Club 80-90 Forums

Any metal fabricators on here that can fold 8mm steel plate?

Manufacturers of our stove have reduced thickness of the replacement baffle plate and even and sensible temps they are not lasting 6 months.

Original plates were cast iron approx 7mm thick which lasted 6yrs+ , new ones are barely 5mm and I’ve got one season out of it.

Simple design, and happy to pay sensible prices for a couple.

The locating lugs are not essential. Internal angle is 136 but will be cutting new fire bricks to suit anyway.

I made one for a friend with 6mm plate a think it was. I ended up cutting the plate part way through, bent it along the cut then welded it. That was several years ago and it's still going strong. Might be another option for you as it'll probably be easier to find a welder than someone who can bent that thickness. 

It may come to that yet, not sure if my little mig will handle 8mm but had considered two plates welding in stages from both sides set at the required angle.

I’ve a couple of feelers out but those with the equipment may not be interested in such a small job.

I wonder if stainless would last any longer. Most probably more resistant to acids in the wood/coal/whatever.
10mm stainless plate is hard to drill through - I know that much.
8mm Thick Stainless Steel Plate off Cut Grade 316. 150mm X 150mm on ebay  https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/255952366886
A lot of the sellers on ebay will bend it for you as well.

I did approach a couple of eBay sellers who said they can bend over a week ago, never heard back.

Stainless could be an option I suppose depending on cost.

I am surprised that your iron baffle is corroding through in such a short period of time. Do you burn a lot of resinous wood?
316 stainless would last forever, you could go down to 5mm or even 4mm but increase the fitting clearance as stainless expands a lot when heated, much more than mild steel or iron which can make fabrication tricky.
You can MIG stainless with mild steel wire no problem, the weld will be corrosion resisting to a degree as it will take up some of the chrome from the stainless but it will look dull and "dry"
Clamp it all down hard to help minimize heat distortion but be prepared for some post-weld straightening.

silverbullet wrote:I am surprised that your iron baffle is corroding through in such a short period of time. Do you burn a lot of resinous wood?

It’s not corroded through just badly warped.

The original plate supplied with the stove around 8yrs ago was thick and durable. The now supplied one (with new stove & replacement) is much thinner and suspect lower quality cast iron.

Burning habit have not really change, mixed usage of smokeless ovoids and timber under 20% moisture. Tend to stay clear of high resin timbers where possible. I monitor flue temperatures to avoid over firing.

If I can’t get some steel bent to order I’ll certainly look at welding my own.

Small update, hopefully successfully found a company that can produce & deliver two for not an extortionate amount of money.

Will see if they can outlast the current “genuine” replacements