Small Protective Steel Container

This is a round metal container with a removable cover or lid that I use to protect a 5x magnifier from scratches when not in use. A similar container could be made and used for other purposes.

Tools

• Metal bandsaw
• Grinder
• Flap disc
• Wire feed welder
• Spring clamps

Materials

• 2 inch ID x 2 inch OD tailpipe extender tube
• 18 gauge steel sheet
• Masking tape
• Cardboard strip
• 2 inch gun cleaning patches

I recently purchased a 5x magnifier at Hobby Lobby. It has no frame or handle, but rests on the page. I am enlarging print to practice reading some biblical Hebrew. The center letter in the magnified Hebrew word has a very small tail that makes it a “g” sound. The letter to the right of it is almost identical, except without the tail it has an “n” sound. See the word as used in the biblical text underlined in red. The book from which this comes is a fine resource, but the print is too small and indistinct for my eyes unless magnified. The magnifier is a big help, but now I need to protect the magnifier from scratches.

I decided to make a small container for storing the magnifier from a steel tube. I went to an auto parts store and looked at tailpipe extender tubes. This one is 2 inches ID x 2 inches OD. It cost me $4 US. I used a flap disc to remove the light galvanized coating on the tube before welding.

I had experimented with a piece of 2 x 4 with a 2 inch hole made with a holesaw before choosing to use a more compact metal tube. The tube needs to be cut to approximately the thickness of the 2 x 4. I wrapped a piece of masking tape around the larger 2 inch OD section of the tube to make marking easier and more consistent. I used a metal cutting bandsaw to follow my marking. I was careful to make the saw kerf on the side of the line that would not shorten the length of the piece.

I have some 18 gauge sheet steel. I used the cut tube to mark a circle on the sheet steel and cut a round piece that would be the bottom of the container. I placed it and tack welded it in place. I made two tack welds on opposite sides of the tube. I ground the edge of the circular piece until it was smooth with the sides of the tube.

I used a grinding wheel on an angle head grinder to make notches where I wanted to place welds. I welded to fill the notches with welds that fused both pieces well, both the tube and the flat bottom. This gave the welds as low a profile as possible while providing a solid connection between the two welded pieces, even after grinding smooth. Four to six equally spaced welds are adequate to the task. Watch out for metal flexing and moving from the heat of welding. It would be easy to have a gap because hot metal moved during welding.

The first photo shows the soft fabric patches for cleaning a gun that I used as pads on the bottom and the top of my container to keep the magnifier protected and to keep it from moving inside the container. With a couple of pads on the inside of the bottom section insert the magnifier. A top lid or cover made from the 2 inch OD part of the tailpipe extender will telescope into the bottom part of the container. But, I need to know how much of the 2 inch OD piece should slide into the bottom section of my container. See the second photo. I cut a strip of cardboard from a cereal box. I folded it until it was at least as thick as the metal tailpipe extender tube. I slid it into the open container until it came to rest on the magnifier. Mark the top of the bottom section of the container on the cardboard strip. The cardboard is not apt to scratch the magnifier and is a safe way to determine the dimension I need to know. See the third photo. Cut the 2 inch ID tube a little short of the mark to guarantee the tube on the lid does not touch the magnifier.

I positioned the tube for the lid on some 18 gauge steel and used a spring clamp to hold the two pieces together similar to the photo in Step 5, but I positioned the clamp so I could still weld from inside the tube where it meets the 18 gauge steel sheet. Four to six tack welds are sufficient. I used a metal cutting bandsaw to trim the 18 gauge top of the lid. File and smooth rough edges to avoid small cuts on your fingers. Trimming as you see in the photo did leave some tool marks on the outside of the container. I can use a flap disc to remove them if I choose to do that.

Place the magnifier into the bottom part of the container. Add fabric patches in the lid or cover until the magnifier cannot move up and down inside the container, but you also want the lid to slide down far enough into the bottom part of the container that there is no gap where the two sections of the container meet. Remove a patch or two from the lid as necessary.

I found I have a small irregularity in the finished product. The two parts of the container are not perfectly round. The good part of that is a slight twist clockwise locks the top and bottom of the container together. Do not twist too much. Just a little is sufficient.