Thickness of sheet metal for a door

[papavino]

I went to the hardware store this weekend to look for door materials and thought that I'd just get a 24"x30" piece of sheet metal and cut it to fit. The idea was to mirror the door template so that I could bend the metal, making a 1 to 1 1/2 " gap in between faces that will eventually hold some insulation. My issue is that I'd need metal thin enough to be able to cut with aviation snips, but sturdy enough to stand on it's own. What gauge of steel should I be dealing with?

[Les]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

I made mine out of aluminum - I recall it being around .050 thick, 16 ga.

Les...

[papavino]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

Was that easy enough to bend by hand? I don't really have a lot of tools for this type of work, so I was going to bend it over a board and hammer it flat.
I like your door, by the way.

[Les]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

Thanks. I had access to a brake to bend the channel that made up the edges. That will be the challenge - after that, it was very easy to work with.

Les...

[Eric Pfeifer]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

Hello, 16 gauge mild steel will be a bear to cut with aviation snips, but it can be done. 20 gauge (there's even a 19, if you can get it--many cars are made with it) will work fine. Without having access to a brake, hammering the strait parts over an edge is a classic and easy way to make a sharp bend. Bends on curves are tougher, but can also be hammered into steel using a mold (made of hardwood, etc) and occasionally annealing the piece with a torch. Maybe if you need to bend on the curves you can make individual tabs instead of metal stretching the whole curve. If you choose aluminum, both the straits and the curves will be much easier. The curves on the old Porsche 356s were entirely hand-hammered aluminum over wooden bucks. Good luck!

Eric

[Eric Pfeifer]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

Ooops, I forgot. Once you hammer the edge on the piece, it will be much stiffer than the original sheet. You'll be amazed, how even a thin sheet can be so strong and stiff.

Cheers,
Eric

[papavino]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

Alright, so it looks like 16 gauge aluminum is the way to go. Thanks to both of you for the advice.

[papavino]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

After all of that discussion, I couldn't find a big enough sheet of 16 gauge aluminum, so I went with 22 gauge steel. I was able to cut it by hand easily enough, then used a 1.5" piece of angle iron and hammered it over that so that there is a 1.5" gap between the outer sheet and the sheet facing the oven. I'll eventually close off the sides and put some insulating material in it. I still need to trim a bit of material from the top so that it slides in a bit more easily, but I think it looks pretty good. I'll take pictures and post when I have the time.

[papavino]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

Aside from a little grinding that needs to be done, the door is fitting nicely. I put some handles on it (see below). I was a little worried about the heat, but the outer face of the door and the handles remain cool.

Gatehouse at Lowe's: 4 - 3/4" Zinc Screen Door Pull

[Eric Pfeifer]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

Look forward to seeing it!

Eric

[papavino]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

Here are the photos of my oven door. I started out with a 24"x30" sheet of 22 gauge steel, then marked it so that I could mirror the door over a gap of 1.5". I initially thought of using tabs on the edges (see the 2nd and 3rd photos) that I could bend, then screw into the door for added rigidity, but the construction of that turned out to be difficult to accomplish with my limited tools. I cut the side tabs off, then used a piece of 1.5" angle iron to hammer the door over. This worked relatively well, although it was very loud. I then marked out the locations for the handles and screwed those in using 8-18 x 5/8 self drilling screws with hex washer heads.

So, currently, there is only a 1.5" air gap between faces of the door. I want to close off the sides of the door and put some insulating material in eventually. The handles stay cool, so that's a good thing, but I think I'm still losing more heat than I'd like.

Cheers!

[ThisOldGarageNJ]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

can you fill it with vermiculite ?? or are the sides open ??

[Eric Pfeifer]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

Nice! I also like the idea of filling the gap with vermiculite. How about vermicrete or perlcrete?. I suppose then you wouldn't have to worry about closing the top arch with metal then.

[nissanneill]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

Papavino,
Next time you have a sheet to cut to shape, try to get a small angle grinder with one of those thin (1mm) metal cutting discs and you will end up with much cleaner, squarer cuts. Curves are not a problem as I have cut as small as 8" circles out of 1.6mm stainless steel sheets.
I made a door to seal my oven as I was slack and didn't get around to it when I should have. I used plywood and expanded steel and placed 2 X 1" layers of left over superwool thermal blanket within it. See:

http://www.fornobravo.com/forum/f28/...door-5719.html

It works an absolute treat and I probably won't replace it with anything better for years.

Neill

[papavino]

Re: Thickness of sheet metal for a door

can you fill it with vermiculite ?? or are the sides open ??

The sides are open. I'm hoping I can find a 1.5" U-Channel to use for the sides, but I may leave the top open and fill it with perlcrete.