I needed to make something to reinforce the bottom of a big bin at work. The bottom is made of some type of plastic and had cracked where the rear legs fasten on. After being given the job I checked with a couple of the guys who work there to get an idea if this happens on a regular basis and how the problem was addressed in the past. Mostly I got smart-ass answers for suggestions on how to repair it, so I did what I normally do in situations like this: stared at it for a bit. I like to give a solution a bit of thought before jumping in and then finding a much simpler or easier solution had I only stopped to think about it for a minute. Also, if I can't visualize the finished part in my mind's eye, it's easy to make a mistake in the sequence of operations, even if I have a decent solution to the problem at hand.
Once I decided on my plan of attack I made a pattern for the part. If I'm going to have to do more of these, I can use the same pattern again.
I cut the pieces out of 1/8" sheet with the plasma cutter. This material is too thick to bend on my little brake, so I cut slits on the bend line while leaving about 1" on each end attached.
Next step was to drill holes, bend the flanges up, weld on a 5/8" nut to fasten the legs to, and then weld up the slits, remembering that I needed a left and a right so be sure to bend the flanges properly.
I TIG welded the slits and the corners. Pretty sexy looking welds, even if I do say so myself. No need to grind anything - I just ran a file over them to remove any scale and then hit them with a wire brush.
Next step, prime and paint. I riveted the brackets onto the bin with 3/16" Pop rivets. Looks good, hell for strong, everyone's happy.
And now for something completely different:
Congratulations go out to my buddy Kevin and his wife on the birth of their daughter. Everyone's doing well.
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