DIY Aluminum Platens

[pxs93710]

If I was to get some 6160 aluminum X .25 inch for my manual would that be thick enough? Then just tap and thread the bottom, being real careful not to go through the top, is that about it after I install rubber tops. This will be going on an Antec and any help would be appreciated.

[tpitman]

I don't know how Antec platens are generally made, but with 1/4 inch material to work with, I don't think you'll get enough threads in a tapped hole that doesn't go through the top to secure the aluminum to anything. I'd drill out the holes and use a countersink bit to cut the relief so that you could use flat head bolts through the top. The rubber tops should be sufficient to eliminate any "dimple made by the slots in the flat headed bolts, or any slight depression from a too-deep countersink relief. You could fill in the slots with some JB Weld if necessary for a smooth finish.

[Binkspot]

You can use a lower grade aluminum for pallets.

Drill and tap the holes, use red Loctite or a two part metal repair epoxy on the threads to lock them in.

Run them up through the top of the pallet a little and use course Scotch Brite discs in a drill, grinder or die grinder to grind flush with the top of the pallet. Apply the rubber and you should be fine.

If you are concerned with enough thread engagement you could cut two strips out of the 1/4" maybe 1" wide and long enough to catch two of the studs. Secure them to the bottom of the pallets with 10-32 bolts or screws, drill and tap through the doubler and pallet to give some extra material to grip. 

[Action1]

I have an excellent suggestion - just buy them from us.

 In the time it takes you to learn how to do it, then do it, and finish them. You could have been selling and finding new customers. The cost for buying the aluminum and then the rubber and the adhesive and then machining them. It's not really worth it unless you just have no orders at all and no new customers can be found. We have these in stock and can get them to you almost immediately.

just my 2 cents...

Action Engineering, Inc.
www.actionengineering.com

[Gilligan]

I have an excellent suggestion - just buy them from us.

 In the time it takes you to learn how to do it, then do it, and finish them. You could have been selling and finding new customers. The cost for buying the aluminum and then the rubber and the adhesive and then machining them. It's not really worth it unless you just have no orders at all and no new customers can be found. We have these in stock and can get them to you almost immediately.

just my 2 cents...

Action Engineering, Inc.
www.actionengineering.com

Sounds like so much trouble one would wonder why anyone would go into business making these things. 

[JBLUE]

I have an excellent suggestion - just buy them from us.

 In the time it takes you to learn how to do it, then do it, and finish them. You could have been selling and finding new customers. The cost for buying the aluminum and then the rubber and the adhesive and then machining them. It's not really worth it unless you just have no orders at all and no new customers can be found. We have these in stock and can get them to you almost immediately.

just my 2 cents...

Action Engineering, Inc.
www.actionengineering.com

Sounds like so much trouble one would wonder why anyone would go into business making these things. 

Because when its all CNC work its easy. I have a cousin that ran a machine shop making Pallets for TAS for many years. There are some things just worth buying and this would be one of them. You have to remember time is money so your not really saving much when you do not  have the right tools to do it efficiently. Can it be done? Yes it can. Could I do it?  I sure could and I have most of the tools and access to a CNC to make them.

All that said your time is more valuable making shirts than it is making 6 pallets.

By the way you would still need to have the pallets Blanchard ground to make sure they are flat. Aluminium sheets do not come perfectly flat.

[Gilligan]

Assuming he has something better to do with his time.

Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.  Also you are negating the tinker factor... some people just like to tinker.

[IntegrityShirts]

If I was to get some 6160 aluminum X .25 inch for my manual would that be thick enough? Then just tap and thread the bottom, being real careful not to go through the top, is that about it after I install rubber tops. This will be going on an Antec and any help would be appreciated.

How many stations on your Antec?  I made some 1/4 aluminum platens for mine and welded 1/2" blocks tapped and threaded for Antec brackets.  I rarely use the manual any more for anything other than sleeves and pocket prints.

[ScreenFoo]

I have an excellent suggestion - just buy them from us.

 In the time it takes you to learn how to do it, then do it, and finish them. You could have been selling and finding new customers. The cost for buying the aluminum and then the rubber and the adhesive and then machining them. It's not really worth it unless you just have no orders at all and no new customers can be found. We have these in stock and can get them to you almost immediately.

just my 2 cents...

Action Engineering, Inc.
www.actionengineering.com

But if a printer has no orders and no customers, why would they be making platens?   

[Screened Gear]

Aluminum is easy to work with, it cuts with just normal wood working tools. Aluminum is also cheap if you have a metal supply company close. I was going to make some for my workhorse but never had the time. Places want way to much for aluminum pallets (wood ones too). For the price of just one you can make all you need yourself. You really need to have the skills to do it.

[JBLUE]

I have an excellent suggestion - just buy them from us.

 In the time it takes you to learn how to do it, then do it, and finish them. You could have been selling and finding new customers. The cost for buying the aluminum and then the rubber and the adhesive and then machining them. It's not really worth it unless you just have no orders at all and no new customers can be found. We have these in stock and can get them to you almost immediately.

just my 2 cents...

Action Engineering, Inc.
www.actionengineering.com

But if a printer has no orders and no customers, why would they be making platens?   

The time would be much better spent figuring out why you dont have any orders and or customers than making pallets. I am pretty sure I can make a set of pallets faster than anyone here other than Action. I dont have time to make them because I have customers and orders that take that time.

If you have time to tinker its time to figure out why.

[Northland]

Been there, done that... got the t-shirt.
I made four aluminum pallets for a manual press. I mounted the backet clamp to a piece of 1/4" stock, then mounted that piece to the pallet (that moved the fasteners out of the print field). Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/northlandsp/sets/72157623122384542/show/

I got the aluminum for next to free (it was used as a base on the bottom of a piece of salvage industrial equipment that I bought & resold)...... I think it would be more practical to buy them from Action.

Without the rubber top... the're pretty worthless.

[alan802]

I'm on the fence with this one, buy or build yourself.  It certainly makes sense to work on selling rather than making something, but if you're going to use spare time, weekend or afternoons to do it then you can still work on your business and get it done yourself.  We all know you're not going to be spending every waking hour on your business, and having other things to do can be cathartic.  But on the other hand, if you plan on doing it during normal business hours, you could be missing out on a huge money maker, or a new customer that could become something big.  You know how some of your biggest customers have came upon you by luck, it could present itself when you were busy making a damn pallet.

Our biggest customer came by our shop on a Saturday when my father in law was at the shop catching up on the weeks work.  He spent almost every Saturday at the shop and one day this scraggly older guy in a beat up pickup stopped by to get pricing on some caps, now that company is worth millions and they spend about $300K with us every year, so never underestimate a customer or the opportunities you have to land one.

[tpitman]

Our biggest customer came by our shop on a Saturday when my father in law was at the shop catching up on the weeks work.  He spent almost every Saturday at the shop and one day this scraggly older guy in a beat up pickup stopped by to get pricing on some caps, now that company is worth millions and they spend about $300K with us every year, so never underestimate a customer or the opportunities you have to land one.

Reminds me of a brochure we did at the software company I worked for. Banking software, and the front of the brochure featured a black and white photo of some older guy in bib overalls squatting down off the roadside crumbling some dirt from a tilled field, his old pickup in the background. The text was, "Dirt Poor, or Filthy Rich?"