DIY Plate Reverb-max plate thickness 22 Ga?

joaquins said:

I don't have much experience, but I think it has to do with the size, the bigger the plate the thicker it can be. There were some pretty tiny ones (2'x4') with really thin plates. Also may depend on the material of the plates.

JS

Click to expand...

pitol678 said:

Hi, Ive been doing some research on plate reverbs and see that 24Ga to 28Ga is generally recommended for the plate, but the thinnest I can seem to find (even when ordering online) is 22Ga. Does anyone have any experience with metal this thick? Can it work? Thanks!

E

Click to expand...

dmp said:

I measured the thickness of my plate last night and it was appx 0.020", maybe a little thinner  (25/26 gauge?)
This is a Ecoplate which has a stainless steel sheet.

Click to expand...

abbey road d enfer said:

Zinc on galvanized steel tends to damp resonances, particularly on the thinnest gauge, which may or may not be to your taste.
IIRC the EMT plates were electrically coated, which made a much thinner zinc coat than hot-dip.
Many steel fabrication shops use protected electroplated steel, which means it is protected on both sides with a thin adhesive film that covers it during all the fabrication process, punching, bending...
I think you should, as been suggested previously, buy your plate from a steel fab, who has access to suppliers that don't cater for the general public.
Now the problem is, if they don't have it in stock, will they want to order it for you? Generally, this kind of supply is subject to significant minimum order.

Click to expand...

pitol678 said:

abbey road d enfer said:

Zinc on galvanized steel tends to damp resonances, particularly on the thinnest gauge, which may or may not be to your taste.
IIRC the EMT plates were electrically coated, which made a much thinner zinc coat than hot-dip.
Many steel fabrication shops use protected electroplated steel, which means it is protected on both sides with a thin adhesive film that covers it during all the fabrication process, punching, bending...
I think you should, as been suggested previously, buy your plate from a steel fab, who has access to suppliers that don't cater for the general public.
Now the problem is, if they don't have it in stock, will they want to order it for you? Generally, this kind of supply is subject to significant minimum order.

Click to expand...

I decided against the galvanized metal and ordered a 24 gauge 4x8 feet sheet of cold-rolled steel. This was the thinnest I could get in my town with only buying one sheet. Just as you said, if I had gotten 26 or 28 gauge it would have required that I ordered much more than I needed.

Due to space constraints, I have not started construction on the frame in order to see if the 4 x 8 sheet can be cut by hand down to 6 feet(the steel co. wanted an additional $70 to cut 2 feet off of it!). I think this can be done with hand shears unless the steel is much harder than galvanized.

Click to expand...