"The Bait Tank": Guppy Pail for in-the-field filling...

[MultimediaMan]

Working on a way to take my tank to the range or a field shooting point without fear of getting the tank or fittings dirty: This is the effort so far.

The idea was to put the tank in a 6 gallon plastic pail/bucket: a 5 gallon plastic pail is just a smidgeon too short. FYI: I picked up the bucket from a local Home Brewing supply, you may pay a few bucks more for it, but any pail you purchase from a Brewery Supply will be Food grade and be 90mils thick.

I started by laying a pattern onto a piece of 1"x 12" (Dimensional - 3/4" x 11-1/4" measured) Poplar board with a Compass and Square. The Tank is about 4-3/8" diameter, so I used a 4-5/8" hole saw for the Tank cutouts - This will permit gluing a felt cloth bumper/ wear strip on the inside of the tank rings. For the ring supports, three 3/4" holes were laid out at 120 degree intervals for stepped dowels to space the rings apart.

First dry fit of the "layer cake"...



Obviously, a square plank won't fit into the bucket without some reshaping, also, cutouts for the top three rings to allow for other storage in the pail were needed: 1" diameter holes were drilled for the insides of the radii for the cutouts (Unfinished cutouts can be seen in photo #1).



Now dry fitted with the turned poplar dowels: The dowels are 1-1/8" OD, turned with a 3/4" diameter by 3/8" long shank on the ends for the middle-facing dowel ends, and a 3/4" diameter by 3/4" long shank for the top and bottom dowel pin ends. The dowel pin ends were left proud of the top and bottom piece and block sanded flush. The ring pictured is the #2 ring from the bottom.
 


And the first two layers dry fit in the pail:



The bottom ring will be fastened to the bottom of the pail using 3 stainless steel screws, with stainless steel washers backed with rubber gaskets (To keep the pail watertight at the bottom). The lid will be vented to avoid issues which could develop with a slowly-leaking tank.

More to come...

[MultimediaMan]

Right after work, I got into the shop:

Below: The remaining ribs/ disks and the dowel supports have been completed; Full dress dry fit on the bench:



Below: Tank support set into pail:



Below: Top angle with the Guppy Tank in the stowed position:



Below: Side shot of the Guppy Tank in the stowed position:
 


Below: Top shot of the with Guppy Tank (Elevated 5") in the fill position:



Below: Side shot of the with Guppy Tank (Elevated 5") in the fill position:



All that's left for this stage the final sanding, the glue-up of the felt rubbing strips and a couple of coats of oil. After these tasks, will be the actual mounting of the Tank support into the pail. Still looking for the right bumper for the bottom of the tank.

[deucelee]

thanks for the awesome share...that's some dedication right there! very nice and clean.