Could this work???

[rando]

I stumbled across a site selling kit boats in Aluminium.

I cant weld so I went looking for info on learning to weld and found this product.

http://www.durafix.com.au/index.php?content=home.htm

check out the demos,

Is it possible to use for structural applications,or is it something for handyman,small repair type jobs
Could a novice use this to construct a kit boat,???

[blacksunday]

mate looks more like silver soldering to me? im just trying to work out how they say its stronger then the orignal meta after welding it with a blow tourch(oxy).would have thaught that a mig would have more peno.only down side i can if u go that way is it will probly take a lot of heating and u might get the metal to hot that it turns blue?

[rando]

I watched the demos and thought wow.
Then I read all the pages on the web site and found that they had already answered my question.
Interesting product though.
By the way I am not connected in any way.

[blacksunday]

still pretty good with what they come up with now days.

[welder]

I would only use a product like that in a Big time emergancy and more than likely something else I have on board would make the repair.

I am not to thrilled about slinging a open FLAME around my hull with a 115 gallon [US gallons ] fuel tank under a seal welded deck.

For boat use, I'll call Snake Oil and mirrors .

[finga]

They go to all the ag shows and continuously weld holes in coke cans.
I got some and couldn't get it to work right but I suppose welding holes in coke cans 2 days a week and after awhile you'd get pretty good at it.
I'd like to know what alloy is is too and it's reaction to lots of stuff.

[Chimo]

Hi Rando

If you want a kit boat in aluminium that you put together without welding these might suit you. They used to get made here (Bris) but are now in Malaysia.
A mate of mine had one and I had one and they were pretty good. No leaks and no cracks, but like all painted stuff it was best to avoid other boats and jettys.

http://www.etamax.com.my/

Cheers
Chimo

[Blaster Bretty]

I would only use a product like that in a Big time emergancy and more than likely something else I have on board would make the repair.

I am not to thrilled about slinging a open FLAME around my hull with a 115 gallon [US gallons ] fuel tank under a seal welded deck.

For boat use, I'll call Snake Oil and mirrors .
I dont think any welder in the world will do any sort of welding on a boat with a sealed tank without draining it first and defuming it all out otherwise.... :o
Still I think the product looks very good but one must bear in mind it say's brazing system and not welding system, there is a difference!

Bretty

[oldboot]

It sounds to me like aluminium soldering products that have been around for ages, there may be improvements.

one of the problems for large scale assembly is that the surfaces have to be scrubbed immediately prior to the process.....where you have a large complicated fabrication this may be much harder than it first appears.

most of the alloy boats I have seen use slotted extrusions and there may be some difficulty cleaning inside the slots.... and so forth.

If the product is an alloy containing zinc and other metals....I would be concerned about how it goes with corrosion.

many products will " make a joint stronger than the parent metal", but that does not necessarily mean that the assembly is as strong as if it was welded with the same metal.
There may be a a hardness difference between the joint and the main body of metal that may cause a stress point or other artifacts of the joint being harder than the parent metal.

My understanding is that for best results both structrual and corrosion, it is desirable for the filler to be as close to the parent in composition.

My expectation is that these rods would be fine for repairs to things like rocker covers, sumps and low stress housings and covers when proper welding facilities are unavailable.... but for large scale production, conventional means will be more efficient, cost effective and stronger.

So how many rods and how much gas would you need to assemble a decent plate boat?

I recon you would get a better result with epoxy or sicaflex, and that would be far from ideal.

cheers

[cbs]

I stumbled across a site selling kit boats in Aluminium.

I cant weld so I went looking for info on learning to weld and found this product.



Just an aside...

If you can't weld, and are looking at a kit boat take a look at the current edition (August) of F&B magazine. might be an option for you.


cbs

[rando]

Just to clarify
I was researching another product and found what i needed on a site that also produced kit boats, so i had a look.The site had a constuction video, and i thought yep , If I was slow and precise I could handle such a project but I cant weld.
So i went looking for info on learning to weld ally..... and found this product.
I'm not really considering doing the kit boat thing. It was more of a fun exercise than a serious attempt to get a new boat.
Having said that I would loove to be in a position to say ,,,,,yep I need a new boat.:D:D

[dunks84]

Just remember that alloy welding is very tricky and it takes years of practice to perfect. The cost of the kit may seem low but by the time you add welder (or welder hire), rollers & liners, wire, gas, auto shade helmet etc and all of the materails for the fit out you are probably better off buying a new platey.

[rando]

Yeah Dunks
I thought it might be a bit involved, that's why I went looking to see how long it would take to learn how to weld well enough to trust your life to your handy work.
rando

[suzygs1000]

In my opinion!!

It is no harder to weld aluminium than it is too weld steel. You don't need years of experience, a one week mig welding course at Tafe will do. (I only did a two day one!)

As I have stated before on here, you can build a 6 metre kit boat for about $15k all up, for the bare hull, that include wire, gas and consumables. Add about $2k for gas, wire, grinding wheels, etc, to the price of the kit.

I reckon you can save $10-15 on a boat that size.

Dunks48 is probably right in that it takes years to become perfect at ally welding, but, lets face it, most of the welding on factory built ally boats is not perfect. Any that looks real good has probably been done with a tig, or a $20k pulse welder, by someone with years of experience, like Paul Borger,fromNQ Cats in Ingham.

It's not really that involved.

There is too much misinformation being bandied about on this forum by members who have NOT built there own boat.

I have built two, and am a retired public servant.

I have never had a weld break.

Go for it, I say.



Dave.