Sunday, March 27, 2011

ENSLEY MIXER - Part 2






It's been awhile since I was working on this project. Funny thing happened - I vac-formed the two sides and then tried cutting the arc shape on the top of the mixer - the final product was off and when compared to the drawings and photos was off, so I tried again and got it right on the second side. I put the whole mess aside as I had to vac-form another side blank to cut the second side correctly (you can see what the vac-formed side looks like before cutting). When I went back to this project, the wood master for the side was MIA, and remained so until only recently. So back at work on this, which is good in a way since I've collected more research information since I started and I think I have a better handle on how this complicated vessel is constructed. Don't get me wrong, the hardest lies ahead when I try to make the two spouts. So - with another side properly cut I put the mess together, added some bracing and installed the top using .020 sheet.

A note on the title of this post - I know that the proper name for this mixer isn't "Ensley" - I just call it that as there is I guess maybe the only remaining example of this type of mixer still standing at Ensley. I think they were made by PECOR. The other type of mixer would be the cylindrical type - far easier to build.

In my never ending LED quest I found a pretty good three or four led cluster/circuit to simulate the inside of a furnace. Its a LED tiki torch sold by Home Depot. At $15 its a little pricey for a few LEDs but you can use the three piece pole for smokestacks - 7/8"OD thin wall plastic.

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