Tack, tack, and tack some more...

N

neil b

Member
Here's a few pictures of the hull. Tack welded forward on the longitudinals (18" from centerline) today. I have been using boat stands to put a bit of pressure on the bottom plates to get rid of any gaps under the longitudinals. Once they are tacked bow to stern I can start tacking all of the bulkheads and the transom in place. Then it will be time to figure out the fuel tank situation.
Hope all is well,
Neil

Long leads are a pain in the butt, until you need to reach something way up in the bow.
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Working my way forward on the two longitudinals 18" from CL. The six bulkheads are notched so they drop into those two longitudinals. Then the outside longitudinals (32" from CL) drop into the bulkheads. You can see I haven't finished modifying the outside longitudinals. I am removing part of the tops of the lightning holes to open up the under deck storage. The tops of the bulkheads, deckplate, and cockpit coaming will provide plenty of rigidity.
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Tack.
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Moving forward.
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dang thats cool...

looking at those tacks its not hard to tell when someone knows what they are doing ! Yours look like the stack of nickles , mine look more like the wadded up paper roll they came in.
 
Nice welds Neil. What machine are you using? I want Miller's new Millermatic 140 for my iron railings. It has an auto set feature which takes the guesswork out of set up.................Kevin
 
The machine is Millermatic 350P. Here are a few more pictures from today. It will be awhile before I'll be able to post any cool pictures of dramatic progress/changes. I've got a ton of welding to do...
- Neil

A picture from below the cradle...trying to show the underside of the hull. Its hard to get much of it in the same frame.
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Boat stands.
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Tack welds running up to the bow.
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Kevin,
I forgot to mention, that Millermatic 350P has factory "guidelines" or parameters for different alloys and metal thicknesses. You turn a knob on the butt of the push-pull gun and it raises or lowers the wire feed speed, which automatically adjusts the amperage. I've found that the parameters get you close, but I have been welding on a higher wire feed speed (more heat) because the temperature of the aluminum stays pretty cold in the barn. If you were able to work in a nice inside, heated shop then they might be more appropriate. Sometimes I'll turn the machine down if I've been welding in one particular area, and my base metal has had a chance to heat up. Its a bit tricky with different air temps every week. Its also a pretty fine line between getting good fusion/weld penetration and just burning right through. Ive got a hole or two to show for my lack of experience.
Hope all is well,
Neil
 
Neil, your inexperience does not show. You appear to be a very capable welder/fabricator. I'll bet that the humidity plays with the weld application as well. I hate to weld when it's raining out. You're doing some terrific work...................Kevin
 
Why whats happening with the duckwater boats? They coming unglued?
I don't know anything about them, other than that they make some big stuff and its pretty pricey.
-Neil
 
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