Hi, i have 400mm diameter uhmw tube that i want to form on the ends for a new project
I want to remove the top half of the tube for the last 6 foot and gradually form the remaing half towards a flat sheet for the last 6 inches.
Ill do it under heat, but it would be good to have a moulding to use to form it.
Any ideas on getting the mould made?
Thanks
Bernie
Hi Bernie, and welcome to the forum.
Fist off it'd be nice if you could whip up a print of what you have in mind.
My first thought on this is that you're going to have a pretty large piece to handle. Your mold will be about 25" wide at the flat end and over 6 foot long. I don't know how heavy a wall this tube you're forming is, but my first thought is to run this by a sheet metal fabricator. Somebody with roll forming equipment... If you make your forming gadget out of sheet metal it'll be relatively cheap and light.
Lay a piece of heavy paper/ cardboard on the floor that is half the I.D. of your tube circumference wide x 6 foot long. This is half of your tube I.D. layed out flat. Then tape one end down for 6" or lay a weight on it etc. Then grab the edges at the other end and roll it up to a half circle shape. Tape that rolled end across the roll and Voila!! you have a pattern for the sheet metal shop to duplicate. The rolled end won't be square at the end so you'll need to cut an arc at that rolled end to match up to the pilot tube that'll go into the piece you're going to form. Or roll that end a little smaller diameter and then cut the rolled end off square back to where it is "size."
Get it?
You might need to staple some 5-1/2 foot long strips of wood down each edge of the paper to maintain a true gradual step down from round to flat?
Then have a shop roll a sheet of steel to suit?
Good Luck,
Bob
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