hiya
Would anyone know anything about welding boat frames in situ ?
I've seen something about it a while ago when i went to a show in
the US
It just so happens i bought a TIG welder/plasma cutter this week
so i can do small stainless mods on customers frames and was wondering
if i could do some of it on their boats.
rich
You should be able to do about any thing with it. I'm sure you already know but it welds on D.C. polarity for all ferrous metal like steel, iron, and stainless steel. If you plan on doing aluminum The welder will have to be A.C. polarity cabable with high frequency for starting the arc. When welding with it try to keep your ground relatively close to where you're welding at especially if there is anything electric (light, motors, pumps, etc) hooked to where you're welding at. It is possible for the current to feed back through and burn up or damage electronics. The close proximity ground will fix that or just unhook whatever is there when welding.
Just keep your tungsten sharp and clean. Also If your new to tig welding wear good thin leather gloves, if not and you accidently dip the tip into your weld you may get a little jolt :o.
Kyle
Also the heat stays fairly concentrated but does spread out so be carefull close to mounting points at the hull it will burn the fiberglass or wood
Kyle
hiya
Thanks for the tips, all good stuff. I am used to mig welding but this new beast
will take a little getting used to.
I've only used one once and it seemed like gas welding, I got this because a
customer wants a coupleof small mods doing and i don't want the frame to be at the
fabricators for weeks waiting for them to get around to it, if you know what i mean.
Rich
It's a handy tool that you won't regret that you got. You're right, it takes the same tecnique as gas welding, If you can control that you can undoubtedly tig.
Kyle
to be honest needles i've not used it very much but it's a handy
bit of kit to have around. I intend to make a radar arch for my boat
when i get some time.
I have done a paid job with it and am sure it won't be the last, in the past
I have done some gas welding so the skills are pretty similar and made it fairly
easy for me.
you don't need a TIG for making frames at all, just get the bending jig from
northcoast marine it will bend up to 1 1/4" tobe for 95% of any frames you need. thats what I use. I think it was about $150 US for the bender, you can make that back on the first 2 frames you make
if you do buy one buy the frame tool as well, all you need is set the frame tool on the boat to the height of frame you want, measure the beam between the mounts and you can go bend up a full frame in about an hour.
rich
Rich
One of the biggest problems with Tig is welding in the open as any breeze will blow the gas away and give you a crappy weld.
Spatter is not a big issue with Tig however something you need to be aware of.
It is the sort of thing you should probably take back to the workshop to do.
Allan