WMD Part I by G-gnome

The Main Cylinder - 2

The main cylinder was starting to take shape. The cut-outs would have to stay in until the flanges were welded on.



You can see the slight flattening of areas where the rollers weren't able to grip as much material - underneath and either side of the reservoir opening. This left small gaps that required the sheet to be hammered into shape along the inside of the flange. The final weld runs around the underside of the flanges. This means nice, clean joins on the visible parts of the case, as you can see in the pics at the beginning of this article.



Once I got the cylinder home and removed the openings, it took some stuffing about to get it to a position in which I could use my drill-press to drill out the pilot-holes in the flanges. I'm hanging out to get a huge, floor-mounted, pedestal drill-press instead of my budget benchtop model. Despite using cobalt drill bits and drilling compound, I still managed to wear out quite a few drill bits to the point where they simply wouldn't drill! Numerous trips to the hardware store for fresh bits prompted me to put in my order with Mrs Gnome for a Drill Doctor (drill bit sharpener) for Christmas.

Stainless steel is an incredibly tough material and when you drill it you really have to 'get into it' and attack it, keeping the drill bit moving at all times - you want to avoid the drill 'binding' and coming to a stop. What happens is the heat from drilling tempers the steel and it becomes 'work hardened'. If this occurs and you've not quite drilled all the way through, well, you get a blunt drill bit and won't go anywhere. The clue is, if small chips of metal are coming off constantly, you know you are ok, your bit is still sharp and you are making progress. Once the chips stop, your bit is blunt and you need a sharp one again. If you keep going after the chips stop, you'll only wear the end off your drill and heat-temper the steel even more (not to mention discolour it from the heat).



I knocked up a jig out of 4x2, some long bolts and wing-nuts, to be a home for the cylinder while I worked on it. I have a plan for the case for later, to prevent it rolling away at the next LAN event, but that's for another article.



Beep...beep...beep...KABOOM!!!1111ONE