CEB Press/Manufacturing Instructions/Hopper sheet metal

Tools Required

• Torch
• Welder
• Hole punch with 3/4" dies

Materials Required

• Door Hinges (12)
• 1/2" x 1 1/2" bolts (12)
• 1/2" washers (12)
• 1/2" lockwashers (12)
• 1/2" nuts (12)
• one 5X10 or two 4X8 sheets of 1/8" steel
• 24' of 1/8" thick x 3" or 4" flatbar: Cut into 3' (8 total) pieces.

Diagrams

old design DXF File

Fabrication Steps

Note: there are holes in the above diagrams which won't be torched until the hopper installation.

Prepare the hinge plates

Hole locations for the hinge plates

Welding the hinge plates

1. Punch 3/4" holes in 4 of the hinge plates as shown. The hole locations are not critical.
2. Place three hinges between one of the holey plates, and one without holes to weld.
   • Make sure the plates are a 1/2" apart or more, otherwise the metal won't hinge enough to attach to the hopper.
   • The pins inside the hinge should all be facing the same direction; these will need to be facing down when the hopper is erected so that the pins won't jiggle out over time.
   • On two of the hinge plates, the pins should face right, and the other two, they should face left, for the reasons stated above.
   • Make sure the side of the hinge that sticks out most is on the top; this way it won't interfere with the hopper metal below when installing the hopper.
3. Plug weld thru the holes in the hinges to the plates below, joining all 3 hinges to each plate.

Mounting the hinge plates to the hopper metal

The bolts ready to weld

The hinge plates mounted to the side pieces.

1. Torch the hopper shapes. (See diagrams above)
2. Get one of the side pieces and clamp the holey side of the hinge plate to one side of it.
   • Make sure that when the side piece is in place and vertical, the hinge pins will be facing down (otherwise they could vibrate out).
   • Clamp it so that it has just enough clearance for the other hopper metal, so there will be as small of a gap as possible once the hopper is assembled.
3. Transfer punch thru the holes using a 1/2" transfer. Put the transfer in the bottom of the hole, near the edge of the hopper metal.
4. Mark both pieces to ensure this exact plate goes back to this side.
5. Repeat the above steps for the opposite side of the side piece, with a different hinge plate, Still insuring the pins will be facing down.
6. Repeat steps 2-4 the same for the other side piece. Make sure that it will be a mirror image of this one, not oriented the same. In other words, prep the hinge plates on the opposite side as before.
7. Punch all of the 1/2" holes where you center marked.
8. Take one of the punched side pieces, and flip it over, so that the side with all the marks is touching the table.
9. Place 1/2" bolts thru the holes and weld them.
10. Do the same for the other side piece.
11. Flip the side pieces over and match the put the corresponding hinge plates onto each set of bolts.
12. Bolt them down tightly using a washer, lock washer, and nut on each bolt.

See Hopper Installation for how to mount it to the machine.