Drop Flue Pan

[afretired]

Ready to weld the two halves together. Back gassing (purging) helps the inside of the welds.

Sugarmaker thanks for the info, I may need to talk with you in more detail a little later.

Big Eddy keep up the good ideas.

David

[Bernie/MA]

Has anyone used a pressbrake to build a flue pan? What kind of dies are required?

[jimbo752]

Id like to see the new thread, how do i find it?
Thanks

Great to see that my original post is helping others to make their own flue pans. You might be interested in the new thread I started that shows making a syrup pan using the same brake with a twist.

[Sugarmaker]

David,
That sure is starting to look good for the flues. Nice welding work! And I like the custom clamp design to hold the flue and the end plate.
Is the "box" inside allowing gas to be in the joint during welding?
Question? Are you going to design and build a drain into the bottom connecting all the flues and allowing it to exit through the side of the arch?
BTW my old custom Amish built King pans only have 10 flues of about the same size. Still boils pretty good!

Chris

[Sugarmaker]

jimbo,
http://mapletrader.com/community/showthread.php?t=10036
or look under homemade equipment on main page and look for 60 minute pan thread.
Chris

[Bucket Head]

David,

Nice job on the pan. People are not going to beleive you when you say its homemade. Have some in-process photo's in hand when your showing it, lol.

Steve

[afretired]

SugarMaker
I started welding the flues using a piece of aluminum tubing for a form/heat sink and I wasn't real happy with the back side of the welds. So I welded up the ends and drilled a series of small holes in the edge and added a small fitting to pipe argon into. The argon on the back side really cleared up the welds. As far a a drain, I have thought about it, but haven't came up with a easy way to do it. Do you have any ideas/pictures on how they are done on "real" pans?

Bucket Head
It's not a slick as the pictures show. Unless you are like my dad and about blind, they will believe it's home made. BTW you have some real good pictures on your site that will help me a lot. I hadn't ran across a good picture of a float valve, and you had just what I needed. thanks

David

[Bucket Head]

David,

I'm happy to hear my photo's are a help. Thats why we "homemade" guys post them. I found your photo's to be very interesting. Your photo's will help many folks when they attempt a pan. I liked the Vise-Grip flue holding tool- I wish I had that when I did my flues. I cut pieces of wood for spacers and clamped everything together. And yes, the wood was very charred by the end of the project. The wood smoke was worse than the welding smoke!

What gas and what diameter tungsten are you using? There are several "mixes" out there for stainless and every welding supply will recomend a different one. At least thats been my experience when it came to gas on the MIG with the stainless wire. A couple of weeks ago I purchased a TIG unit like yours so I was wondering how it was set up. Thanks.

Steve

[afretired]

Chris
I'm new to the TIG process, though I've had the machine for a few years. When I bought it I was needing a stick machine to weld old farm equipment, and I wanted the capability to TIG. My MIG (Miller 210) works great, but for rusty steel you need a stick machine. I figured when I needed the TIG, I would teach myself. Well that time has come. I'm using 1/16 tungsten and 100% argon gas, and -DC. I've had a hard time over the last few weeks learning how to TIG the thin stainless. As long as I have a heat sink I can get by, but without it, it's tough.

It looks like the stainless you used is thicker than what I used (22g). How did you bend it, and shear/cut it?

Well we have snow and freezing rain this morning, so I guess the sugar house will be put on hold and it's back to the flue pan.

David

[Big_Eddy]

Stainless TIG is 100% argon. MIG uses TriMix and other blends. For the thin stainless (20-24 gauge) a heat sink will help a lot. For a corner weld, get the tightest fitup you can and just fuse the 2 together, no filler. If you need filler for the inevitable hole or two, 0.024" MIG wire is the best option.

Weld a bit hot and move fast to try to avoid letting the heat build up - will reduce warping.

Welding with the joint vertical (downhill) will also help as you are moving away from the heat and chasing your puddle.

Backpurge to prevent sugaring.

Some guys make it an art - I'm not one of them. I did a lot of practice pieces before I started my pan.