So I went looking for some H beam in brass, and went to special shapes and got nothing. Just redirected to the K&S Metals page.
http://www.specialshapes.com/brassshapes.html
Any other sources for brass H beams?
Checked online metals, Mcmaster carr.
Running into dead ends.
I seem to recall that Special Shapes was sold to K&S. If so, they don’t seem to carry the full line.
Bummer. I send the sale dept an email about H beams. Hoping for good news. I have plan B available it just makes life a little bit more difficult.
Thanks Ray, Kind of bummed that it’s only in 1’ lengths.
I might just end up going with option B anyway as I’m going with option B for a lot of other parts, so one more additional part shouldn’t make a big difference. And option B might be cheaper than option A.
Craig,
Look thru here. I don’t know if they have what you want, but maybe.
John Bouck said:
Craig,
Look thru here. I don’t know if they have what you want, but maybe.
I looked at onlinemetals already. They don’t stock H beams.
Thanks Bruce, I had looked at Amazon and they showed,out of stock.
The more I ponder about the parts that need the H beam, option B might end up being better in the long run. More design up front, but easier assembly.
Craig Townsend said:
Thanks Bruce, I had looked at Amazon and they showed,out of stock.
The more I ponder about the parts that need the H beam, option B might end up being better in the long run. More design up front, but easier assembly.
I’m guessing the stock changes…it shows one left. What’s Option B? - or, better yet, just what are you trying to build?
Bruce D. Chandler said: What’s Option B? - or, better yet, just what are you trying to build?
That might help with an answer.
Bruce D. Chandler said:
What’s Option B? - or, better yet, just what are you trying to build?
Well technically right now I’m not building anything. It’s all a digital model so far. The CAD drawing is for sending eventually to an etching service to etch parts out of brass. I’ve been meaning to build this model out of brass for something like 6 years or so, and now I’m actually starting! At the rate I’m going with the CAD work, it will probably be just a year of CAD design alone.
I’ll give you this hint…
The more I think about it, making yet another etched assembly would probably be easier than trying to cut up a bunch of H beams.
Craig Townsend said:
At the rate I’m going with the CAD work, it will probably be just a year of CAD design alone.
Craig, I can totally relate, took me that long for design on my derrick project. You doing it all 2D, or making a 3D model?
Craig Townsend said:
The more I think about it, making yet another etched assembly would probably be easier than trying to cut up a bunch of H beams.
Probably, because you can control everything about the beam shape, and add in gussets / chock plates between the flanges and be confident of all the fits. It would be nice to have the beams pre-made, if they’re exactly what you want. But after all the time you’re putting into it, designing around a beam that’s not really the right size would be a bummer.
Cliff,
The initial design is 3D CAD then exporting the part drawings into a 2D drawing program to create a .vgr file to send to the etching service.
Did you open the link? Onshape has a really neat feature called “sheet metal model” this allowing you to make a 3D design and then “unfold” to a flat model. That’s exactly what we want to create a 2D .vgr file for the etching service.
Cool.
Ahh, didn’t see that before. Looks pretty interesting; a wing for a ballast spreader?
Cliff Jennings said:
Cool.
Ahh, didn’t see that before. Looks pretty interesting; a wing for a ballast spreader?
Pretty close. Here is the full model as of today. I should be better about designing one area to completion before moving on, but I’m more organic in drawing the parts that interest me that evening. Trying to make it brass so it can be strong enough to actually work. Once the model is a little closer to being done (and I figure out how to animate movement) I can start trying to find servos that can fit and make everything function. Still have to find some hidden space for weight.
Oooh, sweet!
So K&S emailed me back. H beams are definitely going out of stock, but they can do special orders of H beam if you order more than $100 worth. That said, the H beams are milled from bar stock. When said bar stock is gone, H beam production will also be gone as well.
So instead of trying to make these work, I think I will just stick with plan B of creating my own H beams. This way I can actually make half joints on some of the parts.
How do you plan to make them?
Ray Dunakin said:
How do you plan to make them?
It should be quite simple. Because it is multiple H beams welded together to form a frame, I’m going to create 3 layers of etch. Top and bottom flanges (all one single piece) and then the web plates. When the web plates are intercepted with another web plate, I make a lap half lap joint. Every thing will be tab and slot so it should just slide together and solder. We will see.
