Why not make the surface out of cast iron slabs about 5/8" thick and mate
the
aluminum to the back of it with 6 10-24 flathead socket heads. A bit of
Holomar or GE bathtub silicone is all you need between the aluminum and the
iron because the case bolts will supply several tons of sealing power. We
already cut through the inner and outer "O" rings to make a bridge ports and
seal the 1/16" strip of aluminum that is left with bathtube caulk. Haven't
lost one yet.
Lynn E Hanover
5/8th of an inch? Way too heavy Lynn? We are thinking .035 inches thick.
Paul Lamar
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Paul,..........Having been heavily involved in "Cast In Place" of dissimilar
metals I would like to throw in the following:
Casting to a .035 laminate is no easy task, and can produce a lot of scrap. The
process is condusive to unpredictable motion due to adhesion / cohesion. That
thin of a laminate (1/32") at that length, will be almost impossible to hold a
TIR throughout the surface span.....What I mean by this is the veneer will wind
up with hills and valleys that after Blanchering and Lapping the higher spots
could leave net thicknesses of foil size, that is IF you're lucky and don't
break through into the casting....
The other is that of minimum mass, that is your thinnest section (the high
spots after grinding) should have a net thickness, (Mass), to stand up
relatively stable to the rigors of the combustion temps......I would personally
start of with a MIN of 3/32 thk. laminate and TIR the surface at 1" quadrants
prior to Blanchering, touch the high spot, zero in the depth indicator and take
and record dialed in paths (cuts) until you clean up the surfaces you'll then
know what minimum thicknesses exist. This of course is for the initial
prototypes runs.....This procedure will dictate your rough laminate gauge.
The other item I want to mention is that of "Machining Points"......For
Blanchard/machining purposes. Will it be nested?......Held magnetically via
steel inserts casted in? Or bolted down via bosses in the casting?
I'm positive that the Boss (Sorry, don't know his name), is well aware of all
the above and quite possibly more, but it never hurts to repeat things when one
delves into non common techniques :)
Butch
OK Butch but it is really out of my hands. The foundry owner is confident
he can pull it off. .035 is my guess. He might go thicker. I am glad he
is fronting the R&D on this :) I gave him a mission and he accepted it :)
Paul Lamar
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