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Hi all, been a long time since i posted on here. I have had a bit of spare time at work recently, and decided it might be fun to start another pack project. I sold all my gear 2 years ago to fund other things, but now i fancy just building another pack for the hell of it. Thing is, i want to make it out of aluminium as i have access to welding equipment, and tons of material to work with, and it wont cost me a thing, just a bit of spare time. Of course i wont be able to make the shell completely out of the ali, but most of it anyway. Has anyone tried this before? And if so is it worth the effort? I loved my old pack, but it was heavy and quite fragile. Will a pack shell made out of ali be much lighter than fiberglass?

Here are a few pics of the first part off the production line..






Let me know what you think.
Thanks
Mastersetter

There are two links to metal pack shell builds in the index thread. There's no way an all aluminum shell will be anywhere close to how lite fiberglass shells are today. Your average pack shell these days is in the 4-8 lb range. Still, this is a neat project, not many people have access to the tools required to attempt it.

That looks like a great start! I agree with Jack, the fiberglass shells now are light and strong, I have no fear of breaking my shell. BUT if you do keep going and make an entirely aluminum pack, it will be awesome! Mat has made one, I 'm sure there is a link somewhere. I'm curious at what the final weight will be.

SICK! Following...

REALLY looking forward to seeing this! These kinds of things come around once in a blue moon! To see a pack as it would "really" be in the GB Universe (made out of metal of some sort) is really awesome! Can't wait to see more!

Thanks for the replys, will see how we go! I will update any progress here when I can. My next part is the crank gen. Quite a bit of work in fabrication but should have something to show for next weekend hopefully.

Thanks

This is the start of the crank gen..



Took a while to get it to here. The round part will need cut down and slots put in so it can be welded from inside. Then the corners closed up & the ribs put on. Alot of work still to do in the coming week

This is stunning work!

Today's work.




The corner parts are just held in at the moment, will get them tacked in soon. Cosmetic strips next, what fun!

This will be pretty cool.

Once you're done, I'd cut out all the inside parts to make it lighter.

Sweet! Now my pack will have friends!!

Thanks guys. CPU, i've looked at your build thread alot, convinced me it's worth a try. A wee update tonight, i finished the gearbox assembly, but the fact that im relying on others for the welding nearly finished this build as one of the lads made a mess of it, luckily i managed to salvage it to point where im almost happy with it, it;s not 100% where i wanted it to be but it's not too bad..



Will finish up the strips when i can & hope to finish this bit off soon as it's been a pain to get right.

This build is looking good. What's your plan on joing the gun mount to the gearbox, screws and nuts or weld the sections together?

G, at the moment, im looking to weld these two as im trying to keep overall weight down. Will see when i have all the parts together and how they line up etc I built these two from 3mm sheet as that's what i have available here at work, i may use some thinner stuff for the rest of it though, is the smaller gauge sheet easier to work with?

OCP, are you a metal fab by trade? the cuts and fits are amazing! you have to be in the hot rodding trade?!

The thinner the aluminum, the harder it is to weld.

Been a while since any updates, had a nice holiday, now back to work and had a chance this week to finish up some parts.

Finally got the crank gen finished, put alot of time into this one. Turned out pretty good, it's a bit rough in places due to all the handling, but i think it adds a bit of character..





Also finished up the power cell box..





Made a start on my ion arm assembly, hope to get it finished up next week..




Thats about it for now, thanks for looking.
Michael

Such deja vu right now

Also, do you do any machine work over there?

Looking good Michael.
Did you weld the fins on to the gearbox?
I was thinking of trying to do that on my build from the inside out throught small holes that I would fill. But i'm worried it might not come out right.

Anyway looking good. Pete

Thanks fellas, cpu, we don't really do any machining but I do have access to a mill & a lathe if needed. All this must bring it back for you, I still check your thread for ideas We do have a lot cnc bending machinery too so that can come in handy but I do all my bending in a vice or on a manual sheet bender. Pete, I have only epoxied the strips in, I'm worried that they would warp badly due to the heat in the welding process and given the time it takes to mark these out, file & cut to size(as you know) I didn't want to risk it so they are just glued on, and it seems to hold them ok. Maybe try it on a bit of scrap and see?

Well even though it's..



Dam cold here, i managed to get the ion arm assembly complete, and found a nice piece in the scrap bin that will do for the end cap.




Will start on the eda & booster box next week & see how it goes..

Cool, I'm going around here looking for someone who would cut a v groove on a small piece of steel, without having to pay hundreds of dollars..

If you drill two holes about 1/4" in diameter in each strip, you should be able to plug weld the strips on from the outside. If you're feeling ambitious, it wouldn't hurt to try it out on a piece of scrap. You would only need two welds per strip and if you fill the hole right up, simply sand the weld flush and hit it with some emery cloth and it'll look like it was never there!

It's looking awesome so far!

Guys, time for an update. Been working away at this thing when i have time, have most of the top half finished and tacked together. The corner piece isnt finished, just set in for the snaps. Went with solid bar for the booster plug and ppd, and im happy how they turned out, esp the milled finish. Here are a few progress pics. It's not perfect by any means, but im happy enough so far. I will fill in the gaps and smooth out the edges with milliput, will leave that until im finished construction.










More to come in a few weeks, thanks for looking!

It's looking good.

Looks fantastic!

Those rounded corners are great. I'd say you've got the hard parts out of the way. The cyclotron should be a piece of cake.

Amazing update! This is going to be killer!

Do you know the weight so far?

Outstanding work!!

stunning!