new Procat sideplates?

[kaszal]

I'm looking at getting some new Procat sideplates laser cut out of 1.5mm stainless steel. I'll end up with quite a few spares so I wanted to guage interest and find out who would also want some. The cost per pair might be about £13 plus postage depending on quantities. Please PM or email me.

These are the templates I'm working from. Do these also fit previous Cats?

[kenooze]

Why will you cut it in stainless steel and not in aluminium ?

You will have a lot of difficulties to screw in the small self tapping screws.

[jwscab]

don't mean to pile on, but he's right, you will have to pre-tap the holes.

it will also be alot heavier, and maybe not as rigid, stainless is kinda soft compared to a tempered aluminum.

[isobarik]

i would like to have them in carbon ...that would look nice............

mvh isobarik

[kaszal]

I'm not worried about the weight as the new Li-Fe and Li-Po batteries are more than 100g lighter. I thought for the same thickness of metal steel would be stronger i.e. less likely to deform in an impact. My aluminium plates are a bit bent and dented. Then again perhaps it won't make that much difference. Any feedback appreciated

Yes, carbon fibre would look cool but perhaps not strong enough and wouldn't transfer the heat well.

[CATS]

Count me in for 2 complete sets

[kaszal]

don't mean to pile on, but he's right, you will have to pre-tap the holes.

it will also be alot heavier, and maybe not as rigid, stainless is kinda soft compared to a tempered aluminum.

OK so should it be some kind of carbon steel? I'll get the metal fab guy to advise. The question I have is what's the pitch on the little screws? These are self-tapping not machine screws. In the manual it just says No 2 x 3/16. If I find this out I'll need to get these pre-tapped or change it to M2 x 5 screws, which are readily available??

[GJW]

thats some decent impacts to bend the alloy! schumacher did release an alloy gearbox housing perhaps they encounted the same problem.
wont be easy to polish stainless either

[dangermouse]

Was actually a pretty common occurrence to bend the gearbox plates.

When you service the rear transmission, you could always just straighten them with a rubber mallet on a hard flat surface.

[QuackingPlums]

Yes, carbon fibre would look cool but perhaps not strong enough and wouldn't transfer the heat well.

Steel is a terrible conductor of heat by the way - steel pans have a bonded aluminium or copper base to help conduct the heat evenly. Steel woks are hot at the base but you can move the food up the sides where it only stays 'warm' because the heat doesn't transfer. If u want strength then steel is good. If u want heat dissipation then alu is better.

[Richieflax]

Count me in for a set too!

[kaszal]

I'll be making them out of aluminium after all. Got someone working on the drawings now. Thanks for your replies.

I wonder does anyone know what the recommended pilot hole diameter is for these little No.2 self-tapping screws? I'll measure off the plates I've got but I was also curious if there is chart for aluminium? I've seen something online but it only goes down to No 4 gauge.

[Synchrocnc]

I make the size 1.70mm - 1.75mm on new XLS plates which are the same as Procat.

[kaszal]

Thanks. I measured about 1.6 on some used Procat plates. I'll try different diameters on an old scrap plate. I'm also looking to supply some nice high tensile socket cap screws with the plates.

I WON'T MAKE TOO MANY SPARES SO PLEASE PM ME TO LET ME KNOW HOW MANY SETS YOUR INTERESTED IN.

[QuackingPlums]

Are they going to be anodized or just left raw?