I picked up a plastic barrel from work (about 25 gal) that had straight sides up to within 3 inches of the top. I thought I would saw it off at the top and have a nice straight sided barrel. I cut it and then found the top went from a circle to an (racetrack) oval. Turns out the sides varied in thickness with 2 opposite sides 3/8" thick and the other 2 at 90 deg were about 3/16" or less. Well the thick sides went straight and the thin bent. Seems that heavy/curved top 3 inches was for a purpose. So much for blow molded drums, and back to working with a 30 gal steel Hydraulic oil barrel. Lesson learned.
- Welcome to J. Phil Thien's Projects.