Fastening hardware cloth to 55 gallon drum

[aCircle]

I'm helping my dad build a container to get animal bones cleaned.

As part of that, I need to cut parts of a few drums I picked up and attach some hardware cloth. I'm thinking a cutoff wheel should be fine for cutting the drum.

Where I'm wondering is about the screws or fasteners for attaching the hardware cloth. Panhead metal screws would leave sharp tips on the inside of the drum. Pre-drill and use small stainless bolts?

Curious what you all might recommend for hardware or process here!

 

[cpw]

Would a pop rivet do?

 

[Cheese]

I second the pop rivets.

 

[Packard]

What exactly is hardware cloth?  And what size drums?

55 gallon fiber drums have a removable band for securing the lid.

Are these drums tight-head drums (with provision for a spout?  Or Open head drums with removable lids.

 

[Crazyraceguy]

What exactly is hardware cloth?

It's a metal mesh, woven into squares, often hot-dip galvanized. That way it doesn't come apart, since it is not twisted like "chicken wire"

 

[Packard]

I call that “mesh” or “fabric”.  If it is galvanized, you can wrap the cut ends over a form and torch solder.  Wrapped like that, solder can be as strong or stronger than welding.  Use a flux, heat the joint and let the solder run around the frame.

Test first, but most of the time solder will adhere to clean zinc. 

The strength is poor on X welds, but very good if you can get a full wrap or two around the frame first.

 

[Packard]

Amazon.com sells Dermestid Beetles.

Dermestid Beetles are a proven way to clean bones without damaging the bones or needing harsh or dangerous chemicals. 

(I saw this in an episode of “Bones” where Temperance needed to clean the bones of all flesh and organic matter.)

Here’s my Google search: https://www.google.com/search?q=Dermestid Beetles&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m

And a scholarly article on the beetles.
https://extension.colostate.edu/topic-areas/insects/carpet-beetles-5-549/

 

[waho6o9]

Tie straps

Rivets

Nuts and bolts

Bailing wire

Have at it and Happy New Year

 

[aCircle]

All super helpful! Thanks.

Dermestid's require keeping and feeding which is way beyond the scope of what we're after here -- and also for a different kind of cleaning (fun fact).

Either way, pop rivets and washers is an interesting call. I'm not so sure that the solder will work well since the drum is coated on both sides with different types of paint.

And the drums have removable lids! That's how I got them clean.

 

[Packard]

I will throw this out; I don’t think it is the best possible method, but it works.

Back when I raced bicycles (in the early 1960s), my track bike had super light rims with fewer than normal amount of spokes.  Keeping the rims straight and true was a continuing task.

To keep the rims true longer, we (many of the racers) would “tie and solder” the points where the spokes crossed each other and were in contact.

We would take some dead soft and small diameter brass wire and take 3 or 4 wraps of the wire vertically at the point of contact of the spokes, and then take several wraps at 90 degrees to that.

I took great pride in the fact that my horizontal wraps were tight and resembled a miniature noose. 

Then I would hold a soldering iron against the joint on the inside and press the solder on the joint from the outside.  As soon as the solder flowed, I would pull both the soldering iron and the solder from the joint.

Those tied and soldered joints never let go despite training on less than smooth roads. 

I was just 15 or 16 at the time and the hours spent doing the soldering meant nothing.  They were just idle hours put to use. 

At any rate, there may come a time when you do want a strong joint like that, and you will remember this post. 

P.S.:  What does one do with clean animal bones?

Addendum:

I thought I was resurrecting a long lost skill.  It turns out there are dozens of article on tying spokes and soldering them, and some YouTube videos to boot.

At any rate this is what the joint looked like (though I used brass wire).

 

[Picktool]

Sex Bolts

View attachment 1

 

[aCircle]

This thread is the greatest. I love FOG.

[member=74278]Packard[/member] -- variety of things. The immediate concern is two moose scapula from a moose hunt we did this fall, and cleaning those means you can use the scapula on future hunts as part of how you try to call in a moose. More broadly, just basic cleaning and collecting of things like skulls or skeletons. Also pro tip on the wire and solder!

[member=31307]Picktool[/member] -- I've never heard them called that before and just about fell out of my chair laughing. It's the perfect name.

 

[Packard]

This thread is the greatest. I love FOG.

[member=74278]Packard[/member] -- variety of things. The immediate concern is two moose scapula from a moose hunt we did this fall, and cleaning those means you can use the scapula on future hunts as part of how you try to call in a moose. More broadly, just basic cleaning and collecting of things like skulls or skeletons. Also pro tip on the wire and solder!

[member=31307]Picktool[/member] -- I've never heard them called that before and just about fell out of my chair laughing. It's the perfect name.

I forgot to mention, on spokes which are high tensile, high carbon steel, a low temperature soldering iron is used so as not to soften the steel spokes.

I’m basically a suburban guy and hunting is not in my vocabulary, though if you have a bow, you could catch your limit off my rear deck which is elevated enough to qualify as a tree stand.

So, eat breakfast, sip coffee, nab a deer.