Some time ago I promised to show that
DIY TIG welding with
stainless steel boat parts is perfectly feasible. These are my first results.
My first
project was TIG welding a bow ladder made of 25 mm / 1"
stainless steel tube. I can hook this to / in the
Rocna anchor on the bow. The steps are made of strips of fake
teak.
This makes boarding over the bow a lot easier.
The second
project was larger and involved adjusting my bow fitting. To make this suitable for the
Rocna anchor I had already moved the bow roller 50 mm / 2" down-forward with stainless
steel strips.
But this didn't
work well because the anchor chain got caught if it did not come straight from the front when winching in. That is almost always the case!
Therefore, I made made a new plan which started with molds made from board to adjust the bow fitting
With the molds, I sawed out the pieces of 4 mm / 1/8" stainless
steel plate
and made chain guides from 25 mm / 1" tube
After welding the corners in the tube I polished them by putting a
sanding belt from the Powerfile on the cordless drill.
After that the guides could be welded to the plates
I could weld the plates to the bow fitting from one side only. That's why I grinded the weld seam to a V-groove in order to get sufficient penetration. On the back of the weld seam is a piece of
aluminum to prevent oxidation ('sugering').
After grinding and polishing the weld is almost indistinguishable and very strong. I sealed the tubes with plastic caps to keep mud and spiders out.
The end result. The anchor chain is now nicely guided inwards and does not get caught at any angle.
With TIG welding you can get very nice
DIY results. The total costs, including the
purchase of the (new) welding
equipment, were considerably lower than if I had outsourced it.