On Sun, 17 May 2009 17:36:54 -0500, the infamous "Karl Townsend"
scrawled the following:

"The Kid" is on a rolling layoff, so I'm hiring him to do the fabrication on
my 6' by 10' plasma cutter. We're building a water tank 16" high by 6' by
10'. Our question, how thick a steel do we need to prevent the water
pressure from severely deforming the tank. The main issue is, of course, the
bottom and it would be no big deal to put in a reinforcing angle iron every
two feet.

"The Kid" thinks 0.070" or 14 gauge should be enough. I'm leaning toward
0.100" or 11guage to be sure. Any way to know?

With 16" of water to push on it, you'd have (6x10x1.333' = 78 x
64.5lbs/cu.ft.) 5,013 pounds of water in the tank. I vote with your
guess, or heavier, depending upon the amount of stiffeners you put in
the sides to keep it from oil-canning. I'm too lazy to get the Audel
Millwright's book from the bedroom. (It's late; G'night, Karl.)


Second question, if we weld every inch of every seam it will warp for sure.
I'd like to just stitch weld it and then use some sort of sealer/filler to
prevent leaks. What would work here?

Shirley, ewe jest!

--
No matter how cynical you are, it is impossible to keep up.
--Lily Tomlin