May or may not be of interest...

[Andy249]

Hey Guys,

I thought I might post a couple of pics of what has been keeping me busy and off the forum for the last couple of months. Lots of work in all that as you can imagine but I am pretty happy with the result. Sure can't wait till the hull is painted!! I have a couple of hundred photos of various bits and pieces but these were the best I could dig up for the time being.

Till Later

[HAWK]

Andy249,

Nice work!

[Leons2003]

Andy249,
Nice job, how about some specs on the boat, such as inboard,outboard,or outdrive? draft, length, beam, freeboard, expected hull speed,etc. My Bud,who owns a fab shop, and I were talking about building a couple of pontoon deck boats, any suggestions welcome, as don't fool with the idea, LOL
Have a good day
L*S

[fun4now]

sweet

that is 1 fine looking bead in pic 1. and the boat project look's like you should be having fun soon
great work.

[Scott V]

Hey Guys,

I thought I might post a couple of pics of what has been keeping me busy and off the forum for the last couple of months. Lots of work in all that as you can imagine but I am pretty happy with the result. Sure can't wait till the hull is painted!! I have a couple of hundred photos of various bits and pieces but these were the best I could dig up for the time being.

Till Later

Nice work Andy,
Is that a Cigweld or Thermal 300 you have in the first picture?

[Mike W]

Nice, how do you shape the metal for a boat?

[Andy249]

When I got off the net last night I thought how cruel I was to not supply any specs! Sorry 'bout that.

Specs are:
Layout: Bowrider configuration
Plate Thickness: 4mm (1/4" bottom and side sheet)
Length: 5.2m (17 feet)
Beam: 2.5m (8' 2")
Freeboard: 750mm (2' 5")

Draft: This is tricky as the boat is a planing hull and will get right out of the water under power. At rest I don't think it will settle more than 1' in the water. Yet to be seen though, I'll post here again when I have done all my testing.

Top Speed: With a 115hp four stroke Yamaha on the back it might be able to push 50knots, this hull configuration is a proven one and is incredibly efficient, it will plane in two boat lengths and remain pretty level when coming out of the hole.

I think building pontoon boats would be a pretty good way to start with building boats, the pontoons themselves are pretty easy to build! Then all you need to do is build a deck structure on them similar to a house boat. Need to find out the rules and regs and standards on them, it really influences the way your design criteria pans out. Not sure how much you know about hull design etc, but it maybe an idea to engage the services of a naval architect to design the pontoons and give you an idea as to what the loadings,

Those two tanks that I included are 1200 litres (317 gallons) a piece. Plate used was 6mm Aluminium. Pulse Tigged the weld joints with the little Cigweld 300 (please don't hurt me Miller, I wanted a dynasty but couldn't wait 6 weeks!). These little inverter welders just blow me away in terms of both efficiency and control over the welding variables. The aircooled torch on this welder heated up less than water cooled torches I have used in the past, and the aircooled was pushing far higher amperage!!

[Orion]

Nice, how do you shape the metal for a boat?

When I did this type of work we used come-a-longs,dogs and wedges to get the skin in place on the hull.

Very nice looking boat.

[migmaniac70]

Nice work!!! Oh by the way the trailor in Pic 4 needs air in the tire

[Andy249]

I have a jig that I pull all the sheet over to get the shape, the best part for both myself and the customer is that all of those sheets are pulled into place by hand, the less stress in the structure the better in my opinion, should mean that the chance of cracking up later on its life is dramatically decreased.

Thanks for picking up the air in the tyre migmaniac, I was really hoping noone would see that! At least you know the photo is genuine and unedited!! he he!

[migmaniac70]

It's all about attention to detail!!!

[Scott V]

It's all about attention to detail!!!

I bet you thought that welding machine was Miller too!!

[whatter]

Speedglass

Hey Andy,

Nice Boat! I think my skill level would have to increase a little before I took on a project like that. By the way, I noticed the Speedglass Helmet in your picture. You would think a high dollar outfit like Miller would comp you a Big Window Elite. Just teasing, I use a Speedglass myself. At the time I bought it Miller hadn't quite caught up to Hornell yet. I think they have now though.

W. Hatter

[fun4now]

rong Andy LOL

i think you got youre Andy's mixed up LOL ASK ANDY has a miller BWE as to weather it was a comp. 1 can only speculate (unless he feels the need to inform the masses LOL )

[Andy249]

Ello People...

I'm not Ask Andy!! He he, would be nice if Miller did spot me a BWE though, I'm never to proud to turn down a freebie! Although if they had one with an Aussie flag on it I would have one in a flash!

Thanks for the comments guys, nice to be appreciated by your peers no matter what you are doing, hence the reason why I try and help out with advice as much as I can. When I first started welding I never even dreamed of the number of specialist areas in various industries that you can be involved in, surely if someone would like an occupation with great variety and a wide ranging scope than welding would surely be at the top of the list!