Window well cover I just finished

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I started making some window well covers for my in-laws house.  They are built out of 1 1/2" angle, 1" square tube, and 3/4x9  expanded sheet.Last edited by HotRodTroy; 07-26-2014 at 06:32 PM.Lincoln 175Monkey Wards 230v.  Stick
Reply:Here is a pic of the first one.Lincoln 175Monkey Wards 230v.  Stick
Reply:no picsThe Lord has declared, "This is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man"  Moses 1:39Link: My name is John, and I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.-- ColdCreekWorks.com --
Reply:For some reason I can't get the pic to attach to the post.  I'm using tapatalk and for some reason it's not working right.  I'll keep working on it.  Hopefully I can get something done.Last edited by HotRodTroy; 07-26-2014 at 11:28 PM.Lincoln 175Monkey Wards 230v.  Stick
Reply:Got it. :-)Lincoln 175Monkey Wards 230v.  Stick
Reply:Is Auntie Mable strong enough to clear the cover from the egress window so she can get out?.Everlast PowerPro 256, Everlast W300 Cooler, Everlast Cart 250Millermatic 211, Spoolgun 100, Miller HD CartJackson W60 Truesight Digital Auto Darkening, Victor 315 Torch sitting on a Harper 830-86 cart
Reply:I'm making 4 of them.  One will have a built-in fire escape door.  The well has a ladder in place already.Lincoln 175Monkey Wards 230v.  Stick
Reply:Beautifully done and such a perfect fit. Lucky you that your window wells are poured concrete. I'm jealous. I've got 6 window wells that are all different sizes and I am continually removing critters that fall down mine. You did a really great job!!!!MM 211Smith Tru Lite O/A set, Thanks Bob!Lincoln AC-225--But you must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium- Ursula K. Le Guin
Reply:Originally Posted by EquilibriumBeautifully done and such a perfect fit. Lucky you that your window wells are poured concrete. I'm jealous. I've got 6 window wells that are all different sizes and I am continually removing critters that fall down mine. You did a really great job!!!!
Reply:Originally Posted by EquilibriumBeautifully done and such a perfect fit. Lucky you that your window wells are poured concrete. I'm jealous. I've got 6 window wells that are all different sizes and I am continually removing critters that fall down mine. You did a really great job!!!!
Reply:George,  thanks!Lincoln 175Monkey Wards 230v.  Stick
Reply:Nice, that sure could save you a lot of headaches for sure. Now you can walk around the yard intoxicated and not worry about falling into the opening !
Reply:I just finished the last window well cover. Do I have to have them blasted or can I just paint them with Rustolium (sp) or Krylon?Lincoln 175Monkey Wards 230v.  Stick
Reply:I think sandblasted would help paint stick but wiping everything with acetone would pry do
Reply:I've had the chance to work with expanded metal a little bit since you started this thread. There are a heck of a lot of nooks and crannies in expanded metal and your window well covers will be outside and exposed to the elements year round.... you certainly don't have to sand blast them but I sure do think doing so before powder coating or priming and painting would keep them looking better for a longer time while extending the life of them. --Thanks for starting this thread. Window well covers are on my "to do" list for next year. I put them on a back burner because all of mine have corners with a radius but..... I've got to do something. I'm so so so tired of removing wild animals from our window wells.MM 211Smith Tru Lite O/A set, Thanks Bob!Lincoln AC-225--But you must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium- Ursula K. Le Guin
Reply:Equilibrium radius window well covers aren't all that hard to deal with. If you choose to use tube like the OP did, you have a couple of options, depending on how big the window well arc is. #1 would be to use a tubing roller, but you'd have to buy one or find someone who will loan you one. Option 2 would be to use heat to either make it easier to bend, or heat shrink the tube. Option 3 is to cut a bunch of kerfs thru the tube to the back material to allow it to bend easier and weld up the kerfs when done. This would allow you to bend uneven arcs like if the well is oval rather than round. In your case #3 is probably the easiest and you should be able to do this with either a grinder and slitting wheel, or chop saw with some care. You should have both already I believe.You can do the same thing with angle iron, though it's typically easier to just cut kerfs and weld them up.  