These are pictures of my first "real" metalworking project. It is a box for
my generator. The frame is 6061-T6 1*1*.125 aluminum angle. The skin is
050 sheet aluminum. The hardware is all stainless including the piano hinge
in the back. The box is open on the bottom and sits on a 3" concrete pad
with indentations for the wheels so it doesn't walk. The idea is that the
box can easily be detached and lifted over the generator so I can remove the
generator and take it elsewhere to run my welder or plasma cutter. I was
nervous about heat build up so the one end has a fan to keep air flowing
through. There is a screen in front of the fan behind the louver to keep
kids from cutting off a finger if they were to try and put their hand in.
The bulky device in the front is an external muffler from Jack's Small
Engines to quiet it down. Truth is, most of the noise comes from the
generator unit and not the engine. In the spring I hope to add some sound
insulation to the sides and lid and some baffles in front of the louvers to
quiet it more. I have one current problem. As the ground froze, it heaved
more in the front than the back. As a result it leans in towards the house
and currently I cannot open the lid all the way. This will make it
difficult to refuel. I will try to lift the back and put some stone
underneath to solve this when I get time. Ironically, this winter we have
not had a single power outage. Had several last summer. Any additional
suggestions or advice is always appreciated.

Of note, I was learning to weld on this project. First time I had welded
aluminum. Fortunately it is nonstructural. Some of the welds are nice
looking. Some are fugly. I believe they are all strong enough for the
application. Of course the skin helps hold it all together. All is
aluminum except the handles that hold the box down. I welded nuts in the
end of a tube with a cross handle on the other end. The frame of the box
sits over concrete anchors. I screw these handles down over the frame onto
the anchors to hold it down. This way I can reach them and detach the box
in about a minute. I just get some help lift it over the generator after I
remove the external muffler. I may or may not keep this muffler after I add
the baffles. If it does not contribute much to quieting it down I will
probably remove it as it is just another step in getting the generator out.


http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/GeneratorBox1.jpg

http://www.metalworking.com/dropbox/GeneratorBox2.jpg


Barry