Barking Mat
Cuddler of hedgehogs.
- Messages
- 12,310
- Location
- France, Brittany.
Heres my first couple of over ambitious welding projects:
The first (below) was when we were still living on our boat (and it got too hot in the summmer, we initially started with a garden purgler, but it was too little), so I built a big canopy to cover the rear deck, this was grace of the scrapman getting a load of 25mm chromed bar in 6 meter lengths, five quid a pop. There's some plastic pipe you can also see just to stop the canvas from sagging when it rained. Under the blue tarp is the new (secondhand) engine. I was well pleased with this, it was only about 18 months later during a storm I lost a couple of the welds, and now looking at it again I really should go over it all again probably. (live and learn). It was all done with a very cheap arc welder, (about 35 quid).
Second Welding Project: Engine change in Second World War Tug, Lose the old engine bed and weld in transverse RSJ's to support new engine bed. During this time I'd got quite handy with the oxy propane, but it does tend to start a lot of fires in the bilges as there's sixty years of grease in the bottom of them, we cleaned out alot of the bilges, but it gets boring after a while scraping bilges. This is my good mate Chris plasma-ing the old engine bed out, it took bally ages, the plasma got through most of it, but not all. Chris just wanted to learn how to cut steel, and I don't turn down free help. I kept an eye, instructed and tidied. The steel flats next to his head are 32mm, and yes he should have probably worn a hat. (But then with a haircut like that...)
Thats the new gearbox behind him, I was going to offer it up to the prop, but I found an alternative method.
Having got all that out, I measured up the new engine chassis, and found the transverse RSJ's often met up in the holes, and to make my life easier in terms of getting the levels right I stuck some angle iron to the walls, this also gave me something to weld where the holes were.
Looked like this all welded into place, using a BOC arc welder 200 amp oil cooled jobee using 4mm 6013 rods. I'd never tried vertical welding before and I was suprised how difficult it was till I'd got through a good packet of rods practicing. I just kept welding and then hitting test bits with a sledge-hammer, till I got to the point they wouldn't break.
I made so many mistakes doing these projects, but when you've no experience of this type of thing, you're bound to, but what alot you learn. I originally cut up the 20cm x 20cm RSJ's to size using a cd box as a set square, then I hoofed them into the hull and needed to be as close to spot on as I could and realised how utterly inaccurate my cutting and measuring was. But a masons set square and a lot of grinding set me straight. (And a lot of sledge-hammering).
There's more projects and they're all ongoing but they don't really have alot to do with welding. I'll keep you posted as it progresses. All the best, Mat
I love constructive criticism incidentally. and what does lol stand for?
The first (below) was when we were still living on our boat (and it got too hot in the summmer, we initially started with a garden purgler, but it was too little), so I built a big canopy to cover the rear deck, this was grace of the scrapman getting a load of 25mm chromed bar in 6 meter lengths, five quid a pop. There's some plastic pipe you can also see just to stop the canvas from sagging when it rained. Under the blue tarp is the new (secondhand) engine. I was well pleased with this, it was only about 18 months later during a storm I lost a couple of the welds, and now looking at it again I really should go over it all again probably. (live and learn). It was all done with a very cheap arc welder, (about 35 quid).
Second Welding Project: Engine change in Second World War Tug, Lose the old engine bed and weld in transverse RSJ's to support new engine bed. During this time I'd got quite handy with the oxy propane, but it does tend to start a lot of fires in the bilges as there's sixty years of grease in the bottom of them, we cleaned out alot of the bilges, but it gets boring after a while scraping bilges. This is my good mate Chris plasma-ing the old engine bed out, it took bally ages, the plasma got through most of it, but not all. Chris just wanted to learn how to cut steel, and I don't turn down free help. I kept an eye, instructed and tidied. The steel flats next to his head are 32mm, and yes he should have probably worn a hat. (But then with a haircut like that...)
Thats the new gearbox behind him, I was going to offer it up to the prop, but I found an alternative method.
Having got all that out, I measured up the new engine chassis, and found the transverse RSJ's often met up in the holes, and to make my life easier in terms of getting the levels right I stuck some angle iron to the walls, this also gave me something to weld where the holes were.
Looked like this all welded into place, using a BOC arc welder 200 amp oil cooled jobee using 4mm 6013 rods. I'd never tried vertical welding before and I was suprised how difficult it was till I'd got through a good packet of rods practicing. I just kept welding and then hitting test bits with a sledge-hammer, till I got to the point they wouldn't break.
I made so many mistakes doing these projects, but when you've no experience of this type of thing, you're bound to, but what alot you learn. I originally cut up the 20cm x 20cm RSJ's to size using a cd box as a set square, then I hoofed them into the hull and needed to be as close to spot on as I could and realised how utterly inaccurate my cutting and measuring was. But a masons set square and a lot of grinding set me straight. (And a lot of sledge-hammering).
There's more projects and they're all ongoing but they don't really have alot to do with welding. I'll keep you posted as it progresses. All the best, Mat
I love constructive criticism incidentally. and what does lol stand for?
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