Thanks for the welcomes gentlemen. Here's a progress report.
The thing about metalworking is, you get REALLY dirty.
This is not to be construed as a negative.
Scored 49 lbs of 20 gauge cold-rolled steel at the salvage yard today, 8 sheets 4'x15", left out in the rain, but cheap at $20. Then of course there was the four hours of wire wheel and oscillating sander work to make them acceptable, but hey, the labor's free.
And, halfway through the cleanup I figured out exactly what I'm going to use them for. A hopefully minor but necessary diversion from auto restoration. I had intended to do some English wheel and beading practice on them, because they're just a bit lighter than the autobody 18 gauge sheet metal I'll be doing,
but now they have an intended purpose, though I'm still going to wind up doing lots of welding and beading with them.
You see, these Willys vehicles are going to need lots of parts powder coated, and my budget does not allow for sending them out to some guy. So, I need a big powder coating oven, and, interestingly enough, there's a classic huge art deco FreezeRite upright freezer in our garage, not in working condition because it would require Freon, which is no longer available.
So, I'm going to strip out the compressor and motor, use those for other purposes, and retrofit it as an oven, large enough to take an entire motorcycle frame, as well as the tool stands that will be made to accommodate the other metalworking tools. And in order to do that, you have to gut the interior and replace the existing insulation with high temperature resistant insulation. Today's sheet metal score will be the interior walls after installing the new insulation.
Or not. Depends on my energy level.
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