Okay, I've always liked the various dogbone travel plates available in the market eg Oxycheq Travelplates etc but I notice that they only come in stainless steel and not the lighter Aluminium. I know this might be a bit an@l as the SS plates only weigh around 2lbs but has anyone ever bought a full sized aluminium backplate and cut them up like the travelplates? Would there be any problems with the structural integrity by doing that since alu is softer than ss. Also do the newly cut edges need to be treated for corrosion or something?
Cutting up an Alu Backplate
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ScubaRev
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I can't vouch for structural integrity; it depends where and what you cut, I suppose. And I know nothing at all about bp/w performance, Al or otherwise (but I'm learning!).
I do know a thing or two about aluminum, having a couple of degrees in chemistry under my weight belt. The moment you cut aluminum in the air, it oxidizes (a process called "passivation," by the way), so that what you are actually touching is aluminum oxide, which is quite stable and inert. In other words, aluminum protects itself from corrosion by forming a stable oxide coating.
You will certainly want to deburr all the cut edges, of course.
I do know a thing or two about aluminum, having a couple of degrees in chemistry under my weight belt. The moment you cut aluminum in the air, it oxidizes (a process called "passivation," by the way), so that what you are actually touching is aluminum oxide, which is quite stable and inert. In other words, aluminum protects itself from corrosion by forming a stable oxide coating.
You will certainly want to deburr all the cut edges, of course.
I work in metal fabrication and though not dealing with plates, other than diving one, I can tell you that making a dogbone out of an existing al plate would necessitate using additional material somehow fastened to it to minmize flex and maintain structural integrity IMO. Doing this would negate any weight reduction. The edges most likely would not need to be treated depending on the alloy but would definitely require extensive finishing if you were to do it with anything other than a laser or water jet. Aluminum when sawed gets really rough and makes a mess. Designing anything that is going to bear a load is alot more than just making a pattern, cutting it out, and bending or stamping it. Strength of the alloy used, flexibility, tensile strength, etc must be calculated and taken into account. Making a dog bone out of al is probably possible but you are going to need a thicker material with a higher tensile strength to resist flexing. This is going to negate any weight savings as opposed to SS.
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