Now, I do a lot of thinking and planning regarding some stuff I do, sometimes too much...simple is usually best in the beginning and almost always later.
I noticed end caps for NACRA boats and some others are quite spendy, if you can find them. I was looking and gave it up...
Then I found a piece of card board tube someone used to send something to me and wondered if the following to make a mold.
If it is the same OD as the beam? Yes...if so exactly and that includes the wall thickness, then
Why not carefully cut an inch or half-inch off the tube, the original end should be perfect...you can also remove inch to half inch of same dia and wall metal beam.
Seal one end with foil and decent glue so the closed end is flat and sealed...
Wrap masking or duct tape completely around the opposite end, say .25 to .5 inch above end, which creates a lip between the ID and OD of the tube...
Brush on a lot of Johnson's wax (happen to have old tin) as a releaser (you can heat to liquid)...
Maybe drop a circular piece of scrap fiberglass in, so it rests flat on the closed end...
Mix a batch of old epoxy and pour into the thing to the height over the tube edge for the desired lip...
Cure and voila! An end-cap that will fit...
And you can make as many as you want.
A bungee will hold them in, if need be...and the fit can be hand-filed to accommodate a given extrusion...
I have not tried it, too cold here, but soon...
A plan?
Edited by BobBill on Jan 20, 2015 - 03:40 PM.
There've been a lot of ideas put forth before but I really think 3D printing is the way to go in making new endcaps. We just need someone to scan/plot/create their caps in a computer format and churn them out as needed. Just imagine, any color you want.
J
With star board, scroll saw and a router it is not hard to make a set. As long as you don't mind them being white.
http://www.thebeachcats.com/gallery2/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=79113&g2_serialNumber= 3">
Doesn't get any simpler or cheaper than this!
That looks great. Exactly what am I seeing here? Is that a PVC pipe cap that's been machined down, or is it two pieces?
Edited by gahamby on Jan 21, 2015 - 09:23 AM.
It is a schedule 40.....3" pvc pipe cap with a 3/4" piece of schedule 40 pvc glued and screwed to it. I had a post several years ago detailing the construction. Used a lot of epoxy butter and thin screws....kind of touchy...you don't want to drill through the cap. Most caps have a line to follow for cutting as a result of the moulding process. After 5yrs of use they were still good when I sold it. Check out my personal photos album also.
I took nacraman57 idea and changed it up a bit, I started with a 3" pvc pipe end cap, cut it down to 1" or so, ran it through a router table and made a 1 piece cap similar to the caps nacraman57 made.
there are more photos in the tech tips photos albums under N5.2 CAPS
http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures?g2_itemId=108920
They fit very well bit I still put a few 1/2" #6 ss screws in so they don't come out.
ohmsj
Much thanks. Weather here is in single digits but about to break...will be experimenting to find simplest. I have to order a piece of T6 tube and likely will add one 1" to 2" piece to use with epoxy just to see how the orig idea works. I live in small town and our two outlets which carry PVC seem not to have the sizes I would need...ID is 3.75"...my routing skill is wanting, but will see.
Edited by BobBill on Feb 25, 2015 - 02:25 AM.
Bob
If the epoxy method does not work out let me know and we can work something out the caps are about $9 ea and it takes maybe an hour to run them through the router and cut the slot.
good luck!
ohmsj
Jeff, Thanks. It is still too cold here to epoxy...have had a piece of tube sitting by couch reminding me to have a half-inch or so cut off to do the job...soon though. For me, it should be a no-brainer to seal one end and tape the other, and pour in left-over mix until it gets about 1/8-inch over tape edge. Not as quick, but very doable. Thanks.