Form depth for hose

[critman]

Got some hose coming. Never used it before and need to build new form. How thick/deep does the form need to be to keep it from breaking? I have always used clamps before but really getting tired of that plus since CP surgery my hands are not quite up to squeezing that many clamps (guess how I learned that). The forms I use now are pretty thin, about 6" at shallowest part and I know that will not work for the firehose. Since Kenny took his sight down   :(   not sure of what was reccomended.  I think it was 8" top and bottom.
Got 2 to build right away. One for my son and one i am trading for a custome BBQ grill. All 1/4" metal built to my specs. I love bartering.

[kennym]

Hi Chris,

If plywood I use about 5" minimum of good plywood at narrowest part.

Usually I can make it with a 12" wide form blank to start.

Sorry bout the site, it was costing me every month....

[critman]

Hey no problem Kenny. I am glad to see you posting often. The forms I have made now have holes for the clamps to set in. Do you think that would make too weak? If so maybe I could put some more wood on outside of form to stiffen it up. Really hate to start all over again!

[critman]

Hey Kenny, what size gap between top and bottom of form?

[David Flanrey]

Chris,
I don't know how many holes you have in your form or how close they are to each other but I doubt they will hurt anything.

I have the top and bottom of the form spaced at 1 1/4" apart.  Works good for me.

David

[David Flanrey]

Chris,
One more thing I learned from trial and error, use pressure strips!
David

[Robertfishes]

You can fabricate "U" shaped 2 inch wide  pieces to wrap around the top (or bottom) of the plywood form, then drill thru them for your strap bolts. That should help if your worried about the bolts pulling thru the plywood. My forms are pretty tall 16"..but they seem to be strong..the extra wood makes them a little heavy though..

[critman]

Good deal guys. David, on the pressure strips, is a piece of 1/16 aluminum good enough on each limb?

[BigJim]

Critman, the 1/16" aluminium is a little thick and can be hard to come by. I use 20gague sheet metal and it works well. we will be adding the pressure strips to our web site soon.

thanks, bigjim