Esmedune Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 Hi All, I want to convert a car flat to one with a mesh cover on it, and I have sourced the mesh, but for the life of me, I cannot work out what to google for to find metal strips to act as the frame. I can see sheets of metal, but I'd rather have pre-cut strips or even 90 degree angled formed strips for added strength, but no matter what I google or search for on eBay, I get nothing back, what am I missing here, I have seen them in the past along with tubes/pipes and squared tubes, and I know you can get them in styrene, but no matter what I look for... nowt! I also want to build a 20T well wagon too, and I need I Bars and girders. What am I doing wrong here? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted July 26, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 26, 2021 Try Eileens Emporium for starters. https://www.eileensemporium.com/index.php?option=com_hikashop&ctrl=category&task=listing&cid=1070&name=c-half-tube&Itemid=189 You're looking for Brass Angle or 'H' section or 'C' section. Plenty of suppliers out there, personally I use Phil at Hobby Holidays https://www.hobbyholidays.co.uk/categories.php?cat=35 A very helpful chap 1 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamsRadial Posted July 26, 2021 Share Posted July 26, 2021 I've chopped up old umbrellas in the past for the metal sections, and you can often find useful bits in old car wiper-blades. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold chris p bacon Posted July 26, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 26, 2021 2 hours ago, AdamsRadial said: and you can often find useful bits in old car wiper-blades. Surely it's hard soldering the rubber....... 1 6 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted July 27, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 27, 2021 I sometimes use sheet tin from corned beef tins. You can normally cut it with a good pair of scissors. A soup tin has corrugations, with a clear 20mm-odd section top & bottom. I've used them for shimming up before now. Problems can be solved if the user regards an item as an 'asset'. One example was a fridge, delivered a few months ago. Apart from the foam packing, the wooden slats were all 19x19mm, and about 750mm long. I haven't used them yet, but I know it's 'in stock'.... 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold tomparryharry Posted July 27, 2021 RMweb Gold Share Posted July 27, 2021 7 hours ago, chris p bacon said: Surely it's hard soldering the rubber....... I tried to work in a joke about rubber, Vulcans, and Star Trek..... 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Esmedune Posted July 27, 2021 Author Share Posted July 27, 2021 11 hours ago, AdamsRadial said: I've chopped up old umbrellas in the past for the metal sections, and you can often find useful bits in old car wiper-blades. It finally dawned on me which bits if the wiper you were on about, and it doesn't seem as bonkers, but aren't they a bit springy? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamsRadial Posted July 27, 2021 Share Posted July 27, 2021 12 hours ago, Esmedune said: but aren't they a bit springy? Yes, they're not ideal for everything. You can sometimes heat-treat them to remove a lot of the spring by quenching them in a saline solution. Like TomParryHarry I try to make a virtue of re-using as much as I can of what is usually regarded as mere packaging. I'm a vegetarian myself but since my partner isn't and does like corned beef I try to persuade her to live of it because the tin cans it comes in are nice and flat and solder easily. 3 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium SR71 Posted August 8, 2021 RMweb Premium Share Posted August 8, 2021 Albion Alloys supply miniature metal sections as well as K&S (think the latter is right, they are American so less common here). Looking through their catalogues should give you the search terms you need. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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