Sand Tower Project
Small Building From Sheet Metal
by Lee Wright

The sand tower I am building requires a small structure at the top to house some of the equipment. Since I didn't have anything other than a distant picture to go by, I just made a sketch and estimated some dimensions on a piece of paper.

The procedure that I will be doing can be used to build cars or locomotive. You just have to take it a step or two further.

Parts were sheared to size and lines for bending were scratched on with dividers.

The parts were cut with hand shears to form the tabs and slots were punched for plug welding.

The door was cut and holes for plug welding were installed.
The door was clamped in place and welded from the back side.

The front side had a heat sink with a piece of 1/4" aluminum plate to keep it from warping.

The sides are clamped and welded to form the little house. After the welding was completed several layers of JB weld were used to fill in the seams. After that, a little Bond-O putty was used to complete the fill.
The seams were sanded and re-filled and primed until invisible.

The top is laid out and bent. The corner will be filled with a little JB weld. Since it was a long way down a narrow box to weld the top on.

I welded on some tabs with slots to the under side of the top. This way I could clamp the top into position and weld close to the bottom of the box. This procedure worked just fine so that no welds can be seen.

Here is another picture of the completed house minus the door handle with will be installed next.

House is attached to the top of the sand tower and a pipe is run though the side.

Here are a few photos of the completed Sand Tower

Lee