No mass production in my future, I have a stinking day job!
But here's the process that anyone can do. I found pieces of aluminum on the side of the road. They used to have a green background and white letters before I used airplane stripper on them
. Friggin things were all over the place after Wilma late last year! They are 12ga btw. They probably do not have to be quite this thick but I used what I had...
I cut two pieces 2'x2' with a jigsaw and laid each bag on a piece and drew the outline of the bag while setting the top edge of the metal just under where the top is sewn on. For the bottom part, I came in just inside of where the bottom of the bag flattens and drew two perpendicular lines from the bottom of the bag. I then free drew a line about 1/2" inside the bag outline and cut that leaving the bottom tail. Still flat but now the back part looked just like what you see.
Measured the thickness of the bag across the bottom and came in about 1/2" and cut off the tail. Took the material to work where I could use the big metal brake to bend the 90 because the Harbor Freight one I bought was going to bend before the metal did. Used a flat file to round the bottom edges and take off the sharp edges.
Mounted the EZ Brackets first to get everything aligned and then drilled the holes throught the metal and bags. Used 1/4-20 bolts, 2" fender washers inside, 3/4" flat washers and nylok nuts outside. Once everything fit right, I used my Dremel with a cutoff wheel to clean up the excess bolts and then used flat, crinkle paint on the metal (inside and out). Mounted everything and resprayed the nuts.
I figure these are darn near bullet proof now and all the additional metal only added about a pound each. I intend to add some 1/4" aluminum grab handles that will mount to the top EX Bracket bolts for portability.
Another thing I did... If you have these bags, you've probably noticed how the fronts and backs bow in some? I used the same metal and added some L brackets to the top of the bags that bolt to the topmost bolts (front and back) and extend across the front and back face. Really stiffens that point up!
Now get inspired and get into your garage!!
btw, there's a couple more pics in this thread:
http://www.bonnevilleamerica.com/forums/...mp;page=0#91354