I've also seen it done with flat stock, but that can be a bit harder to work with, though the principal is the same if you kerf and bend. If you need to make large changes in size, rather than cut a slit kerf, you can cut out a wedge out and bend until the sides of the wedge matches. here the grinder and slitting wheel would probably be the easiest to use.I wish I could find picts of the big kidney bean shaped window well cover I had to make for a job years ago. They poured a free form concrete patio and then realized the window well created a hazard if some one tried to walk around the table. To form it, I had to make 2 matching arcs, one out of angle to hold the window well cover even with the top of concrete and support it, and one on the window well cover material itself.I started off by making a plywood template of the well. To do this it was as simple as climbing in with a flashlight and a pencil while they laid the plywood over the well and held it in place while I traced the exact shape. that gave me a pattern to work from. You could use paper or cardboard and work from the top trimming to fit if you can't get into the well, and then transfer the pattern to something the takes more abuse like a concrete floor or plywood. Then I took the 2x 1 1/2 1/4" angle iron and notched and bent and welded until the angle matched the pattern I had drawn. Then in this case we were using the slat style bridge deck because it would take foot traffic and was over 6' wide, so I then trimmed the bridge deck to match the angle iron support less about 1/2" and then bent 1/4" flat bar to wrap the bridge grate. Eventually the angle iron support was anchored to the concrete and the cover rested on top of the angle iron flush with the patio..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:I think I found a work around for the radiuses…. I just can’t do anything about it right now because of the weather. not my photo…. ----“I started off by making a plywood template of the well. To do this it was as simple as climbing in with a flashlight and a pencil while they laid the plywood over the well and held it in place while I traced the exact shape.” I used cardboard… it’s what I had on hand. I have two patterns...will need 4 more. All of our window wells are similar to the window well in the photo except our corrugated steel is about a foot above grade. Each window well is a little different because the soil compacted over the past 15 years and pushed in some of the corrugated steel leaving it misshapened. Our wells are 6’ deep and the windows are lower down so I ended tracing the outline from ground level… fortunately…. they the extensions elevated the rim enough above ground that I was able to get a sharpie in without standing on a ladder in the bottom.  --I don’t know what a kerf is but sense it might work for a round fishbowl lid? I brought in three goldfish from a little artificial pond I have out front. I wanted to use them re-seeding that pre-form next spring…. our raccoons like bringing their babies over to that pond for fishing lessons in spring and… we enjoy watching the mommas teaching their babies how to fend for themselves. The round fishbowl they’re over-wintering in has all our little carp addicts making a huge mess in my family room…. our cats can’t keep their paws out of the water so I’m going to have to  make a temporary cover that allows for air exchange before the raccoon snacks end up as a feline dietary supplement. I was thinking next year I’d use ½” angle iron and some of the expanded metal I have left over from creating the rabbit condo side panels for a more permanent lid.MM 211Smith Tru Lite O/A set, Thanks Bob!Lincoln AC-225--But you must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium- Ursula K. Le Guin
Reply:A kerf is the cut made by the saw blade..No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we'll ever see on this earth! Ronald Reagan
Reply:This place is great... learn something new every time I stop in!!! Those kerfs are way cool.MM 211Smith Tru Lite O/A set, Thanks Bob!Lincoln AC-225--But you must not change one thing, one pebble, one grain of sand, until you know what good and evil will follow on that act. The world is in balance, in Equilibrium- Ursula K. Le Guin
Reply:Thanks for the replies.  I'm so glad I didn't have the rounded window wells. The "square" ones were tough enough. DSW, thanks for the tips. If I have to do the rounded ones I'll have some idea where to start.Lincoln 175Monkey Wards 230v.  Stick
Reply:Equilibrium, In this thread I used the kerf method.http://weldingweb.com/vbb/showthread.php...igh&highlight= I went about an inch apart to get a larger radius. With the Milwaukie dry cut saw was easier to cut with than a abrasive chop saw. The vice on the Milwaukie  can be positioned so it cuts straight down and the kerf remains equal the whole way down. As the blade wears down on the abrasive chop saw it gets smaller and it doesn't cut it equally all the way down, through both sides of the cut, so you will have to finish the kerf with a zip disk.Last edited by Doug247; 12-02-2014 at 02:08 PM.Reason: forgot linkNothing Ever Got Done By Quitting, Never Give Up.
Reply:Looks good man!
Reply:Here they are, painted and installed. Lincoln 175Monkey Wards 230v.  Stick