The Armour Archive

Hey hivemind, have a question for you. I'd recently used a roll of .032 301 SS to make some splints for leg harnesses. It worked great and got me thinking. I looked at high tensile pallet strapping and found this
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001HT ... e=&seller=

which seems like a good start. From what I've heard, most of the high tensile stuff is 1050 and comes with a spring temper already. I'd be looking at .032" for thickness, 1.25 x 2" (at a rough guess, haven't decided for sure yet on dimensions for plates)

I do know this stuff will rust (wax and frequent rust inhibitor treatments would be a partial fix for that)

I'd probably buy a bench punch for putting holes in it.

So what do you think, valid idea? Or would I be better served by buying 301 plates and forgetting about it?

There's also galvanized steel strapping available (used for tying down mobile homes in tornadoes) as mentioned in this thread: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=131022&hilit=hurricane

Wow... nice find! Easy way to do a Brig, and in Spring Steel even.
And if your a prime member, it has free shipping

$163 for 760'x1.25"x 21/22 gauge (.031)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001HT7SVM/ref ... DJSVOC8MU8

Here is the link for the Galvanized ($19.38 free shipping). Looks like between 18 and 19 gauge, and 37' long x 1.25"

http://www.amazon.com/Tie-Down-59155-Ga ... uctDetails

Casius,

You would want to make sure that it is 31 thousandths, and not 31ga. The description is not without ambiguity.

Mac

I played around with some scrap strapping that I found/liberated from a dumpster...

As you stated, it has to be preserved, or rust will set in. The stuff I got was easily polished free of corrosion after I cut the plates out. Similar dimension to the one you listed...just a little narrower.

I thought about making a wooden block to accept the flat plate that was then carved with a groove for shaping, but I never got around to it. Any more than a slight dish made the layers stick out way too far, so I ended up leaving the test patch I riveted flat. Riveting was not the best way to fasten the plates...too rigid. From the digging I've done here, I would recommend a "Staple" type of fastener, or sewing with heavy lacing/catgut.

It does get pretty heavy pretty fast, especially with the desired overlap.

Good luck,

Oddvarr