Topic: Building a Tank or at least thinking about it.

[Flying J]

I was thinking about building a tank so i thought id give it a shot. I just started by doing half of a tank for practice sake and I didnt have enough sheet metal to build a full one. Anybody have experience with this and want to give a little advice? I already know i need to work on my welding. Its hard not to burn through on such thin gauge.

[Kong]

I have no advice to give, but I'm interested in your project.  I've taken a lot of dents out of tanks and I've patched a good number of holes in them too, but I've never built one.  I did, however, talk myself out of using the tank of the shape I wanted just because it was too narrow to mount as far forward as I wanted and even though I sort of wanted to I could not bring myself to cut it in half and widen it by an inch. 

You've reawakened the desire in me to do it.

So, what thickness metal are you using and how are you keeping it cool as you go or are you just tacking and tacking and tacking while jumping around all over the place, and then coming back and grinding it all nice later (the only way I can produce a passably pretty weld).

[Syscrush]

No advice, but I wish you good luck, and offer some encouragement.

I'll be watching with interest...

[Flying J]

not sure of the gauge. It was just scrap that i picked up. Im going to guess 16 or 18.  I tacked it every inch or so till i had it where i wanted and then ran a bead. I need to work on my thin gauge tecnique as i burnt trough a few times and had a few pin holes i could see. These are the videos that got me thinking so i gave it a shot. Now i need to get some more metal.
Check out all his videos on youtube.

[Syscrush]

I'm no welder, but for thin gauge like that, I think you really need to stitch weld rather than try to run a continuous bead.

[flybox1]

go check out nokromes bike/tank mod on the BOTM thread.
he did a great job stretching his tank.

[Raef]

what shape are you looking to make? what would you like to know.

your wire welder flux core or use gas?

after tacking it in place you will need to stitch weld about every 1/2 or so. building something like a tank I would not be to concerned with heat just letting it cool back to color. the heat makes the metal flow better allowing you to use less wire feed speed. wire feed setting also slightly controls the heat

remember the metal will chase the heat I get a better result with a wire welder pushing the weld seems to lay down better.

building the tank form steel, much of the fine tuning will need to be done with the ad of some heat to make it more workable, the more it is bent and hammered the harder it gets. Steel has memory, wanting to some degree to return to its heat treated shape, adding some heat will remove some temper ( heat to brown or just turning blue).

[Flying J]

The tank i would like to build is this one.

I was just doing one side of a tank to see what issues i would run into. Im using a 220 mig welder .023 wire. Im thinking i might wait till i get an english wheel to do the full tank. I might make the tank a little nicer to have a little arch in the top. As for advice just looking for somebody who has done it before and might be willing to explain the process or atleast tel me if im on the right track.

[Raef]

I don't know how far back in my thread you went I have built this tank from scratch still haven't put the bottom in it, but I'm getting close

[Raef]

that tank to this point has been built with
a throat less shear to cut the metal
a harbor freight plashing hammer
a 100 dollar bench top English wheel
all welding has been done with a oxy acetylene torch

[Flying J]

What ar you using to shape the metal? Hammer and dollie type stuff? How close are the seams before you weld them? Mine were not perfectly straight so there were gaps, and thats where i got burn through. What gauge are you using?
thanks you beat me to the questions.

[Raef]

18 ga cold roll steel

start at the beginning of my build it only been about about a month so it not long. The tank  bottom in the build will not be used.

start by cutting a rough shape, heat the metal to take out the temper, to about blue, let it cool as slowly as passable

I use a wood box full of sand us a heavy object with no sharp edges and beat the tar out it, beat it full of knots.

for less than $200 you can get a harbor freight planishing hammer and stand, it works very well and if you are not afraid to us some bondo to smooth it out it will get it good enough.

as far as the edges, the method I us hanging body panels is the same way I mated the tank panels. Take the two panels you want to joint, over lap them slightly tack them together then us a die grinder with a thin slicer blade and cut through the edges of both pieces and you have a perfectly mated edge.

mark

[Flying J]

Genius!

[hotrodmetallica]

Aluminum will be much easier to work with. .050, or .063 thickness is sufficient. Tig weld, or oxy-acetylene welding will work.

Steel is good. 16 or 18 gage. I would tig weld it.

When you weld, tack it first. 1/2" spacing. I wouldn't weld in one swipe either. Alternate where you weld to avoid too much heat build up. Metal always changes shape when heat is added.

Remember not to hard-mount your tank. It will develop cracks over time from vibration if you do. Use a rubber mount similar to the stock tank. 

Pressure test your tank, if you are not confident in your welding skills. You could use a sealer as well.

You do not need an english wheel for the type of tank you have pictured. It doesn't look like it has a lot of shape to it. You could always use a hammerform to achieve this, unless you have skills with a hammer/dolly. A planishing hammer would come in handy.

I wish you luck on your project.

[754]

 What you really need now, and you can easily build yourself ;
 T dollies
 Slapper hammer

 Both are easy to make, and will do your curved edges nicely..

[Flying J]

I made this when i built the tank half. I guess i could build a slap hammer to.

[754]

That is a t dolly, you should get a proper radius on the end, and it should be very smooth.. You may want a longer one in samr diameter.
 The slapper tool, easy to make out of wood, cover the striking face with thick leather, a belt blank from leather store works well..

[Raef]

While I generally agree with what Hodrod says about heat distorting metal. but it is sometime required to normalize or anneal hardened steel. heat can be used to stretch or shrink metal (Steel)

A wire welder is a balancing act between heat and material feed, anyone can stick 2 pieces together but it is a challenge to find the combination of travel speed, penetration and appearance


on the Dollie you made if it were to be heated to just 150 or 200 degrees before you weld it you would find the weld would lay down much nicer, it is hard to get enough heat into that much mass with .023 wire. not that it matters on something like a dolly, just an example.

It is an art, the only way to truly learn, is to do and the only path is patience.

 the biggest complement ever paid to a craftsman; "that looks easy, I want to try that" (I could do that).

Mark