Re-purposed condemned SCUBA tanks

[Sam Miller III]

@KathyV
Thank you for your post
I suspect as time rolls on and recreational diving becomes more popular the islanders will discover even more yet undiscovered uses for condemned non functioning SCUBA tanks. The diving owner/operators of dive operations were charged a hefty shipping fee and import duty to obtain the tanks.

After the useful life of a tank they had two options pay a fee to export the useless tanks to be recycled on the mainland or adapt them into the local dive scenes.. Your lovely pictures demonstrate that repurposing has began- I suspect there will be more appearing as time goes by

Lots of foul weather in your area- stay warm and dry and keep on dreaming of the tropics

Sam Miller, III
California - where it all began

 

[Esprise Me]

Christmas tree in the tropics ;-)

 

[Nathan Doty]

@Nathan Doty

Congratulations -- a fine looking SCUBA bell !
But
Purple ? (The Royal Purple of Tyre? )
Or a favorite color of some one? (aka Wife?)
Or only paint avalaivable ?
Or Undercoat ?

Another congratulations - you have the proportions of the dive flag approximately correct- as established and universally agreed upon by the diving community way back in 1960-- about 59 years ago
5 units wide X 4 units high X 1 unit white strips

Let us see more of your handy work

Sam Miller, 111

It's a color shift paint actually. So it shifts from green to pink to red to blue to purple, just depends on how the light hits it. It's PURDY

 

[kelemvor]

I am using my wife's old Luxfer alum 63 for a project. I do some painting now and then out in my shop so I am building a moisture removal filter for my shop compressor. I just drilled out the valve today. I will post some pics along the way....

That's a great idea! How did it turn out?

 

[Jonny Wishbone]

That's a great idea! How did it turn out?

I kinda got sidetracked doing other things but it is still a work in progress. I need to find a local machine shop or somewhere they can cut the bottom out the way I want it. I have already made the cap/cover for the bottom. Tried to cut the bottom out myself but it’s just too thick and my blades clog with the aluminum. I’ll post pics when I make some progress on it.

 

[Nathan Doty]

If you're cutting the entire bottom off, you can get a metal chop saw at harbor freight.

 

[Jonny Wishbone]

I wanted to just have the bottom cut out on a lathe so I can stay with thicker metal to be able to drill and tap holes to bolt the cap on with a gasket. I thought of doing it that way but wanted to be sure I had thick enough alum to drill my holes.

 

[kelemvor]

Well I tried the band saw. The saw had no problem cutting through the metal but the tank was about 1" larger than the opening in my saw. Trying to align multiple cuts just didn't work out. I'll try my miter/chop saw next.

 

[almostDIR]

I made a furnace out of a steel tank which did not pass hydro. Just cut it open with angle grinder and used the round bottom part for the furnace project and cut a hole to the side for air blower.
one can burn coal in it to melt metal, for example lead for making scuba weights. Very useful
I am still figuring out what will I do with the neck portion of the tank, maybe a grill or something

I'd say never throw the old tanks away, you can do anything out of them and it is excellent quality metal for garage projects

re-purposed scuba tank by almostDIR

• almostDIR
• Jan 24, 2019

scuba tank bottom part re-purposed as furnace for melting metal

 

[dead dog]

I made a furnace out of a steel tank which did not pass hydro. Just cut it open with angle grinder and used the round bottom part for the furnace project and cut a hole to the side for air blower.
one can burn coal in it to melt metal, for example lead for making scuba weights. Very useful
I am still figuring out what will I do with the neck portion of the tank, maybe a grill or something

I'd say never throw the old tanks away, you can do anything out of them and it is excellent quality metal for garage projects

re-purposed scuba tank by almostDIR

• almostDIR
• Jan 24, 2019

scuba tank bottom part re-purposed as furnace for melting metal

The neck portion of the tank, just ad an old valve to make a display for your regulator.