HOW2 join 2 pieces of stainless steel tubing ?
 

I need to modify the height and width of a bimini frame to fit it to my
boat.

What is recommended to joining the cut 1" frame tubing for sturdiness
and so that it will be smoothe for fitting the top afterwards ?

Thank you,
Courtney
--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 08:43:08 -0500, Courtney Thomas
wrote:

I need to modify the height and width of a bimini frame to fit it to my
boat.

What is recommended to joining the cut 1" frame tubing for sturdiness
and so that it will be smoothe for fitting the top afterwards ?

Thank you,
Courtney

Prepare one optionally two insert tubes with OD a sliding fit on the
bimini tube id. The wall thickness should be 1.0 to 1.5 times the
bimini tube wall thickness. The length should be six times the OD or
more. The ends should be cut on the diagonal.
Cut the bimini at a straight section, drill through the tube and
doubler, and fix with monel pop rivets

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

Weld them together for the strongest, smoothest joint. I used to know a fellow
who could arc weld a chicken's lips together and never singe its teeth. Most
ordinary mortals though have to TIG weld thinwall tubing.
Good luck, Boatdreams.

There are several ways to splice tube. If it is 1" OD tube get a short
(12") piece of 7/8" tube and insert it half way in the joint and slip on the
extension. You can pop rivit it in place or weld over the seeam. I welded
mine but it takes a lot of work to get it blended in. TIG is best but I
used my MIG welder on the lowest setting with 316L wire. They carefully
ground off the bead with a flap wheel on an angle grinder and leveled it
with a sisal wheel loaded with emory paste.Used a citric acid pasivating
compound to get the color back and prevent rust and polished it up with a
soft wheel. It is not perfect but you really have to look for the joint.

Glenn

"Courtney Thomas" wrote in message
...
I need to modify the height and width of a bimini frame to fit it to my
boat.

What is recommended to joining the cut 1" frame tubing for sturdiness
and so that it will be smoothe for fitting the top afterwards ?

Thank you,
Courtney
--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619

"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message news:NFS6d.38691$aW5.38528@fed1read07...
There are several ways to splice tube. If it is 1" OD tube get a short
(12") piece of 7/8" tube and insert it half way in the joint and slip on the
extension. You can pop rivit it in place or weld over the seeam. I welded
mine but it takes a lot of work to get it blended in. TIG is best but I
used my MIG welder on the lowest setting with 316L wire. They carefully
ground off the bead with a flap wheel on an angle grinder and leveled it
with a sisal wheel loaded with emory paste.Used a citric acid pasivating
compound to get the color back and prevent rust and polished it up with a
soft wheel. It is not perfect but you really have to look for the joint.

Glenn

"Courtney Thomas" wrote in message
...
I need to modify the height and width of a bimini frame to fit it to my
boat.

What is recommended to joining the cut 1" frame tubing for sturdiness
and so that it will be smoothe for fitting the top afterwards ?

Thank you,
Courtney
--
s/v Mutiny
Rhodes Bounty II
lying Oriental, NC
WDB5619



Y'all sure do things the hard way. A bimini frame is not structural
so serious strength is not an issue. So, arrange so that the cut is
either hidden by the bimini cloth or is easily available. Find some
PVC tubing that fits over your SS tubing. Use a suitable length slid
over the ends of the tubing. Either pop rivet it or simply use duct
tape to secure teh PVC to the SS tubing. If you wanna git fancy, you
can even get silver spray paint for the PVC. You might also consider
sliding a wooden dowel (or maybe a smaller piece of PVC into the SS
tubing.

Well, the Bimini frame may not be structural in that it does not hold the
mast up but it gets grabbed, pulled on braced against and bashed into fairly
regularly. When going forward in a swell that one hand for you can put a
lot of pressure on the Bimini frame. A good stiff wind can put a lot of
pressure on it too. When you are miles from help in a rising sea you don't
want to risk getting skewered by a broken piece of PVC.

Courtney needs to lengthen both the bows and the legs. That will take 3
splices on each bow two of which will be hard to hide. I don't think that
several duct taped chunks of PVC will help the apearance of a Rhodes Bounty.

"Parallax" wrote in message
Y'all sure do things the hard way. A bimini frame is not structural
so serious strength is not an issue. So, arrange so that the cut is
either hidden by the bimini cloth or is easily available. Find some
PVC tubing that fits over your SS tubing. Use a suitable length slid
over the ends of the tubing. Either pop rivet it or simply use duct
tape to secure teh PVC to the SS tubing. If you wanna git fancy, you
can even get silver spray paint for the PVC. You might also consider
sliding a wooden dowel (or maybe a smaller piece of PVC into the SS
tubing.

Glenn, I get the impression you're not in the "Git Er Done" crowd. No
dog's under the porch? Pitty... :-)

"Glenn Ashmore" wrote in message
news:Zac7d.39855$aW5.23471@fed1read07...
Well, the Bimini frame may not be structural in that it does not hold the
mast up but it gets grabbed, pulled on braced against and bashed into
fairly
regularly. When going forward in a swell that one hand for you can put a
lot of pressure on the Bimini frame. A good stiff wind can put a lot of
pressure on it too. When you are miles from help in a rising sea you
don't
want to risk getting skewered by a broken piece of PVC.

Courtney needs to lengthen both the bows and the legs. That will take 3
splices on each bow two of which will be hard to hide. I don't think that
several duct taped chunks of PVC will help the apearance of a Rhodes
Bounty.

....

On Fri, 01 Oct 2004 13:18:18 GMT, "Fred Williams"
wrote:

Glenn, I get the impression you're not in the "Git Er Done" crowd. No
dog's under the porch? Pitty... :-)

So I guess you HAVEN'T seen his website, eh? Mr. Ashmore is nothing if
not careful. I just hope that by the time he finishes that beautiful
vessel of his, he's still hale enough to sail her! G

R.

"rhys" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 01 Oct 2004 13:18:18 GMT, "Fred Williams"
wrote:

Glenn, I get the impression you're not in the "Git Er Done" crowd. No
dog's under the porch? Pitty... :-)

So I guess you HAVEN'T seen his website, eh? Mr. Ashmore is nothing if
not careful. I just hope that by the time he finishes that beautiful
vessel of his, he's still hale enough to sail her! G

Obviously you are not a fan of "The Cable Guy" or Jeff Foxworthy. It was a
JOKE!

Yes, I've seen his little boat, and his software developer mind is shining
through in every super detailed and refined corner of the boat :-)

When he finishes it, I suspect there will be none to compare.

Fred

Thanks for the compliments but rhys is right. I am definitely getting to
old and fat for hanging upside down in the bilge wrasslin' exhaust hose and
4/0 cable. :-) Seems like everything I have left to do is either hard to
get to or incredibly expensive.

Glenn

"Fred Williams" wrote in message
news:4Zx7d.1873$cd1.221@trnddc03...

Obviously you are not a fan of "The Cable Guy" or Jeff Foxworthy. It was
a
JOKE!

Yes, I've seen his little boat, and his software developer mind is shining
through in every super detailed and refined corner of the boat :-)

When he finishes it, I suspect there will be none to compare.

Fred