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How to Choose the Right Used Boat to Fix It Up?
I've had quite a bit of experience working on boats, some for my main
occupation which is as a welder/fabricator and some just on my own or friends boats. Steel hulls can be good and lets face it; welding steel is not a difficult skill with a little practice. Im not telling you to weld up your own hull and go sail the world, but most people with a 3 month part time course or a couple of weeks very intensive training can learn almost all they'd need to know to operate an oxy torch, a mig welder (or stick if you dont mind rolling the hull over) and some basic forming skills. I've worked on steel hulls from 25' to 10,000 tonnes with hull thicknesses from 1/4" to 1". With the right tools and enough time you can do as good a job as any manufacturer. Make sure you've got it right before you trust your life to it though. Aluminum is a bit trickier, but its mostly more of a tool game. Dents can be fixed with something as simple as two hammers. Forming is not hard but you'll need a couple of dollys and to learn how to anneal. Most aluminum work hardens. Cracks/splits are another story, and leaks can often be mended with some silicone. If you've got lots of time and little money and are somewhere close to america, buy an oxy/acetylene rig (under $300) and then get one of these miracle gas welding torches like the meco midget, see here; http://www.tinmantech.com/html/meco_midget_torch.html these are used for super high tech fabrication of airplanes, F1 race cars, high end motorcycles and bicycles. The guys at the above webpage have excellent demo days, materials and videos. Expect to spend 6 months+ learning this very valuable and highly sought after skill. You will be very popular if you can master it. If you have lots of money and little time then MIG aluminum is more for you. I've done plenty of aluminum work with boats, and at the harder end the latest high tech tip trailers for big trucks. Dont settle for anything less than a push/pull system (small motor pulling the wire that is contained in the gun). Expect to pay somewhere in the vicinity of $20,000 for the latest fronius or kempi welders that will have you welding aluminum to survey standard within an afternoon. Anything less (like even $5,000) just will not cut the mustard. I've tried most of the stuff on the market. Forget anything that costs less than $1000, or any welder that claimes to be adabtable to aluminum; you're wasting your time and money. If you dont have the money to get into this game then call around to find out who is making aluminum truck bodies and turn up any day of the week except Friday near their closing time with a case of beer and your boat. They will have _plenty_ of scrap in the bin. My personal experience with fibreglass seems to be the same as others who have already posted. In the early days, folk who were making boats out of the stuff seemed hesitant, and they used the same thickness of solid fibreglass as they had been using for wood before then! None of these boats were speed demons, but they were _solid_ and many are still doing circumnavigations. After these first boats didnt sink they got comfortable and started experimenting with different ideas.... these middle boats are hit and miss and you really need to dig, talk to owners of the same boat, find out the companies history, talk to the guys running the company if its still in operation. They are very helpful if they're still around and have memories that will amaze you. With newer boats they seem to have got it right with hull thickness and composites/sandwhiches. Cant speak for wood except to say whenever i see a wooden boat i want one but im scared at the same time. There are some very handsome wooden boats out there, and it strikes me as more a craft than fibreglass though i cant say why. I cant help but rub my hands over the hull, and then knock on it. This is something i've seen people who have never sailed in their life do, so it must be in our basic D.N.A or something ;-) The sound tells a lot. Shaun |
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