Welding at Sea

[hellosailor]

banned by who?

I'm under the (mis?)impression it is still very much used.

[capn_billl]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

banned by who?

I'm under the (mis?)impression it is still very much used.

Banned is probably too strong a word, I haven't seen or heard of anyone using it in the US in decades.

It's ,very real possible misapplications, would probably get you a visit from someone who had a lot of questions, if an unlicensed civilian were to try to buy a large quantity of it.

[hellosailor]

One of the companies that makes electrical grounding rods, still sells thermite kits to weld a ground bus onto the top of the rod. All preset, fit it on, fire in the hole, one piece electrical ground.

And IIRC it is still used for some railroad track repairs. Not regular maintenance, but repairs, to fuse the whole thickness of the rail.

Since Cool Hand Luke, the gummint has had a mistrust of any civilian using cutting tools.<G>

[NeptunesTrident]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

Banned is probably too strong a word, I haven't seen or heard of anyone using it in the US in decades.

It's ,very real possible misapplications, would probably get you a visit from someone who had a lot of questions, if an unlicensed civilian were to try to buy a large quantity of it.

It is used to repair/splice rail road tracks and in the splice welds on rebar in high rise buildings and other structures.

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

Thermite was also once used for quickie welds, but also banned.

Not entirely.

CADWELD

Thermite - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[capn_billl]

I stand corrected thanks.

[Pauls]

I'm going to disagree with the numerous recommendations for a wire welder as your on board repair welding system. A wire welder has significant drawbacks compared to a simple stick welder for boat repair. Here's a few points:
1. Wire welders, by their nature, cannot reach into corners and around obstructions like a stick welder can. A welding rod can be bent to reach around obstacles, and it is long enough to reach into places you can't otherwise.
2. It is practical to carry a variety of different welding electrodes for a stick welder, and changing between electrodes takes seconds. Carrying rolls of wire is bulkier, more expensive, and takes a lot longer to change over.
3. A wire welder is more complicated, with feed motor, jaws, controls, etc. Not sure how well all that might work after a couple years stored in your boat somewhere. Stick has a lot less to give trouble in the marine environment.
4. To repeat my earlier post, an on the main engine mounted alternator based welder can be set up inexpensively. It does not require an additional generator as a power source, so there is almost no additional storage space required. It will charge your batteries when you're not welding.
5. 6010/6011 rods are really good for welding thru paint, rust,etc. There are times doing repair when it is almost impossible to remove all of these contaminants before making a weld. I don't know if wire welders have an equivalent that will do this job as well. Perhaps it is available, I don't know. But for sure the ability to make a good weld thru contaminants is an important virtue for an onboard repair welding system.

[bangkaboat]

Originally Posted by Pauls

I'm going to disagree with the numerous recommendations for a wire welder as your on board repair welding system. ...

+1, KISS principle.

[FUTURE DAYS]

Thanks to all the Cruisers for responding to "Welding at Sea".......not sure if I know much about welding now but certainly a lot about MIG fighter aircraft, F-14's, etc.......cheers HARRY !!

[atoll]

moral of the story,don't buy a metal boat,unless you like hot pies...........

[billwa]

Originally Posted by bangkaboat

I'm going to disagree with the numerous recommendations for a wire welder as your on board repair welding system. A wire welder has significant drawbacks compared to a simple stick welder for boat repair. Here's a few points:

+2

In high wind conditions, the slag on stick welders produced a better protected weld than MIG welders.

Cant gas yourself in the bilge with a stick welder.

[xymotic]

I don't understand why it's an either/or thing.

you can do tig mig AND stick for not much more than just one.

[bangkaboat]

GMAW(mig) requires a constant voltage machine and one that is of decent quality costs far more than a constant current dc welder. the issues with running wire, as opposed to stick, have been well-described by PaulS. There are some great little inverter-welders on the market, as well, these days. In the shipyards we do some tight mirror welding, out of necessity, bending our rods & burning down to almost where the flux has come off. On a smaller boat, getting to some joints is an even greater challenge. you can't get into those tight areas with a whip, even if using self-shielding flux core & a long arc. Most boat designs, as with other marine vessels, will have pipes, collars, & other transits close to bulkheads, as opposed to being in the middle of a deck, where you're tripping over them. With stick, getting between the bulkhead & a large diameter transit is much easier than with wire. Don't get me wrong, I love wire, but - with all due respect - for what Harry is asking; stick is the answer.