Welding Tips and Tricks

So I am working on a buddies boat, wants to remove the side boxes to open the floor but in his boat they are the side supports to the floor. I am going to remove the boxes and make matching side braces to match all the other ribs. Aluminum obviously, either .090 or 1/8, gotta measure and see what the current ones are. The picture is the best I have at the moment but the part going up the side thats riveted to the boat is what I will be making. I was gonna tack the pieces from the back and then TIG the outside corners. The strips are so small I am sure things will warp on me. Will chill bars help? If so what do you recommend? 1/4" Aluminum?

I'd love to help, but I'm pretty sure I could warp 1" plate with a 1/4" tack. I'll follow along to learn what I can.

Small tacks shouldn’t warp the pieces so badly that you can’t beat them flat while they’re hot. Just be sure to go slow, wait for the hull to cool, and use short stitch welds to install the braces.

I am actually going to be creating those vertical pieces and riveting them to the hull so it looks original. I don't have access to a break so I will be building them out of multiple pieces.

Adam35C wrote:I am actually going to be creating those vertical pieces and riveting them to the hull so it looks original. I don't have access to a break so I will be building them out of multiple pieces.

I'm confused. You are planning to rivet the new braces but you're worried about warpage from welding? Help me out here...

I will be fabricating the piece that I circled. The side boxes I am removing are what is tieing the sides to the bottom. Once removed that support needs to be replaced so I am going to fabricate those circled side braces. The building of those braces will be welded. Then the complete brace will be riveted to the side of the boat and welded to the bottom brace, just to keep the factory look. So that part circled will be built out of 5 pieces of metal and welded on a bench before being installed.

Tack it all together and clamp it down to a bench prior to welding out. Skip weld and back stepping will minimise warping. Blow compressed air over it between skips to cool it.

Coldman wrote:Tack it all together and clamp it down to a bench prior to welding out. Skip weld and back stepping will minimise warping. Blow compressed air over it between skips to cool it.

Skip weld and back stepping? And good idea on the compressed air! Never thought of that! Would clamping it down with thicker aluminum help suck the heat out?

Coldman wrote:Tack it all together and clamp it down to a bench prior to welding out. Skip weld and back stepping will minimise warping. Blow compressed air over it between skips to cool it.

Skip weld and back stepping? And good idea on the compressed air! Never thought of that! Would clamping it down with thicker aluminum help suck the heat out?

Skip welding is when you connect the dots, IE tacks, with welds. Don’t just weld in one spot. Weld between a couple of tacks, then stop and move to another area. Just keep skipping around till all the dots are connected. Moving around and welding in small stretches will help things stay cool.