Alternatives to soldering tanks.

I have a very nice, old, Keen's Mustard tin. I have saved this tin for many years, thinking it would make a very cool tank for a profile model. If I was to solder it closed and solder the vents, etc in, I would ruin the tin. Are there any alternatives to soldering out there? Would JB Weld work?

One way is to make a tank that fits inside of the mustard can. Keep the KOOL and fly's the plane.

Scott(just an idea)Riese

Can you still buy Coleman's Mustard powder in the UK in the tins any more? That's what they traditionally used for Combat fuel tanks.

You're gonna have to put vent and feed lines into it anyway--isn't that gonna "ruin" it?

Glenn,
I also have some of those ( actually Curry powder tins... ) which I kept for the same reason.
In my opinion you will have to solder them.
HOWEVER... if you only scrape off the paint you absolutely have to and then ( after soldering... ) paint the soldered bits yellow it should still look pretty cool.
I just made a tank from the tin container that had a bottle of Johnny Walker Black label in it, I will paint the soldered bits black and it , too should look good.
PS I bet I had more fun generating the Johnny Walker tin than you did with the mustard......

Dave Moffitt

Nay, nay! Solder not that old can. You can use Goop adhesive, it is totally fuelproof at any level of Nitro.

In early trials with my first ARF Flite Streak I had popped the rear cover off an old tank, the idea being to reduce the capacity by trimming with tin snips to get it close and then to run the shell of the tank up against my table-mounted disc sander. All of which I did.

(I'm not much of a tinsmith, as you can see.)

The shell had been slightly deformed by this foolishness, and while it was known that I could get it all sealed up by soldering, the gaps were larger than I like, some odd bits were bound to be left in the tank, more solder than necessary was going to be required, etc., etc.

Especially remembering this was a test tank, one in which I didn't have a lot of faith anyway, I simply closed it up with JB Weld. Nice fillet all the way 'round, chunk of lead to hold it down overnight.

Worked for me. Although I need note the tank was a couple weeks later made obsolete when switching to a GRW 3.25-ounce chicken-hopper tank--the best so far for these ARF FSs--and so I cannot report on the longevity or reliability of such an operation.

LAST EDITED ON Nov-12-03 AT 02:22 PM (CST)
 
Building tanks is easy.

A. Get tank metal from Brodak. They will sell it, .007 tin can stock.

B. buy Weller soldering gun from Home Depot and a bit or rosin flux, just to be sure when you don't do a good job of cleaning the metal.

C. Lay out your tank on the sheet stock with a Sharpie Ultra Fine Point. Volume is 1.8047 cubic inches/ounce. Try to overlap where possible about 1/4". In corners where no overlap is practical, solder will still seal reliably.

D. Cut out your tank with scissors. (wife's best sewing scissors work best.)

E. Make long bends with a couple of pieces of steel with straight edges as a metal brake. I use a couple of lawn mower wrenches. Make small bends with pliers.

F. Put your tank together using copper tubing for vents and pickup. Anneal the copper if you have much vending to do on the tubing (heat the tubing til it glows, then let it cool).

G. Solder the pickup and any other long vent inside the tank before putting the back on.

H. Put the back on, clean with thinner and pressure check under water with a fuel bulb and all of your weight.

I. Admire/install

Well thanks for the help fella's. I have never bought a tank, preferring to make my own. As Al has shown with his pics, it aint hard, even for an old wood butcher like me. I will try the JB Weld and see if it holds together. If its fuel proof, it should be fine. The idea of putting another tank inside this one is so simple it eluded me! That was a great idea! Thanks (or should I say "tanks" alot.

we

Hmmm!! Al's tank looks a lot like George Aldrich's pinched corner tank. George had a hard time explaining this tank to me. I finally got it when he posted a picture.