Next message: The Marchands: "Re: lv-ab: How far can a do-it-yourselfer go?"
how do you do paul...i wish i could answer your question from a welders
point of view, but my experience in this area has been one of "owning"
small companies that weld/fabricate/machine and contracting with
companies to do subcontracting for me...however, i can offer the
following...you are correct that scap ss can be bought for a buck a
pound...but it is more than a bitch to drill it, cut it, and grind
it...you are also correct that it can be stick welded (a welding method
that a novice can learn), however, stick welding is ugly compared to tig
and stick welding is used for strong, short lengths of bead, while tig
can result in a beautiful, strong, long bead weld, a "yaughting
requirement"...the proper ss for marine applications is type 316...316L
is even better...it is triple the cost of 400 series ss and in a srap
buying situation, i would not rely on getting 316L...don't get me
wrong... i have a fair amount if ss on my boat...primarilly in
applications where electrolysis is not a concern, or fatigue is not a
concern, or a little pitting/rusting is not a concern, or safety is not
a concern, or bronze was not available/practcal...I have used type
304/305 ss for hause pipes, the fittings at ends of the bow sprit and
bumkin, stantions, wire cable and terminations, sink....for fittings
that need to be poured at a foundry, bronze or 316 ss might cost about
the same, although my guess is ss is a bit more...BUT...a poured,
foundry, part almost always needs some machining...and bronze is much
easier/cheaper to machine than any type of ss....back to the origional
question of "why learn to weld"....if you want to, be my guest...but
during an 8 year building project, I had to adjust my priorities of the
things to learn vs the things to hire others to do...I decided to have
others do foundry pouring, welding, some maching, sail making, engine
making, tree making, most plywood making, most block making, cushion
making....if i had it all to do over again with plenty of time to learn
things, I would choose sail repair/making, cushion and canvas work to
learn and do myself...not welding....as it is, i poured my own lead
keel, started with tree logs, terminated wire cable, made a hollow round
tapered wood mast, made my own patterns for the foundry....i'm getting
tired just thinking about it...one of the only tasks that larry pardey
chose not to learn was welding...he does not rely on other people to do
anything on his boat...he is very fussy...cosmetically and
strength/saftey....he does not rely on his welding...but...to each his
own...a lot of people think I'm crazy...and so it goes...doug
http://community.webtv.net/nokido2/PARDEYSISTERSHIP
attached mail follows:
...however i would not bother to learn
> about welding ss or machining ss...it takes a lot of experience to tig
> weld correctly and home equipment will not machine the VERY HARD
> stainless sleel
Doug, SS is a buck a pound in the scrapyard and welds easily with a stick
welder. What is the problem?
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