I'm preparing to fabricate the tooling for blow molding the canopy.
I've been doing a lot of research and getting advice from Gary Lavarack (a guy who has done the process and been through the R&D).
First step is to draw the profile. I'll use my big plastic profile gauge that I bought from Eastwood many years back. My importer
Dale charged me 800 bucks which I thought was a rip off but it turned out to be money well spent. The tool is invaluable and next
to my CP reciprocating saw most of what I do would be near impossible.
Due to the shape of the canopy making the tool is difficult. The rear section that fits around the roll hoop has an almost vertical edge
so the question was how to shape the cutout so I get the correct shape. I came up with the idea of just doing a mirror image giving
me the advantage of producing two canopies.
I have steel 1" tubing for the frames and some 2mm plate that should be enough to build the two boxes. I have two choices on cutting
out the profile. I can go with the plasma cutter or send the plate and template to my sponsor Aquajet Profiling. I don't think I have a steady
enough hand for using the plasma machine and the finishing will be a PITA!.
I'll build the base box first starting later this morning.
This is the drawing I did of the profile using Paint.