Shop Made Self-Cleaning Blast Gates

[gee-dub]

Someone asked about the blast gates I am using.  I went to find a link to where I had posted them and could not find one here.  Either my Google-Fu has failed me or I never posted this (?).  If it's a dup, sorry about that.

I made these before the new shop was up so I was limited to the few tools I had in the garage at the time.  The point being that some of the methods I am using are due to limitations and not the recommended methods per se .

First there was a plan and the plan was good . . .



I will have a few variations but, most will be like these; hose on one end and ASTM-2729 pipe on the other. The tongue will be smooth-both-sides tempered hardboard. That material and my 1/4" MDF was not convenient at the time.  Remember I had space restrictions in the non-shop during this build.  I picked up a handy-panel of 1/4" MDF at the BORG and used  that for the prototype.

 

Break down some blanks:



Spent 45 minutes trying to find my circle cutter. I have one that does 7".

Measure and mark for the "pipe" side, clamp things down and cut a hole:



I patted myself on the back a little for being able to find my drill press AND move enough "stuff" to make it usable.  My DP only goes down to 250 RPM. This often bugs me but, not often enough yet I guess.



I did a test board to make sure I could fit the coupler section and then cut the MDF.



I should explain a bit. I cut a standard 6" coupler in half.  This yields two pieces that will accept the 6" PVC pipe.  These sections become one side of this style of blast gate.  Your connection points may vary depending on whether you are slipping these over the ends of pipe, into bells, or in mid-hose.

 

Here's the other side and a test fit of the tongue. Since this is all 1/4" material I used a hand plane to cut some  .002" curlies off some scrap and glued strips of this to the spacers to increase their thickness and assure clearance for the tongue.

 

 

OK, pretty boring stuff but, I was desperate to do something woodworking related without a proper shop .  I cut a lengthwise section out ot a short section of pipe.  I then re-glue that piece of pipe together thereby reducing the diameter.  This lets the hose slip on.  The lengthwise piece I cut out of the pipe to reduce the diameter gets PVC cemented across the seam. Probably overkill in hindsight.

Here is the prototype without the stop and grip.  Look . . .  it's open.



. . . and it's closed.



Open.



Closed.



And here's a couple with the stops and grips glued on. 

 

 

These just happened to be mahogany but anything from the scrap bin that is large enough will do.

 

 

And that's what they look like in place.

[BillyJack]

What's the gain  to the thicker piece at the bottom?

[gee-dub]

On 1/26/2022 at 10:44 AM, BillyJack said:

What's the gain  to the thicker piece at the bottom?

Do you mean the mahogany?  It is the stop so the tongue doesn't pull clear out.  All other parts are 1/4" thick.  Did I understand the question correctly?

[BillyJack]

I think I looked at it backwards, I thought it went in first. Too many pictures I'm turning my head like a dog...lol

[BillyJack]

I do mine similiar yet different..

[wtnhighlander]

I did dome like this, probably after seeing your first exames, @gee-dub. Found that putting the pvc collar through the mdf panel let a burr or lip form, that makes one of mine hang up so it won't close. I'd suggest gluing the pvc collar on the outside of the hole, maybe flush the hole to the pvc with a router after.

[gee-dub]

Resurrecting this thread as opposed to starting a new one. Just making more gates. The reason for the revival of the thread is in the hope that anyone not sure if they want to make their own gates or not will see how easy it is. They don't have to be pretty, they just have to work well.

Grab some parts and scraps out of the overhead.

I cut sections of material with a 10TPI or greater blade at the bandsaw. The pipe end of the gate is made from a 6" PVC coupler sawed down the middle. This gives me two receiver blanks. Other scraps are shown in this pic too.

The hose end is made from 6" pipe with a section cut out to reduce the diameter and then PVC cemented closed at the new diameter.

I used an awl to place scribe marks on a circle cutter to make doing this next time (which is now) faster.

I cut holes in the both side pieces of the gates blanks. In this case three for hose and three for pipe.

Duty calls me away. I'll be back.

[BonPacific]

I was just re-reading this thread for my upcoming DC re-build.

[gee-dub]

Great.  Here's some more. I know no one needs a dozen pictures about this but it helps me keep plugging along.

The grips and stops are made from small scraps. Once cut to general size they are grooved. I use a FTG blade at the tablesaw for this.

Cutting all these circles leaves some odd spoil.

I use a hand plane and cut some curlies a bit thinner than a sheet of paper. I glue these strips onto the spacers like wallpaper to provide just a smidge of clearance for the gate slider.

I shellac and wax the surfaces that will come into contact with each other.

 

Glue and clamp the halves of the body together.

I use a round over bit to make the pulls and stops a little more comfortable to handle.

I used one piece of scrap that had voids. I thought it looked cool. I now realize it is a splinter and catching hazard so I am filling the void with epoxy.

BTW, people hardly ever use mail scales anymore. You can pick them up used for a song and they make mixing epoxy quick and confident.

I should finish these up tomorrow after transplanting some plumerias for LOML.

[gee-dub]

We were offline for a bit yesterday?  At any rate, they got finished up.

[wtnhighlander]

@gee-dub, how thick are your sliders? I made some from 1/4" ply, and recently broke the one at my TS, when a chip jammed in it while closing.

[gee-dub]

1/4” HDF. So far, so good .