60 --> 80mm Fan Adapter Question

[w9design]

Perhaps it's more accurately described as the Ghetto Fan Adapter: this little beast is made entirely out of cardboard w/ aluminum reinforcements. I'll post pictures as soon as I can find my digital camera.

I tried to make it out of aluminum but the sheetmetal I had was too thin (thin enough to be cut by kitchen scissors).
I'll try to upload some photos, but basically I drew the design all out on the cardboard, cut it out, and glued it all together. It's 1 1/4" high, and it seems to work admirably with my Panaflo 80mm & Hedgehog.

My question is: What's the easiest way to work with aluminum sheetmetal so as to bend it all together to make an all-metal version of this? How can I get sharper corners (last attempt was decidedly 'lumpy') and, more importantly, how can I get the whole thing to stay together when folded? Money is an object. If it will cost me >$20 it ain't worth it.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[Mykex]

I made a few little ducts for some odd SS7 adventures in the past. What I found as a nice source of sheet metal was beer cans,for your idea I would suggest a Fosters oil can. I used what ever I could find to cut it to shape but I found my favorite tool in a pair of poultry sheers.Just be carefull everything involved is sharp. As for holding it to shape after you trim it up I just did a neat as posible tape job but you could try epoxy?

 

[ericd]

For the duct that I made on Tuesday I cut the aluminum with scissors. I used the aluminum stuff they use the make valley's in roofing.....flashing I think it's called. I got a 10 foot roll of the stuff for like $5 at Home Depot. To make the bends I used a long pair of needlenose....line the edge of the needlenose pliers up with the line to be folded along and twist, perfect bend. While it is true that parts of it would have been easier with thicker metal I believe that overall the thin stuff is easier to work with. I have the screws that would hold the fan on going through tabs that I made off of the bottom of the shroud. I used 1 inch plastic spacers (like 50 cents for 2 of them at Home Depot) that are nearly the exact same height as a fan to make up the difference in the screws since I didn't want to cut them.


Eric


Hmmmm......something just occured to me......plexiglass shroud...this definitely has possibilities.....damn Home Depot is closed.....why doesn't Walgreens have plexiglass....I think I used the "." key more than any other key in this post.....damn I need sleep

 

[w9design]

I've been experimenting, and it seems you can get some really clean angles by simply scoring the aluminum fairly deeply, and you can assemble it by making tabs that just fit over the screw holes.... Hard to explain, but.....