Justin, I feel your pain. I don’t like the looks of the things I make either. I have to tell myself ‘Don’t try and make it look like it came from the store. Good enough is good enough’.
So anyway I’ve come up with a simple type of cover that I’m happy with. Basically its just a thin, flat piece of sheet metal sitting on top of a ring. The piece sheet metal has spring force applied at it’s center.
The surface of the ring is ground to a flat plane by using a piece of coarse sand paper, 60 grit, glued to a sheet of glass. I weld a flat head carriage bolt to the center of the sheet metal. To prevent the sheet metal from warping I clamp a large block of aluminum behind the weld to act as a heat sink.
The final step to create an air tight seal is you put a sheet of plastic wrap over the ring and just a smear of RTV on the cover. Close the cover so that the rtv gets squeezed just a little and let it cure. Next day open the cover and peal off the plastic wrap. It should seal really well. Note: The acids in woodgas will take off any paint that’s on the underside of of the cover, you may want to take it off before you apply the RTV.
I haven’t gone into every last little detail. Ask me any questions.
Rindert
Here is a link to one I made.
