Welding on a steel Ketch

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by ventura 38

maybe you should leave you smart remarks somewhere else. if you have nothing helpful to say say nothing. this forum is for people to help people.

Good morning!! Did you not appreciate the drivel?
Too bad, don't read it, or accept it as the dry humor that it is.


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[jeepbluetj]

Originally Posted by ventura 38

maybe you should leave you smart remarks somewhere else. if you have nothing helpful to say say nothing. this forum is for people to help people.

Would it be snarky of me to post a "lighten up Francis?"

I got a giggle out of it. That was helpful to me.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Sailmonkey

How to weld would be a key bit of knowledge I would think........


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Well.... I think it's a valid point. The OP doesn't say if he's actually a welder or just thinking of renting a machine.
If the latter I would say hire someone. Welding around a small tube with limited access is not for the learner.
Other than that some good points above. I like having the stubs welded to the boat and the stancions slipped over comment.

[reed1v]

Nope. Much better to just weld your stanchions directly to the deck. Nothing to come loose, no water traps, and best of all, you get to choose exactly how robust you want them to be.

[Rustic Charm]

All giving good advice. I have a steel ketch, but I personally hire a welder to do mine as my welding is like bird *****

Can I add, if your welding stainless to steel then you need to use the appropriate rods or the weld will rust really quickly. And they are expensive too. Galvanised tubing is hard to weld without melting it too.

[Leele Belle]

Thank you all for your great advice to my situation. I have found many interesting facts to remember from your posts.
I will be welding the stanchions while the vessel is tied up to the jetty which power will be accessed from. I have my own mig welder of which while I am not a trade's man I have a good knowledge of welding. It's great getting such a wealth of information from everyone that's contributed to my post.
Wishing you all fair winds and a Merry Christmas

Cheers
Jerome

[TKDSailor]

Originally Posted by Leele Belle

Hi all,
I have to re-weld the stanchions on my steel ketch and was hoping anyone might be able to give me any advice and tips in doing this. Is there anything I should know before I undertake to this.
Any and all advice would be great fully accepted.

Cheers
Jerome

We welded our stanchions onto our toerail, which is welded about 2" above the deck with 1/4x2"x2" (approx) steel pieces. The toerail itself is 1"dia rod, from bow to stern. Just make sure that you keep a fire watch inside the boat so that nothing burns inside for at least an hour after welding!

[reed1v]

Normally your stanchions are made of galvanized pipes, not some ss tubing. In point of fact, why put stainless fittings on a steel hull?

[Reefmagnet]

Be careful to avoid "cold lapping" with a MIG welder. This refers to a weld that looks terrific, but is barely fused to one of the base metals. It occurs at welding voltages below about 23 volts or so (dip transfer mode). In your case you will be welding a relatively thin (stanchion) material to a thicker deck and it's the deck that's likely to have the lack of fusion. To alleviate this, avoid a shielding gas formulated for sheet metal - talk to your gas supplier- and use at least a 0.035" wire if you can. Practice on some scrap first to set your welding parameters and get your technique sorted. It's actually a bit tricky to weld around small diameter tube, so a bit of practice beforehand will help. You'll find welding thin to thick material that you'll need to position the angle of the torch to allow more heat towards the thicker material. Give your practice pieces a good whack with a hammer to ensure there well stuck together. Finally, don't keep turning up the gas flow above recommended levels if getting porosity. Shield the area from breeze instead.

Couple of more pointers. Grind the deck area to be welded to clean steel and grind the ends of the tube to remove galvanising where the weld will be. Accurate fitup makes the job a lot easier so work on this as well. Keep wet rags and a bucket of water nearby to cool stuff before it damages anything around the weld area. Don't worry about quenching glowing metal with water. Unless your boat is made from high tensile steel it won't hurt it. And definitely make sure nothing will catch fire below decks. Assume sparks, molten metal may be able to drop below when making this assessment.

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[captlloyd]

Originally Posted by Rustic Charm

All giving good advice. I have a steel ketch, but I personally hire a welder to do mine as my welding is like bird *****

Can I add, if your welding stainless to steel then you need to use the appropriate rods or the weld will rust really quickly. And they are expensive too. Galvanised tubing is hard to weld without melting it too.

You are right about stainless. It takes a stainless rod to do it right. And you need a DC welder to run stainless rod. The OP states he has a mig welder. He can buy a small roll of stainless for his welder. No, TIG would not be appropriate to use as stated elsewhere. If the stanchion is made out of galvanized steel, he is good to go with his present MIG set-up. Just grind the galvanize off of the area to be welded. By the way, you can weld stainless to mild steel.

[reed1v]

Well remember an arc welder in Jakarta cutting into an old fuel tank. Yup, you got it. The explosion took out most of that yard's boats. Common sense is not common.

[IolantheSF]

Welding can be highly technical, depending on the situation. Knowledge of theory and practice is critical. Real professionals have many months of training and years of experience. Nobody's being "snarky". At least spend some hours on YouTube, then practice a few joints on scrap until you are getting good clean welds.

[TKDSailor]

Originally Posted by reed1v

Normally your stanchions are made of galvanized pipes, not some ss tubing. In point of fact, why put stainless fittings on a steel hull?

Stainless stanchions do not need paint, and they look so much nicer, IMHO. Here is a pic, if it works. Also, when you weld galvanized pipe, the galvinizing is either zinc or cadmium, and you should make sure you do NOT breath in the vapors if the welding is anywhere close to the galvanizing (i. e. make sure you grind off all of the galvanizing prior to welding). You will need to paint anything that has been ground.

[ausnp84]

As said above - disconnect main electric ground (DC and AC), have someone on firewatch inside (you will get small flames - give them a respirator if you have one spare and air out the boat as well as you can), and good luck!

Depending on what you're welding to, stainless goes fine to mild, galv goes ok to mild, and mild of course goes well to mild. Just make sure you have the right rods (6013 for mild/mild or 309's for stainlesss/mild), take your time and get some paint on it as soon as you can after.

I welded on our stanchions (mild) half to our box section toe rail (mild) and the other half to our deck (mild) and other than a few minor cracks courtesy of hanging kayaks off them, we're pretty happy with them.

n