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Old 18-01-2025, 14:16   #1
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My DIY TIG welding results, bow ladder and bow fitting

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.
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Old 18-01-2025, 15:42   #2
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Re: My DIY TIG welding results, bow ladder and bow fitting

Hey, nice, thanks for sharing. Did you use one of the modern (little, light weight) inverter welders? You said you “sawed out pieces of SS plate” – from the cuts I think you may have used an actual saw, not an angle grinder, what saw did you use? Basic carbide blade or?? Your pic of the chain guides being made show an angle grinder behind the vise – is that what you used to cut the tube? Am I correct to see that you didn’t cut the tube thru – you left a “hinge” to bend the tube on and hold it for welding? LOVE your belt sander idea !! Where did you get the plastic caps for the tube ends/are they UV resistant?
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Old 18-01-2025, 16:19   #3
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Re: My DIY TIG welding results, bow ladder and bow fitting

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Did you use one of the modern (little, light weight) inverter welders?
Yes, a modern 200A pulse DC TIG welder with Argon gas, tungsten gold 2.4mm / 3/32" electrodes and 1.5mm / 1/16" SS316 welding rods.



Quote:
You said you “sawed out pieces of SS plate” – from the cuts I think you may have used an actual saw, not an angle grinder, what saw did you use? Basic carbide blade or?
I used the trusty angle grinder for outside edges and a jigsaw with proper saw blade for the inner corners. It doesn't need to be very neat, it's all being grinded along the way.


Quote:
Your pic of the chain guides being made show an angle grinder behind the vise – is that what you used to cut the tube? Am I correct to see that you didn’t cut the tube thru – you left a “hinge” to bend the tube on and hold it for welding?
Yes, an angle grinder with a thin cutting blade. You can cut remarkably precise this way. I indeed didn't cut all the way but left a small amount of material to act as hinge. This way you don't have to align three small pieces, which are difficult to clamp in the right angle. Worked really well!

Quote:
LOVE your belt sander idea!
I liked it too You can buy special tube sanding machines, but for such a small project this worked good enough. I actually first made a test setup with a felt disk, a plastic cap and an old grinding disk. But this worked so well that I promoted it to the final setup. It's a bit clumsy but did the job.

Quote:
Where did you get the plastic caps for the tube ends/are they UV resistant?
At the local hardware store. Mostley used for furniture, e.g. chair legs. Black plastic is usually quite UV resistant, but they're so cheep that I can exchange them easily if they break down or get lost at some time.
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Old 18-01-2025, 16:49   #4
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Re: My DIY TIG welding results, bow ladder and bow fitting

Hey, big thanks for your quick 411, way cool,
This afternoon I read this: https://nypost.com/2025/01/14/lifest...ling-new-poll/ and I think these poor creatures will never understand you, me, what you have done, or my appreciation for what you have done.

I have some old wool socks that are wearing at the heels ... my next interest is learning how to darn socks. ... I'd worry about it, but gen-z ( whatever that is) probably doesn't know what the verb word "darn" means. Darn it!
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Old 18-01-2025, 17:06   #5
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Re: My DIY TIG welding results, bow ladder and bow fitting

Thx for the appriciation. I don't darn socks, but I do have two heavy sewing machines mainly for boat projects. Made my own maindrop and cockpit tent.

BTW not all is lost. My own gen-Z offspring is very DIY capable, especially my daughter.
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Old 19-01-2025, 05:13   #6
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Re: My DIY TIG welding results, bow ladder and bow fitting

Nice work, and thanks for the inspiration.
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Old 19-01-2025, 11:59   #7
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Re: My DIY TIG welding results, bow ladder and bow fitting

Very nice. What model of TIG welder do you use? I've been thinking about buying one for years but get stalled because there are so many model and options.
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Old 19-01-2025, 13:56   #8
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Re: My DIY TIG welding results, bow ladder and bow fitting

The welder I use is the "Stamos S-WIGMA 200 PDC 200A puls", but I live in The Netherlands, I doubt you can buy it outside Europe. If you don't want to weld alu you can stick to the more affordable DC machines.
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Old 20-01-2025, 21:25   #9
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Re: My DIY TIG welding results, bow ladder and bow fitting

Thanks, ilCigno. I'm not in Europe but I can at least use the specs of your system as a reference point. Any features it doesn't have that you wish it did or things you could do without?

I do want to be able to weld aluminum because I fabricate a lot of things other than boats parts and work quite often in aluminum.
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Old 21-01-2025, 01:15   #10
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Re: My DIY TIG welding results, bow ladder and bow fitting

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Any features it doesn't have that you wish it did or things you could do without?
The digtal readout is handy and common on most modern TIG welders. The machine has a regulated fan which switches off when cooled down; no constant hum in the background when not actually welding. I like that feature a *lot*. There's nothing I would do without, it does the job well.
I added quick-release couplings (ordinary pneumatic quick connect couplings) to the gas hose since I have not the luxary of a stationary welding station.
Other tips:
You definately need some kind of stand for the welding torch. I made one myself but you can buy them also.
Buy several tungsten electrodes, when you learn to TIG weld you dip your electrode often in the puddle and then you need to sharpen it again. With some spares you can keep on welding.
I found sharpening the electrodes with my power drill very handy, you get a nice round sharp tip. Wear a mask and ventilate while sharpening, the tungsten particles are very unhealthy!
Don't worry to much about cup sizes, gas lenses and other secudary stuff. Yes they do matter but in the beginning your muscle memory is far more important.
When welding stainless, be aware to passivate your welds afterwards in order to restore the stainless properties. The acid is nasty stuff BTW!
Practice a lot and remember: your angle grinder is your friend
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