depth of cutting tray?

[deere_x475guy]

Hi gang, I am getting ready to make a pan for under my cutting tray. Just trying to decide on deep it should be to keep the sparks from bouncing back up. Any suggestions out there. Here is a pic of what I am trying to build the tray for.

Thanks
Bob

[Sberry]

I need to upgrade my benches too, some ideas are good. Mine started out as one thing and just were added too dozens of times. I blow the fire off the end of one bench most of the time and into a steel 5 gallon bucket that also acts as a scrap container for bits. It actually does work quite well. It hangs on a bracket and can be dumped once in a while in the large scrap bin. Makes a great point of use container. Make yours tapered like a chute into a holding can. We do lots of repairs so there are hundreds of scrap bolts and little bits of junk.

[cope]

Aaron, why not have a sheet of thin steel at a 45 degree angle, going down from bench to out side edge. that would push everything away from the bench and down to the floor. What brand vise is that? It looks familiar.

[deere_x475guy]

HAHA...Hi cope....I know Aaron and I are both in MI...but he is alot younger than I am...lol...thank you.. When I built the bench last winter I designed it so that I could put in a catch tray for everything cut. I am trying to keep as much off the floor as possible.

Thanks guys...

Bob

[deere_x475guy]

I guess I should have added that its for cutting with the plasma cutter. Most of time I have a flat sheet of steel laying across those grates and cut so that everything is falling on the place where I keep my scrap pieces below the table.

[Wood-N Steel]

Spark arresting pan

If you make the pan watertight and add 2-3”of water you can get away with a very shallow pan. ( hard to clean when it’s frozen)

[cope]

Originally posted by deere_x475guy
HAHA...Hi cope....I know Aaron and I are both in MI...but he is alot younger than I am...lol...thank you.. When I built the bench last winter I designed it so that I could put in a catch tray for everything cut. I am trying to keep as much off the floor as possible.

Thanks guys...

Bob

Sorry, Bob Guess the first consideration on size is how much cutting you plan to do at one session so you don't have to constantly dump the tray.

[Sberry]

The deeper the box the better it will work. Leave a couple inches of space between the box and grate so hot air from the process doesnt tend to blastback up under the sheet so much. Would make for better opertater appeal. As was suggested plate on an angle would keep debris from bouncing straight back also. I like your grates and would tend to invision straight sides with a slanted floor towards the center into a metal bucket mounted underneath. I can see some attatchments for grinding there too so los of debris for that ends up in there also. I am going to design a couple new benches this winter. This gives some new ideas for containing lots of mess.

[Scott V]

Bob,you didn't answer the most important question,what type vice?I have a Morgan that looks kind of close.Also how about the table slats do they remove?

[cope]

Originally posted by Scott V
Bob,you didn't answer the most important question,what type vice?I have a Morgan that looks kind of close.Also how about the table slats do they remove?

Thanks for noticing Scott! I figured Bob was chapped at me for calling him Aaron. I';; prrobably get hate mail from Aaron too.

[Guest]

Having done research by trial and error I found a design that works well. I my cutting table, I made simple box with straight sides. Angled sides are a nightmare to build, and I guess I'm just too impatient. The depth as I remember, is about 12 to 14 inches. The foot print as you see here is 23" x 23" ( I built it to the size of the grate I had.) A door at the bottom to pull out the tray inside for cleaning. The material is .050" 304SS

[deere_x475guy]

Originally posted by Scott V
Bob,you didn't answer the most important question,what type vice?I have a Morgan that looks kind of close.Also how about the table slats do they remove?

Hi Scott, Your right sorry..I got it at an auction 20 years ago. It was very old then. It say's "Chas Parker Co., Meriden, CT.". I need to do something with the jaws someday. They are pretty worn out and dangerous to use if your not careful. I should take them out and get them over to Will's to see if we can come up with a way to resurface them.

Guy's...not sure if I am going to be able to get to all the posts on this today or not. My cable connection has been very flaky for the last few days. SBC is due out tomorrow to fix it......LOL...yea right.


Have fun all
Bob

[deere_x475guy]

Originally posted by cope


Thanks for noticing Scott! I figured Bob was chapped at me for calling him Aaron. I';; prrobably get hate mail from Aaron too.

LOL Cope....Aaron is 20 years younger than me.....so noooo...I don't mind. Not sure what Aaron is thinking....haha..

Bob

[deere_x475guy]

Originally posted by Sberry27
The deeper the box the better it will work. Leave a couple inches of space between the box and grate so hot air from the process doesnt tend to blastback up under the sheet so much. Would make for better opertater appeal. As was suggested plate on an angle would keep debris from bouncing straight back also. I like your grates and would tend to invision straight sides with a slanted floor towards the center into a metal bucket mounted underneath. I can see some attatchments for grinding there too so los of debris for that ends up in there also. I am going to design a couple new benches this winter. This gives some new ideas for containing lots of mess.

Hi Sberry, the grates remove as a unit. I think you an Rocky are right. The deeper the better. I will go with 12" for depth. The table was designed so that I could take the grates out and remove the catch pan for cleaning. I just haven't gotten around to making the catch pan yet. Some where on the board I posted plans for this. Probably find them by doing a search.

Have a great day
Bob

[deere_x475guy]

Re: Spark arresting pan

Originally posted by Wood-N Steel
If you make the pan watertight and add 2-3”of water you can get away with a very shallow pan. ( hard to clean when it’s frozen)

Hi wood and steel. the water would be fine. My garage doesn't actually get cold enough to freeze. It's pretty well insulated. In the next couple of months I am going to put in a natural gas furnance hanging from the ceiling. Will, Aaron and I will be nice and warm next winter....

Bob