DIY Flat Edge Ash Pan

[WNC]

I'm working on restoring this sweet little 18 my brother found for me. It was missing the ash pan, and I didn't want to put the new style one on there. (I like to keep them as original as possible.) I put out some feelers in the members buy/sell section, but no takers, so...I made my own.

Step 1: Ask @SixZeroFour for some detailed measurements.

Step 2: Shop for a piece of aluminum. Now Lowes had a piece, but it was around $25. So I went to my local hardware store and they had a piece of scrap siding they sold me for two bucks. As I wasn't sure how this was all going to turn out, I went that route.

Step 3: Transcribe measurements to piece of aluminum.



You can see where I practiced cutting out one of the leg holes.

Step 4: Start cutting (Sorry for the blurry pic)



My coping saw wasn't tight enough to make the corners, so I had to use this little blade to make the turns. (Glad I had practiced one!)

Step 5: Sand off paint. The sheet they sold me was like what you would use on siding for an old tool shed, so it was white and textured on one side and grey on the other.



Step 6: Polish



Step 7: Shape
Now this was the hardest part. I tried using a soft ball inside another ash pan. Try as I might, I can't get it looking just right. If anyone has any tips here that would be great!



Here are some pics on the kettle, which is not quite ready for it's final reveal...







I couldn't quite get it as smooth and rounded as I would have liked. It's a little wonky, it kept wanting to kind of make a triangle at the bottom between the three leg holes. All-in-all I'm pretty happy with it, I like the that it keeps it looking original. And for $2 it's cheaper that even the new style ash pans.

Thanks again Matt for the measurements.
Stay tuned for the complete reveal!

[SixZeroFour]

Wow, really great job Justin!

Looks like you're definitely on the right track here! The tricky bit seems to be creating an even "dish"... that may be difficult to do at home but hopefully collectively we can come up with a solution. Finding a similar shape like you did and pressing or rolling it down is probably the best bet.

Again, very nice job!

[Jon]

That actually looks pretty good to me. I would think that maybe and upside-down wooden bowl might work for a die, if you had the right size.

[1911Ron]

If you have a bowling maybe that would work better?

[mike.stavlund]

Justin, if I hadn't met you I wouldn't believe you are real. This is an amazing project. Kudos!


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[chefn58]

Any possibility of heat making the metal more flimsy and softer to work with?  Just my 2 cents.


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[jcnaz]

http://m.harborfreight.com/english-wheel-kit-with-stand-68385.html?utm_referrer=direct%2Fnot%20provided

This tool is not cheap, even at Harbor Freight.  It will do the job though. If someone found a good deal on a used one of these, they could make a little money selling ash pans to members here!

[SixZeroFour]

Might have to look into this some more... being able to make your own pans would be excellent.


Edit - Check this one out... I bet you could fasten it to a workbench and it would be plenty to take care of these pans...

http://www.princessauto.com/en/detail/english-wheel/A-p8536831e

$219 CAN ... that's like $43 USD

[WNC]

Probably a little too expensive for my shop, but the thought did cross my mind John! I didn't know what they were called, but I did think at one point, if only I had one of those things like that have in custom metal shops...

Maybe I could use a hammer on it and get a little better shape? Maybe around a basket ball? But then I'd be afraid of putting too dents in it.

Thanks for the comments and any other ideas, please, keep 'em coming!

[SixZeroFour]

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CZLJhdKPwfw

[Craig]

That's looking awesome!

[MeatAndPotatos]

cheap method would be a leather purse full of sand, ball peen hammer for shaping, and a slapper to smooth. Methods exist for making your own slapper.

Shaping
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKcTU7NA5Lc
Smoothing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S03BoudjKuM

[weldboy]

Nice job! Wouldn't have thought of making an ash pan!


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[Jon]

cheap method would be a leather purse full of sand, ball peen hammer for shaping, and a slapper to smooth. Methods exist for making your own slapper.

Shaping
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKcTU7NA5Lc
Smoothing
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S03BoudjKuM

Huh. I know where I can get a leather purse. I might be in a little trouble later on. And the pan might have imprints like "iccuG" or "nothgirB" or "nottiuV siuoL" or "adarP" or ...Yeah, maybe I'll pick up a bowling ball on CL.

[Hell Fire Grill]

You might be able to find a hubcap with the right profile then cut out the slots. If you have a custom body shop or bike shop around they can make one if they have the tools.