Panzer III Brake Vent construction - Help!

Forum for discussion relating to the Panzer III/StuG III
Post Reply
Sarah Frazer
Posts: 202
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:12 am
Location: Bristol
Been liked: 2 times

Panzer III Brake Vent construction - Help!

Post by Sarah Frazer »

Hi Guys,

I'm making the armoured brake vent covers for my Panzer III and I would be grateful for any thoughts on how to fix the top tube part to the middle tube part.

As in the pictures of a 3D CAD model below, the top tube part will be made of 2mm sheet and I need to fix it to a 25.7mm bar. I don't want to bond it with epoxy, but not really sure of the best way to do it. The problem is basically how do I secure 2mm sheet end on to the flat surface of the 25.7mm bar. I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Ignore the locating pegs on the 3D CAD model they are only there to aid in the CAD model construction.

Image
Image
Image
Image
Many thanks,

Sarah
'I reject your reality and substitute my own'

Christian Steinhauer
Posts: 164
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:01 pm
Has liked: 1 time
Been liked: 19 times

Re: Panzer III Brake Vent construction - Help!

Post by Christian Steinhauer »

Hello Sarah,

I planned the same way. I wan't cut out a sheet of brass with three small rectangels
as feets for three holes in the base, then gluing. I've made a short drawing, I hope
you can follow.
Image
Have fun building, Kind regards
Christian

Jeffrey Goff
Posts: 804
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 12:52 pm
Location: NORTHAMPTON
Has liked: 20 times
Been liked: 737 times

Re: Panzer III Brake Vent construction - Help!

Post by Jeffrey Goff »

Hi Sarah, just make it out of brass or steel and silver solder, take two round bars of the correct diameters for both pieces, drill the required openings, cut the bars to the correct angle, place on the fixing plate and silver solder
takes less time than a CAD drawing
see you at the show
regards Jeff

Sarah Frazer
Posts: 202
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:12 am
Location: Bristol
Been liked: 2 times

Re: Panzer III Brake Vent construction - Help!

Post by Sarah Frazer »

Hi Christian and Jeff,

Thanks for your replies. I have already made the base and middle tube from aluminium and would like to complete in aluminium, but it would be a solution to silver solder it, though I haven't done any silver soldering yet. I will be doing fake welds around the joins on the Brake Vent pieces, so I can hide some kind of joint. I do 3D CAD models for most things I make, it helps avoid too make mistakes and I like to keep my hand in as well.

Hope to see you at the show,

Sarah
'I reject your reality and substitute my own'

Christian Steinhauer
Posts: 164
Joined: Tue Aug 23, 2011 10:01 pm
Has liked: 1 time
Been liked: 19 times

Re: Panzer III Brake Vent construction - Help!

Post by Christian Steinhauer »

Hello,

I think soldering Alu is a nice idea, I've bought 5 sticks of Alu-Lot some time ago
but haven' the time to test ist.
http://www.ebay.de/itm/Aluminium-kinder ... 0554221546
I wish I had made this part in CAD, at the moment I am trying to unfold the sheet by
hand drawing without any results :roll:
Have fun building, Kind regards
Christian

Sarah Frazer
Posts: 202
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:12 am
Location: Bristol
Been liked: 2 times

Re: Panzer III Brake Vent construction - Help!

Post by Sarah Frazer »

Hi Christian,

I can send the 3D CAD model, or work out a flat plan if you let me have your email address.

Regards,

Sarah
'I reject your reality and substitute my own'

User avatar
Adrian Harris
Posts: 5061
Joined: Thu Jul 12, 2007 10:46 pm
Location: Berkshire (UK)
Has liked: 1371 times
Been liked: 1567 times

Re: Panzer III Brake Vent construction - Help!

Post by Adrian Harris »

I've used Durafix sticks to repair worn aluminium parts - the thread is here:

http://www.armortek.co.uk/Forum3b/viewt ... f=7&t=1585

To join your parts, I would 'wet' each side with Durafix and then clamp them together so that you can heat the whole assembly and compress the parts together. Durafix doesn't wick like silver solder, so you need to have the parts 'wetted' where you want the join.

The alternative would be to create a chamfer on the two parts, which you could fill with the Durafix to hold them together, but that would require a lot more clean up afterwards.

The other problem I had was monitoring the heat of the work piece, as there is no difference in appearance between 'not hot enough' and 'ruined' :( :oops:

Adrian.
Contact me at sales@armortekaddict.uk for details of my smoker fan control module

Sarah Frazer
Posts: 202
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2009 8:12 am
Location: Bristol
Been liked: 2 times

Re: Panzer III Brake Vent construction - Help!

Post by Sarah Frazer »

Hi Adrian,

Many thanks for the link and the comments. Is it necessary to use any flux with the DuraFix rods?

See you at the show.

best wishes,

Sarah
'I reject your reality and substitute my own'

Post Reply