Sorta car related - trailer.

[Racin'Jacin]

So here's a project I finished a little while back. I am toying around with the idea of enclosing the dragster trailer. I am leaning heavily towards a "Mr. Ed" style (the minimalistic dragster trailers). If you've seen my trailer you may have noticed I am not a fan of sharp corners and avoid them where I can. Same thought applies to my potential trailer enclosure. Simply put I want to roll the edges and need a bending die for square tubing. Well after the SHOCK for how much a square tubing die sells for - I decided to order a chunk of steel and see what I could come up with. I am quite happy with the results. The last picture is a tad misleading as it doesn't show all sides of the final bend. This is NOT a prefect bend by any stretch of the imagination. What it does is to push a crease in the inner wall so as to give the "extra" material a place to go and therefore not result in an ugly ripple. The outside of the bend does have a slight concave as well. Only way to avoid those would be some sort of internal mandrel - way beyond what I need. Having said all that - I am quite happy with the results. Minimal distortion on the side walls and an overall nice looking bend. I've made these dies before - they are a lot of work and as a result I understand why they are expensive - I guess I am just too cheap to fork over the money for one. Besides - it's kinda fun to see what you can make sometimes. I hope you enjoy this project.

[Basement Paul]

That's really a cool piece. How did you cut it?

What material are you going to use for the trailer lid? And will it tilt up like a snowmobile trailer, or just be fixed?

-BP

[Racin'Jacin]

BP, I turned it on my little Clausing lathe and then cut it on the old DoAll bandsaw. Punched the holes on the Bridgeport.

I want to skin the trailer in aluminum and I haven't decided on the exact incarnation just yet. I am between the tilt up as you mention and also a 1/2 fixed 1/2 sliding (which I am presently leaning towards) even though it presents several challenges.

Decisions decisions... to be continued