Where to buy ally sheet for welding??

[mark williams]

iv got a job of making a battery box for a race car, could do with a sheet approx. 1M sq to make the box from, looking at about 2-3mm. any one have good contacts, also what spec would be best??

 

[bigbadbugga]

eBay for that size piece.

 

[chevy2]

Maybe do a bit of homework and contact a few local sheet metal shops,
hopefully you'll find one that doesn't bite that'll sell you whats needed,

Even better, get them to fold it if you dont have the equipment.

 

[mark williams]

what spec would you use chevy??

 

[chevy2]

what spec would you use chevy??

I'll admit i'm no expert on sheet ali grades,
also depends on whether it needs folding as some grades crack when folded,

I reckon Hotrodder's your man to recommend a grade.

 

[hotrodder]

Price for 1 x 1m piece on the bay is typically at least the same, usually more, than a full 2 x 1m sheet with plastic/laserguard protection from a stockholder...
If you don't have the means of transporting a 2 x 1 or bigger sheet then as Chevy i'd try a few local fabricators first. If you've got any local laser/water cutting shops in the area try them too

Any old flavour of ally will do the job, as said some of the stronger flavours like the 6xxx series will crack if folded on too tight a radius* unless locally annealed first but it's a relatively rare flavour as sheet. 1050 & 5251 are the two most common suspects along with (decent stockholder only usually) some other 5xxx series and 3103. If it's for a small race battery 2mm 1050-h14 is more than good enough and is what i typically use, if i had some 1.5mm 5251-h22 kicking about i'd use that instead. In either case the flat sides would be stiffened up with some swaged holes or bead roller work, especially for larger batteries

* http://www.luminum.com/data/dbendrad.html yeah it's American so some of the alloys are slightly different, for 6061 just read any 6xxx series etc

 

[piman]

Hello Mark,

just to add to the above, my local stockholder will cut full sheets in half for transport if you need to? Always worth asking?

Alec

 

[langy]

What battery do you intend to use, I get aluminium battery boxes from the states so cheap it's not worth making them !!!

 

[mark williams]

Thirty quid I'm doing it for as it's a good mate. He said that's what it would cost to buy one. And g like making stuff ha ha

 

[normspanners]

lester fabrications buckley
Spencer Industrial Estate, Liverpool Rd, Buckley CH7 3LY
01244 546486 they will do folding too.

 

[mark williams]

Price for 1 x 1m piece on the bay is typically at least the same, usually more, than a full 2 x 1m sheet with plastic/laserguard protection from a stockholder...
If you don't have the means of transporting a 2 x 1 or bigger sheet then as Chevy i'd try a few local fabricators first. If you've got any local laser/water cutting shops in the area try them too

Any old flavour of ally will do the job, as said some of the stronger flavours like the 6xxx series will crack if folded on too tight a radius* unless locally annealed first but it's a relatively rare flavour as sheet. 1050 & 5251 are the two most common suspects along with (decent stockholder only usually) some other 5xxx series and 3103. If it's for a small race battery 2mm 1050-h14 is more than good enough and is what i typically use, if i had some 1.5mm 5251-h22 kicking about i'd use that instead. In either case the flat sides would be stiffened up with some swaged holes or bead roller work, especially for larger batteries

* http://www.luminum.com/data/dbendrad.html yeah it's American so some of the alloys are slightly different, for 6061 just read any 6xxx series etc

Your bang on there. Just ordered a sheet of 2mm 1050 35quid!

 

[mark williams]

cheers norm!!