Drop flue pan

[tonka]

I would like to make myself a drop flue pan this summer for 2015 season. To those who have attempted and succeeded, any advice will be greatly appreciated. I would like to use 18ga steel but not quite sure what to use to do the bending, not sure if a regular sheet metal break will work when forming the flues or if i will have to custom make a break. The pan would have 6" drop flues that are 2" wide and 2" between flues. The pan will be 4' wide by 6' long. I plan on talking with the local welder and see what he thinks, would be nice to hear what other have done and would have done different when they built their flue pan. Thanks in advance!

[Big_Eddy]

6' of 18ga is going to take some force to bend. You will need a very stout brake and probably would benefit from mechanical assistance.

2" wide flues will be easier to form than 1", but most commercial brakes still can't create a 2" wide by 6" deep flue. I expect you will need to custom design a brake.

Some folks just weld each flue seam. I'm better at designing and bending than I am at welding thin stainles so I formed my flues as 1 piece and just welded in the ends.

[tonka]

After doing some figuring and talking with the local welder figuring it would cost more to custom make a break to bend the steel to make the flues so I will end up ordering the steel in the shape of an "L" and I will be welding each one together(looks like I will need to order a tig welder :) ). Instead of having 6 inch flues they will be 8 inch flues to help increase boiling rate and since I will be welding each one might as well go the extra step further and go with 8 inch flues. With 8" drop flues, how high should the walls be on the pan to prevent boiling over?

[kiteflyingeek]

I have a Smoky Lake Maple 2x4 drop flue pan with 10 7" flues. The sides are 14" tall and I still have sap jumping over the sides. But, I think my arch needs some work -- namely the ramp should have gone further back to meet up with the flue pan.

Hpe that helps.

--andrew

[tonka]

It dose, I was planning having only 12" walls with the top 3-4" bent towards the center of the pan to prevent splashing over but from the way it sounds, you want double of what your flues are deep. Thanks!