opening up box section

[BrokenBiker]

i have a length of 25x25x3ish mm mild steel SHS that i want to use to make some brackets for my gazebo so i can bolt 2 of the legs to the house wall...

i was hoping that the tubes would fit inside the box but the tubes are too big so i came up with a new plan...grind one of the corners off the box until it just breaks through, then bend the box open enough to get a good fit on the tube, weld a plate to the back, holes in the plate, screw to the wall

the thing im worried about it when i open the box up, it will be (hopefully) bending on the opposite corner to the one i have removed, will this cause it to crack/split on the corner?

 

[Bill Edwards]

If you push it far enough then yes.
How much are you trying to gain? It's probably better to just buy something bigger, such as 30mm box.

 

[BrokenBiker]

If you push it far enough then yes.
How much are you trying to gain? It's probably better to just buy something bigger, such as 30mm box.

just noticed its 20mm x3mm box, internal is 14mm and i need an internal to give a slip fit on 18mm so it hasnt got to go too far really.

think its going to be a suck and see moment, im in the position now where i need the gazebo up to get out of the rain, but need a dry day in order to make the brackets required to keep the gazebo on the floor...might just wing it, build the gazebo and put weights on the legs then make brackets up

i have a fairly large supply of 4mm plate (cut form a gas bottle) so may end up bending some of that around one of the legs to get the right shape instead

 

[Bill Edwards]

I think I'd run a hot bead of weld down it to get it glowing nicely to bend it hot, box doesn't always seem to like being opened up far.

 

[colnerov]

Hi, Could you not use conduit saddles to secure the uprights to the wall? Screwfix have a pack of 10 for £1.44.

Colin

 

[BrokenBiker]

i could but as i havent actually spent anything on the gazebo i dont want to start buying things if i can use stuff in my scrap pile. if all else fails i may get some saddles though, i had thought about it earlier when i was cutting the gas bottle up until it started raining

 

[gaz1]

isnt gas bottle made out of 3mm not 4mm ?

if doing a wall bracket wouldnt it be best to use a wall plate and an L plate



or box section cut into 2 at the corners welded to a flat plate for the wall this would be x2 as you would also need to fasten above it to keep it in place

 

[BrokenBiker]

isnt gas bottle made out of 3mm not 4mm ?

if doing a wall bracket wouldnt it be best to use a wall plate and an L plate

View attachment 77129

or box section cut into 2 at the corners welded to a flat plate for the wall this would be x2 as you would also need to fasten above it to keep it in place

the bottles i have (both propane and butane) measure between 3.92 and 4.17mm on digi vernier...think i have decided on plastic consuit sadles now though, can get what i need for £1.50 and it saves so much faff when i really need this up and secure by tomorrow as i have got so much other work that needs to be done for paying customers and the weather isnt allowing me to do it

 

[skotl]

I had to do this last week - had 30mm square x 3mm and the channel I'd cut in it was just too small. I was surprised at a) how difficult it was to spread it and b) how keen it was to spring back to its original dimensions.
I didn't use heat, though, so hopefully that will help.

Good luck!

 

[BrokenBiker]

I had to do this last week - had 30mm square x 3mm and the channel I'd cut in it was just too small. I was surprised at a) how difficult it was to spread it and b) how keen it was to spring back to its original dimensions.
I didn't use heat, though, so hopefully that will help.

Good luck!

thanks for that, i was going to avoid bending it due to lack of motivation but after reading your post im not going to bother even attempting it to see what would happen, i would have to bend it cold too and really cant be bothered having to fight it

 

[Maker]

How long a piece were you planning on adjusting?
Could you cut along the flat faces of the box to get 4 small pieces of angle, then lay them on the internal piece and weld them back together with some 4 mm scraps (Or even just big tacks if the gap is small)?

 

[BrokenBiker]

How long a piece were you planning on adjusting?
Could you cut along the flat faces of the box to get 4 small pieces of angle, then lay them on the internal piece and weld them back together with some 4 mm scraps (Or even just big tacks if the gap is small)?

i wanted to have 4 brackets, 30mm length but the gazebo it up now and due to it not being the size that was advertised i have had to alter it a bit and need to think of a way to lift it about 40cm from the floor so wont be bolting to the walls any more, but it will still be plenty strong enough. there were some pretty strong winds shortly after i got it up and was trying to get guy lines on it and it seems fairly planted at the moment. once ive screwed it down to the floor it should be better and instead of hooking the cover to the feet as sugested in the instructions i will be hooking it to brakcets on the floor so essentially the cover will be holing the frame down, and the frame will be holding the cover up if you see what i mean