Posted by blue_powered on November 26, 2002 at 09:22:45:
In Reply to: Re: Building an ALUMINUM Boat? posted by C.Ray on November 25, 2002 at 20:37:35:
: rivited aluminum - little or no welding. : : There is a line of jet-fishing/boats in BC/Seattle area - beautiful boats, not cheap. All welded aluminum. I believe they even leave them unpainted.
: I believe the rivited ones were simply caulked at the seams (can't tell for sure, the ones I've seen had the caulking so well cleaned off the exposed areas...): C.Ray
: PS You're in the Pac-Nor-Wet as well? I'm in Troutdale, OR- suburb of a Portland suburb...
: PPS Easiest way for a beginner to weld AL is to use a wirefeed welder set up for AL using, I believe, 100% Argon shielding gas(?). Set the wirefeeder machine above the work surface to weld, believe it or not, gravity helps the AL wire feed through the gun easier...
Aluminum is easily available. There are quite alot of plans out there for aluminum boats are you you can also get a pre-cut plasma kit, but not as enjoyable to build if your into the whole learning process to boat building. One can also convert stich and glue plans over even though most designers don't recommend it. Its done all the time. But i do not recommend trying to weld a boat up if one has never welded for a while first.
For the wire feeders if you buy millers spoolmatic 30a the gun holds a 1 pound spool on the gun so you can have it in any position dont need to worry about gravity.