The panel that forms the sides with the folded edge is all one piece that runs all the way around the tank. The folded edge is called a Pittsburgh seam. You need a good sized metal brake in order to form that seam properly. The top and bottom panels, you can do those yourself, you will need to cut some steel plate to make a form/pattern in the shape you want, and them hammer-bend the edges of your sheep metal over the edges of the steel plate. Obviously takes some patience and careful measurements and planning to make sure your forms or patterns give you the desired finished dimensions.
James From has done quite a bit of salvation work on old tanks, I’m not sure he was fabbed up a complete tank. When I talked to him on the phone, it seemed that he specialized in repair work as opposed to replacement, but check with him anyway to be sure.
I have parts to make a Lockwood-Ash tank out of brass, I will take some pictures and email them to you if you are interested in seeing them. The side panel is currently one very long straight strip with the Pittsburgh seam on it. It still has to go through a roller in order to create the radii for the rear corners. The front corners are more of a conventional square or sharp bend and have very little (if any) radius to them. The L-A tank is very similar in shape to the Caille that way.
You can use copper or brass sheet, galvanized or tin will be much cheaper and easier to get in the thickness you want, they are all easy materials to solder so that isn’t an issue.
Hope this helps.
best,
T2
He's livin' in his own private Idaho..... I hope to go out quietly in my sleep, like my grand-dad did..... and not screaming, like the passengers in his car...
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