Glueing stainless steel tubing??

[Reefmagnet]

Hey thanks for all the good advice guys. After looking at all the opinions I'll think I'll go with through bolting the fittings and potting the joint with jb weld since I have a heap of the latter sitting in my toolbox and I will also use the frame as a brace point for my radar pole with tended to resonate a little bit when motoring at certain revs. I have to say It's not the actual welding of the tube that's a worry to me, it's the cleanup and polishing afterwards that gobbles the time. Mind you if I had one of them fancy tube linished machines things would be different, but I don't!

Now to add my contribution in regards to drilling stainless as I've lost count of how many holes in s/steel I've drilled over the years and never had any great drama; 1) Use a sharp drill bit; 2) Use lube. I use an actual cutting lubricant most times, or just Wd40 if that's all that's available; 3) drill at slow speed; and, finally, 4) Always start with a pilot hole (I usually start with around a 4 mm (5/32") hole and then go up in approximately 2 to 3 mm steps.

Cheers

[a64pilot]

These are also glued together,
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_American_AA-5

I’m still not a fan as I have worked on and had too many disbonds on aircraft myself to count. Back in the 70’s and 80’s it was all the rage, yet doesn’t seem to have stood the test of time.

[Paul L]

I don't see what adding glue to the end fittings adds to a through-bolted connection( or riveted)? The slop in these structures is usually in the bolt together end fittings between two pieces, not the end fitting itself.

[charliehows]

why not weld it? Seems a lot of trouble to go to, to find a less permanent, less satisfying solution than a decent weld. I'm addicted to making welded mounts and brackets for anything I come across - with a $200 stick welder and s/s rods it couldnt be much simpler.

[Djarraluda]

Just a note that, should you use an adhesive, ensure you roughen the surfaces as well as degrease them. Shiny polished stainless steel will always have less adhesion than a satin, or rougher surface.

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by charliehows

why not weld it? Seems a lot of trouble to go to, to find a less permanent, less satisfying solution than a decent weld. I'm addicted to making welded mounts and brackets for anything I come across - with a $200 stick welder and s/s rods it couldnt be much simpler.

How much welding skill do you need to get this right?

How are you polishing and passivating?

[charliehows]

Originally Posted by Paul L

How much welding skill do you need to get this right?

How are you polishing and passivating?

well I've never actually done a welding course so I guess it doesnt require a tremendous amount of skill - i'd say $25 of practice sticks and a bit of scrap s/s would get you started.
for a bit of alliterative fun I'd say polishin' and passivatin' is for pussies...

[Paul L]

Originally Posted by charliehows

well I've never actually done a welding course so I guess it doesnt require a tremendous amount of skill - i'd say $25 of practice sticks and a bit of scrap s/s would get you started.
for a bit of alliterative fun I'd say polishin' and passivatin' is for pussies...:whistling:

Turns out I'm not a good welder or poet.

[CatNewBee]

Well you can TIG weld stainless, but I doubt you'll get the equipment under 200$. You can also weld it the traditional way with MMA, but then corrosion might become a future problem on the joint.

[Reefmagnet]

You definitely need to tig this job unless you have exceptional ability. I can repair cracks in stanchions with stick, but with up to 18 circumferentially welded joints on this job, on dissimilar metal thicknesses, sooner or later there's a good chance a hole will be blown in the tube and that would really blow!

[valhalla360]

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[valhalla360]

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[valhalla360]

If you want permanent weld it.

If you want to disassemble, set screws or thru bolts.

I would be hesitant with glue as SS is susceptible to crevice corrosion and glue sets that up nicely. I wouldn't be too worried about the glue failing.

I did up some davits a while back. I cut and bent the pieces and took it to a guy who did SS welding to finish up.

Have had bimini's with set screws that stayed together fine for years.

[charliehows]

Originally Posted by Reefmagnet

You definitely need to tig this job unless you have exceptional ability. I can repair cracks in stanchions with stick, but with up to 18 circumferentially welded joints on this job, on dissimilar metal thicknesses, sooner or later there's a good chance a hole will be blown in the tube and that would really blow!

well jeez...much as I hate to slap myself with a backhander, I am no genius but I managed to fabricate a s/s windvane self steering auxilliary rudder unit with my less than $200 stick welder - not suggesting anyone tackle that as a starter, but a little bracket for a solar rig - c'mon, really? What I'm trying to say here is one of those 'give a man a fish you feed him for a day; teach him how to fish...etc...' sort of things. I always grab an excuse to experiment with a new skill, sometimes it doesnt work out quite how I want, but I always learn something that eventually comes in handy. Everyone who picked up a welder has blown holes in tubes, plates, whatever, that's how you learn. As far as I can see theres a couple of reasons for the concensus among the illiterati about the necessity for TIG welding 1; you dont know any better and 2; its quite hard to find s/s welding rods.

[Pete7]

The lower curved section of this frame were it joins the transom are glued to the upper part of the frame. To make life interesting the lower curved parts are 1" and the upper frame all 25mm.

To join the lower curved sections I filed a 5" aluminium round bar plug to an interference fit in each section, warmed up the a frame, coated with epoxy resin and hammered the plug into each piece before quickly lining them up on the boat. The seam between the two different sized pieces of tube are hidden under a layer of electrical tape so you don't catch you fingers and the seam is hidden.

The positioning needed to be done on the boat and since I can't weld and refuse to pay a welder to visit the boat, the plug and epoxy method seemed the ideal solution. That was a year ago, still no sign of problems.

Pete