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-   -   2mm thick steel cutting? (http://www.haynes.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=5236)

rpjg1975 17th October 2010 11:23 PM

2mm thick steel cutting?
 
Hi guys,
Am I right in thinking I need to use a thin grinder disc to cut this or could I use a jigsaw?
Thought i'd ask before I make an almighty balls up!! :)

Cheers
Russ

Tatey 17th October 2010 11:42 PM

I used 1mm thick slitting discs (very thin grinding discs) they slice through 3mm thick steel like a knife through butter. I have used 5 discs to cut out all of my chassis plates and do a lot of other jobs.

May i ask what you are using the 2mm steel for?

rpjg1975 17th October 2010 11:44 PM

yeah, course. i've been given it to use for my floor panels

twinturbo 17th October 2010 11:50 PM

that's going to be heavy!

TT

rpjg1975 18th October 2010 12:20 AM

Will it be too heavy or can i get away with it? It's cost me nothing and i thought they aren't massive bits so wouldn't make too much difference?

HandyAndy 18th October 2010 12:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rpjg1975 (Post 47014)
Will it be too heavy or can i get away with it? It's cost me nothing and i thought they aren't massive bits so wouldn't make too much difference?

It,ll be fine for your floor, admittedly its heavier than an ali floor but if you don,t cover in the prop area that,ll save a bit of weight ;)

It was free....use it :cool:

ps... don,t do full welds all in one go, stagger the welding, to avoid heat distortion.

cheers
andy

extra info....Spuds Roadster has a steel floor, doesn,t slow that car down.

rpjg1975 18th October 2010 12:48 AM

Cool, all systems go again. Cheers

mr henderson 18th October 2010 07:33 AM

I'm told that welding on a steel floor can lead to corrosion problems, and I believe it's actually not allowed in locost racing because of this. I understand the corrosion is caused by there being 2 pieces of metal close to each other that you can't get at to apply rust preventative, and that the thin gap causes moisture to be drawn into it.

flyerncle 18th October 2010 11:57 PM

Jigsaw cuts it fine and cleaner and easier to control .

Dont quote me as I have not verified it but I am fairly sure the MSA blue book requires a steel floor for racing.

mr henderson 19th October 2010 07:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flyerncle (Post 47074)

Dont quote me as I have not verified it but I am fairly sure the MSA blue book requires a steel floor for racing.


You could well be right, but I have a feeling, I'm sure I read it somewhere, that such floor had to be rivetted on rather than welded. Obviously the rivetting would then allow sealer to be applied to the joint, thus preventing the rust problem

RAYLEE29 19th October 2010 04:42 PM

Weld thru primer applied to both pieces before welding, paint and seal after.
nearly every car on the road has spot welded floor pans sills etc
and then theres the problem of galvanic reactions when using ally floor rivetted to steel chassis.
after a period of time the ally floor could fall off as the rivets corrode and eventually disapeer
my floor is steel welded on as above
other people have rivetted ally floors and theyre fine too
if you have the steel weld it on im sure it will make an excellent floor and cost nothing.
many kit producers also weld in floors im sure theyre not all wrong
Ray:)

Locky 19th October 2010 05:20 PM

Also spray schultz (cavity wax stuff) gets into nooks and crannies to form a nice weatherproof seal which is used on the underside of cars as an anti corrosive.

mr henderson 19th October 2010 05:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RAYLEE29 (Post 47112)
Weld thru primer applied to both pieces before welding, paint and seal after.
nearly every car on the road has spot welded floor pans sills etc
and then theres the problem of galvanic reactions when using ally floor rivetted to steel chassis.
after a period of time the ally floor could fall off as the rivets corrode and eventually disapeer
my floor is steel welded on as above
other people have rivetted ally floors and theyre fine too
if you have the steel weld it on im sure it will make an excellent floor and cost nothing.
many kit producers also weld in floors im sure theyre not all wrong
Ray:)


I knew I'd read something about this somewhere, it was on the locostbuiders forum a while back-

Quote:

Originally Posted by procomp
Hi

The reason that you still rivet a STEEL floor on is because you will never get to protect in between the two areas when welding the sheet on. It is well known that the chassis with welded steel floors have the base of the chassis tubes rotting out after a few years. This is exactly why the 750mc recommend riveting the steel floors to the locost race cars. Especially after what was seen on some of the early cars.

If you are going to weld the floor on the ideal way is to cut the sheet so it sits inside the chassis so there is no overlap of the floor sheet and the chassis tube. This then requires the whole of the sheet to be seemed. Not really a good idea as it distorts the chassis quite badly.

Cheers Matt


spud69 19th October 2010 05:42 PM

Mines got a steel floor spot welded on now for over 2 years and its been fine, i did also have it all e-coated and powder coated afterwards which will have helped to seal it all to.

A spot weld every 2" has held in my 16 stone and took a lot of abuse and after checking each weld a couple of times since all have been well.

Tis your choice but if its free (and it doesn't weigh too much) then use it......AndyH

rpjg1975 19th October 2010 05:42 PM

Cheers for all the help and suggestions. Always good to hear everyone's point of view on things

Russ


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