Narrow boat doors advice

[Ed.Boat]

Hi folks, Hope it's ok to post here. I'm a joiner that also dabbles in steel work. My welding is just about passable after a few days practice

I want to make some doors like this out of 4mm plate. I'm presuming to weld the front strip and hinges.

Question: will regular steel plate be flat enough for doors or can I presume some bowing/twist?

many thanks Ed

 

[dieselsamurai]

I would weld the hinges from behind by drilling holes in the plate and chamfering the edges , welding them on from the front more secure but you will need to be neater . Strip looks like it just has a few runs of weld top middle and bottom you could do the same just practice first.

what welder do you have ?

 

[Ed.Boat]

Hi,

Great Idea re holes & hinges!

Actually the welder was my next question. I borrowed a nice little par weld inverter a few years back but had to give it back.

I don't really want to spend 200 but I don't like buying too cheap. I wondered if theres somerthing around 100-120 that will be ok.

There seems to be so many cheap inverters out now it's confusing!

Perhaps that question is for a seperate thread



thanks very much

 

[bricol]

If you've not got the equipment then my suggestion will be hard work - but why plate? Make it out of thinner gauge, with a return fold all round to make a stiffer, lighter door that could be easily infilled with insulation - much as that top sliding hatch looks to be made.

 

[Ed.Boat]

If you've not got the equipment then my suggestion will be hard work - but why plate? Make it out of thinner gauge, with a return fold all round to make a stiffer, lighter door that could be easily infilled with insulation - much as that top sliding hatch looks to be made

 

[Ed.Boat]

thanks.

I actually have everything but the welder. also needs some other bits done so I feel it's worth getting one.

Do you mean thinner plate? or something else?

 

[dobbslc]

Welcome to the forum ed!
You can get really cheap inverter stick welders for that sort of money that will work ok on thicker steel. Buy one off Amazon so that if it does go wrong you can send it back easily.
Have you got a decent power supply?

 

[TEO]

I made some with a frame of 1" angle & 3mm plate. Can't remember where I bought the hinges but I do remember that they were expensive relative to normal ironmongery even really good quality 4" hinges felt cheap.
I don't have the machines to make them but that was suggested as a way forward when I asked about sourcing them more recently.
Many boat builders use bullet hinges and weld them to a triangular(ish) flap to simulate the older trad style.
The angle was folded for me from 3mm plate by Profold (I think they were in Thatcham) they were excellent & the folding gave the edges a nice radius. That was all a happy accident as I had the angle from a different job. Had I been doing it from scratch with no materials I'd have asked Profold to cut & fold a piece of 3mm plate to the finished dimensions then just weld up the corners to finish.
Then put a strip of flat down the centre of one door as a weather bar & to protect the lock.
The inside of the panels was lined with thick ply stuck on with puraflex40.
I'll try& find the pics.

 

[Ed.Boat]

I found a useful vid

The only thing I couldn't see was if he seam welded the plate on doors after. He spots it from the back but wouldn't it need a complete weld?

 

[Ed.Boat]

I'm guessing this may distort the doors too much?? So how do you waterproof the joint then?