will produce a toxic gas and you will die and we will never see this project finished... :-(

Also, I would spend at least a solid 5-6 hours of time UNDER THE HELMET (this excludes prep, cleaning, fixing settings etc.) but 5-6 hours actually welding before you attempt anything, don't want to get those nice pieces cut only to ruin them with a bad or inferior weld. Ask for some scraps of various sizes (cutoffs are common around metal distributors and they usually cannot sell them very easy so usually they can make you a deal on some useful pieces to practice on.) up to the thickest metal you will be welding and experiment and try different things/settings once you get the hang of torch technique.

If your wondering, a 80/20 or 75/25 Argon/Co2 mix is standard purge gas on mild steel... stay away from flux core wire, get a good ER70S-6 alloy wire and get to work!

If you have any fabrication/welding questions feel free to email or pm me... I can give you my cell if you need quick answers.



Buildin' n' Boostin for 08' - Alex Richards

non-chlorinated brake clean is fine. Make sure its non-chlorinated and you'll be ok. If its chlorinated you'll smell rotten tomatos and then fall to the floor unable to move in the most pain you've ever been in in your life and pray that someone comes along and gets some ventilation going. Yay WWI chemical weapons.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

Leafy wrote:non-chlorinated brake clean is fine. Make sure its non-chlorinated and you'll be ok. If its chlorinated you'll smell rotten tomatos and then fall to the floor unable to move in the most pain you've ever been in in your life and pray that someone comes along and gets some ventilation going. Yay WWI chemical weapons.

While this is true, I tend to the safe bet... Acetone or Lacquer thinner for me! Carb cleaner is another no-no for me...



Buildin' n' Boostin for 08' - Alex Richards

Good point on informing him on the brake clean issue. I forget to mention it assuming it's common knowledge for some reason....I use rubbing alcohol or acetone at home. If you have access to a waterjet, I'd try that route as well.

Acetone works the best, get it in one of those squeeze bottles.


1994 Saturn SL2 Home Coming Edition: backup car
2002 Chevy Cavalier LS Sport Coupe: In a Junk Yard
1995 Mazda Miata R-package Class=STR
Sponsored by: Kronos Performance

WPI Class of '12 Mechanical Engineering
WPI SAE Risk and Sustainability Management Officer

Guys, thanks so much so far for your tips and help. I thought maybe the oxy setup would be a tough go... but easier than my other options. I honstly didn't consider the heat warping that plate and frankly thats a huge concern with a project like this requiring the tolerance it needs.

As much as I wish I had a bandsaw or a plasma torch, I don't. Yes, I can draw this up to scale in cad and have it machined or jetted, or could take the metal tracing to a shop and have somebody I know cut it out for me, but that destroys the purpose of me wanting to do it all myself in my garage and learn from the experience. Perhaps some things are better left being done by the pros... so I will definitely use the bandsaw option as my backup plan. Based on your info my best bet is a 6-7amp jigsaw and a very very good blade and some patience. I've looked online and seen plenty of videos of people cutting 1/4" steel plate with a jigsaw and just going slow, so I will try that route first and if its an epic failure I'll go to a pro.

Thank you so much also for the welding tips. I can say 100% you saved my life as I clean everything with brake clean, so that would have def been the end of me.

I'm going to head to the metal supermarket in the next 2 weeks and get a stockpile of scrap metal as well as a plate to make a table and sit and put in 5-10 hours of practice welding. While I have a migpak 140 I have converted it back to flux core due to not having a tank for the mig gas... I think it will still do the job it'll just be a bit harder to learn due to the heat... at least that's from what I understand?

I have just completed the second 2 piece bracket for the passenger side... I squared everything up 100% so the charger is 100% lined up to the alternator and engine... I literally spent hours aligning things in the wee hours of the morning making sure I had the charger square to the engine. I KNOW with a properly flat metal plate for the final that the charger will already sit plumb to the engine but I wanted the pass side brackets to be at least as accurate as possible so I squared it up myself, shimmed it, laser leveled it, measured it and checked it with multiple levels. It doesn't help that the engine isn't sitting level/square on the stand, sadly.

I will update in a few minutes with more photos but I wanted to thank you guys first for the info you have given me already, its literally been a life saver.

-Chris-



-Sweetness-
-Turbocharged-
Slowly but surely may some day win this race...