metricmonkeywrench
03-20-2022, 09:21 PM
Luckily scored an old plumbers smelting tank last fall for free. I got the valve open and let it set for a few months. Last weekend I spent an hour or so trying to get the weird large flange valve assy off and finally gave up and moved to splitting the tank.
I selected to cut just above the weld thinking the weld will aid in giving me a nice sturdy upper ring other than the plain metal edge. Being just a general maintenance kind of guy my choice of tools is somewhat limited. I started out with a hacksaw and over the next few days here and there I hacked away as long as my arm, shoulder and will would hold out. Finally success was achieved and the incredibly thick wall was penetrated for about 3 inches. I then was able to switch to a jigsaw. I was able to cut the length of the hacksaw groove before the only metal blade burnt out.. darn the tank wall is thick must be at least 1/8 in thick, must be because it’s a plumbers pot bottle and made more durable.
A stop at the local hardware store provided a resupply of metal jigsaw blades and some cutting wheels for the 4in grinder. Note to self, the big box stores only seem to sell the “t” type quick change jigsaw blades, the old screw clamp style seems to have been put out to pasture. The new jigsaw blade slowly cut about another 3 in further and started to smoke. Aargh.. so far with no signs of flames or explosions with the jigsaw the decision was made to go with the grinder and cut off wheel. Seemed simple enough but the HF grinder seemed to be missing the spacer to allow the cut off wheel to clear the safety guard/shield. A suitable washer of proper dimensions was located and I was again underway.
At first I used the cutoff wheel to score deeply around the tank and again tried the jigsaw but abandoned that as it wouldn’t track well in the score line. Back to the grinder which finally cracked the egg apart reviling, yep you guessed it, I was cutting at the point where the upper and lower halves of the tank overlapped for the seam weld. I put the grinding wheel back on, dressed the sharp edges a bit, wiped out the tank goo and metal shavings and tossed in some questionable unknown lead for the inaugural run.
Definitely holds a wee bit more than the little Dutch oven and fits my burner quite well.
297963
I selected to cut just above the weld thinking the weld will aid in giving me a nice sturdy upper ring other than the plain metal edge. Being just a general maintenance kind of guy my choice of tools is somewhat limited. I started out with a hacksaw and over the next few days here and there I hacked away as long as my arm, shoulder and will would hold out. Finally success was achieved and the incredibly thick wall was penetrated for about 3 inches. I then was able to switch to a jigsaw. I was able to cut the length of the hacksaw groove before the only metal blade burnt out.. darn the tank wall is thick must be at least 1/8 in thick, must be because it’s a plumbers pot bottle and made more durable.
A stop at the local hardware store provided a resupply of metal jigsaw blades and some cutting wheels for the 4in grinder. Note to self, the big box stores only seem to sell the “t” type quick change jigsaw blades, the old screw clamp style seems to have been put out to pasture. The new jigsaw blade slowly cut about another 3 in further and started to smoke. Aargh.. so far with no signs of flames or explosions with the jigsaw the decision was made to go with the grinder and cut off wheel. Seemed simple enough but the HF grinder seemed to be missing the spacer to allow the cut off wheel to clear the safety guard/shield. A suitable washer of proper dimensions was located and I was again underway.
At first I used the cutoff wheel to score deeply around the tank and again tried the jigsaw but abandoned that as it wouldn’t track well in the score line. Back to the grinder which finally cracked the egg apart reviling, yep you guessed it, I was cutting at the point where the upper and lower halves of the tank overlapped for the seam weld. I put the grinding wheel back on, dressed the sharp edges a bit, wiped out the tank goo and metal shavings and tossed in some questionable unknown lead for the inaugural run.
Definitely holds a wee bit more than the little Dutch oven and fits my burner quite well.
297963