Yesterday I did some experimenting...
Experiment 1.
I bent some 3mm MDF in a 19" cylinder to prove it could be done. It is held in place nicely and there was no "creaking" or "splitting" as I was bending it. I'm now going to leave it for a week or so and see if it breaks. No soaking in water.
Experiment 2.
I bent another piece in the same way except I lightly sprayed it with a fine mist of water on on side before bending. Then I bent it into a cylinder, clamped it and immediately put it in a warm, well-heated room to dry. Two points I noticed: firstly, it bent easier when sprayed with a fine mist. Secondly, after a few hours, I removed the clamps and it retained more of its shape than the first experiment (no water).
I'm going to keep an eye on these two pieces and check their condition in a week, then I will seal them with primer, then semi-gloss black on the outside, and matt black on the inside. Then check them in another week.
A cylinder of 3mm MDF is very light in weight and I know it may be "heavy" and unacceptable to some, but I'm prepared to wear that.
Kydex is definately "out" in my books and a timber material is now a preference.
My only issue is that if I use this type of thickness, it will add approx 3-4mm to the ID of the secondary rings. Now, with Kriege's calculations, my secondary cage ID will be under size by approximately 1/8 - 3/16 smaller than the calculations. In the scheme of things, probably not noticeable.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Rod
If you want to use ply to line the secondary cage, I used 1.5 mm thick ply I bought from marine timbers in seaford. It was about $32 for a sheet of 8x4 gaboon. You don't have to do anything special to bend it and it is very strong.
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Rod, You wouldn't have the name of the shop in Seaford? And the name of the material you purchased? I might also consider it for the secondary cage lining. Can you let me know?
hoo roo,
Steve