fill it with expanding foam

>>995826
Keep them upside down. The soda bottle idea is a good one, fyi.

One in the picture should already be air tight.
If you really want to make sure it will float no matter what stuff it with foam.

>>995829

Thanks. I would look into the cost effectiveness. Its about 33 coconuts for a spray can sized can so if it doesn't expand 20 fold then it can get expensive quick as I make 60 coconuts a day and that is management position wages.

I plan to use /diy/ tier pallet and scrap pitch pine framework and scrap yellow/ pitch pine for the deck

I guess I can make a more secure frame that encases the barrels open end to open end so in the event I loose a cover I won't loose any bottles.

>>995831

I want to keep them on their side. They are going to experience ground swells conflicting tides and high winds. Its mooring is going to be in a Channel where the Atlantic and west Indian sea meet so its construction needs to be strong and the smaller the above and below surface profiles the easier it will be.

>>995826
those are HDPE right?

you could just hot air weld the lids to the body

fill the lid edge with epoxy before putting it on, then let it cure upside down?

Use silicone sealant in the grove on the edge of the lid so you can reuse it later.

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>>995826
My job involves me filling these with chemicals all day, so I have some experience with this.

The kinds that have a clamp, like in your picture, generally are not air tight. Really they aren't fluid tight either. We use them for lubricants which are in a bag. We also get raw chemicals in them but they're in a bag.

If you want air tight you're gonna want to get the plastic drums that have 2 standard drum caps on them, the kind you generally use a drum wrench on. As long as you tighten them to 30 ft lbs and the o ring is good they should be air tight.

You can just glue the bottles together or something. Someone mentioned expanding foam, you could use a combination of bottles and expanding foam i.e. pack a row of bottles, spray in the foam to pack the shit together, next layer, etc. Even if everything went to fuck and blew up somehow, the clean up would be giant rice cakes of foam and bottles.

>>995837
Coconuts?

>>996063

We have hundreds of these coming in every month. So they are all 5 mins from being thrown in the trash.

>>996072

They are the domestic shipping latch type as seen in OP.

>>996123

After investigating the price of an actual cubic foot of expanding foam it won't be worth it even if it was just 5 cans.

I plan to use 8 drums so even if I use a foam and bottle blend it will be $$

I have decided to stick with bottles and just lash the drums with galvanized wire or use some scrap L plates to secure the lid as well as the latch that is already there.

And the frame will be constructed in a way that if the lid falls off it won't move laterally more than 1/2" or so. The barrels will be secured from 4 "corners"

It will really just be up to me to inspect it every now and then to check for the extent of corrosion and wear.

Thanks for the suggestions.

even if you think yo have it right get a round of life vests for you and anyone that will be sailing with you.

>>996202

>pontoon
>sailing

Not in these waters buddy.

This is going to be a party dock.

>>996127
Well like I said, the type with the latch are not water tight. We've left raw materials in that style drum out in the rain and when we opened them up they were full of water. So use some silicone or something to seal them up.

>>996242

If you read the thread you would notice that he wanted to permantly seal them to put them in the sea. Silicone alone will not reliably keep air in.

He also pretty much said he would just use bottles for buoyancy instead.

cover them in layers of shrink wrap.

>>995837
What about a combo of bottles and foam. It takes less foam and makes the bottles secure in the event of it breaking