thickness of aluminum plate

[twc1964]

Hi fellows, im preparing to buy some aluminum plate metal online for powdercoating pans to bake em on. How thick should the metal be? The pices will be about 12"×12" but they have numerous different thicknesses. Help please.

[cga]

Mine are .083'' and get a very slight bow after being heated. Works just fine. But I think 1/8'' to 3/16'' would be better.
Mine measure 10''x 12''.

[twc1964]

Ok bud, thx for the input. Guess i will just get 1/8" plate. Oughta do fine.

[Yodogsandman]

I'm in the minority but, I use 1/2" thick aluminum plate to steady my hand and prevent bobbling the boolits when moving them around. I drill the holes to accept the gas check shanks and they don't fall over. I drill two boolit shank sizes to the plate, one size on the top and another size on the bottom. If you were interested in only one size, a 1/4" thick plate would work fine.

[Smoke4320]

1/4" would be better . less chance of long term warping

[bangerjim]

I would go with 1/4". Good solid and should not warp or distort, even when loaded with tons of heavy boolits.

banger-j

[RP]

The word on the street is old street signs work great and can be picked up for free fiffy. Just have to look around for them that is not saying go take them off the poles. But if you know some one who works for the city or dmv they may help or the scrap yard.

[robertbank]

I have gone with old style oven cookie sheets cut in half and made ridgid by turning the cut sides up 1/4". I then rivet on shell casings to set my bullets on. The riveted cases add stiffness to the trays. They are thin enough to apply pop rivets through the primer pockets.

I get the trays from the local dollar store. The system seems to work. I'll post some pics of some fo the trays once I get them back from my friend who is cutting them for me. He is doing if for free so I have to wait until he has time to get them done.

Take Care

Bob

[twc1964]

Well, i will see what a local scrapyard has on hand. I found one not more than two miles from me. Tall fence hid it from view and the small signs didnt help ant either. We shall see. May find some lead products when im there.

[robertbank]

I paid $5.98+ tax for three square feet on aluminum roof flashing. I made about 1600 gas checks for abot $6.25. I am not sure I would drive very far to a scrapyard if there is a hardware store close by.

Take Care

Bob

[twc1964]

Well bob, new to me scrapyard id only a mile or two down the road. We go eat right past there often, so im not gonna waste much time. Every time i look at hardware store for aluminum thicker than paper thin stuff, its darn expensive. I dont want to psy 60.00 for the five sheets i need. Cant hurt to peruse the yard.ymmv

[edctexas]

If you use a thick plate tray you nee to see what is needed to mount it into the oven. The sign thickness aluminum just slip fits into the tray slots in my Black and Decker oven. The tray does not warp with over one hundred boolits on it. I found a stock of the sign blanks in a scrap dealer near where my son lives (Acme metals in Sanfold FL). They sell what they have by the pound. I tried 0.100 with rails added to slide into the oven but I only use it now for GC 30 cal boolits.

I like the idea of a drilled template to space the boolits on the baking tray. ESPC and remove the template to remove the excess powder. Then bake and repeat. I'll try this to see if it is faster. Picking up with tongs does work well but SLOWLY!

Ed C

[acrijos]

I'm in the minority but, I use 1/2" thick aluminum plate to steady my hand and prevent bobbling the boolits when moving them around. I drill the holes to accept the gas check shanks and they don't fall over. I drill two boolit shank sizes to the plate, one size on the top and another size on the bottom. If you were interested in only one size, a 1/4" thick plate would work fine.

+1, same here. Drill for 30 cal GC shanks on one side, and 7mm GC shanks in the other side.

[country gent]

If possible look for stress relieved aluminum plate and that will help stop the warping alot also.