Cisco,
Speaking of Ali', there was a product I saw years ago. Some Joker was selling what looked like 60/40 Soldering sticks at a market but were made for Gas Welding Ali'. It looked like a neat product and was demonstrated by welding anything from Aluminum Cans to broken castings.
Have you seem or tried said product??
Ron

Sounds good Gizmo. Are they "Eutectic" brand? They were making a bunch of low temp welding/brazeing/soldering sticks a while back.

Usually quite expensive to buy but many industrial shops will split packs and sell by weight.

Comes back to the old problem Ron. Are you going to be using them enough to justify the gas bottle hire.

cisco said...

Sounds good Gizmo. Are they "Eutectic" brand? They were making a bunch of low temp welding/brazeing/soldering sticks a while back.

Usually quite expensive to buy but many industrial shops will split packs and sell by weight.

Comes back to the old problem Ron. Are you going to be using them enough to justify the gas bottle hire.

The rods have NO branding they are in fact just zinc moulded in a 90deg angle iron or similar.
Zinc is much harder and more brittle than Ali and melts at a lower temp than the Ali. A standard propane (BBQ gas) torch can be used BUT Ali sucks the heat up quick so only really suitable for small jobs, and you need to work quick, if you take your time and keep adding heat the whole thing falls apart, regard it akin to "soldering aluminium" and NOT suitable for building things like bull bars or land yachts.

Chook2 said...

The buggers are not shy in ripping us off!!!

Have to agree I have 4x D size bottles... Argo shield light, Argon, Oxygen and Acetylene.... $700+ per year just in rental .... ouch!!!!

Gizmo said...

Got some of those Ali sticks from a show.... Work brilliantly.
The actual rod is almost pure zinc.
I have used them on many a job but the trick is to wire brush the weld area with a stainless steel brush first a standard wire brush doesn't work as well.

i bought some too!, never got a single successful weld

Slow?colk, slow is good "More haste less speed" "Do it once and do it properly"
Looking good though. The lads out of the west here are knocking these things up a dime a dozen but they have a lot of time on their hands "Old Farts" you know[}:)]. They have a lot of $$$$ to chuck about us folks what have to battle for time and money have to build and maintain.
Ron

Col,
That is looking quite nice. You are doing a nice job. Are you going to name her??
Ron

Nice job Col,
Looking at that Set of Wheels I think you need to talk to Paul about Sail Cut/shape before making a cut decision as I think she is worth that little extra effort to gain the maximum out of her.

A name may come out of your first scare, B-I-T-C-H ? Slew Foot Sue? you never know what habits she has until she lifts her skirts and runs and then a name may come.
Ron

Apart from this site, this is where I'm blagging other ideas from.



No boom down haul on that, so I left it out. My collection of blocks was bought as and when bargains appeared and has ended up at 6:1 (as the Pacific Magic) not the 7:1 on Mikes Class 5 (K911) and only cost £50 inc the sheet! Hope I've got it right.

Definitely sweeter...all the algae has gone off the bottom

Cheers Col

Hiko. I've got it set so I can swap the blocks further forward on the 'floor' and spin the boom round to get the internal bracing forward as well. Thanks for the help with the mast which was a pain to hand fit all the joints till I discovered 'zirconium' disks for the angle grinder...for the last bit! Next up is mangle the sewing machine for the sails. Hopefully next photos will be with sail or better still, under sail.

Cheers Col

Col,
You mentioned names earlier on, just looking at that sail number you could remove the 11 and Have K9 on yours. Name your Beasty D4 or D4 Dawg. That will Pique Curiosity.. Surely the Numbers would be obvious to people??[}:)]
Ron

Now that is what I like about this site. Most builders/Recyclers are innovators. If it doesn't exist, I'll make one. If it can be adapted, I will do so. One doesn't have to hold a Bachelors degree in Engineering nor any other related topic. Just a good imagination a little knowledge and a will to achieve a final outcome.
Great stuff Col, though I would suggest you be a little careful or you will finish up among the ranks of landyacht, Chook, TP1 etc. Now we can't have that can we? Especially not a Bl##dy POM[}:)].
Ron

Mast crane about to hit the MK2 phase with a beefed up top plate as its bent slightly under a full sheet in. Cost probably up another 5p! So still short of Blokarts £49. Another 24 attempts before I've made a loss.

Sail has been a f'ing and blinding nightmare to stitch, and finally sussed it on the last few runs - the dining room table is not big enough. But if it lasts a year till I can sort another one out again it'll have been very worth it.



Still outhaul to sort, battens to get to correct length, and a load of little jobs that I spot when I think I've finished. Then there's the trailer to finish off so I can shift it off the drive.... except the tow car is in need of a re-wire, MOT (road worthy-ness test) and a few other bits and bobs. Keeps me off the streets though.

Cheers Col

You are 100% correct. I bought the tubing for the top section and cut it to suit a different sail Assessed the work involved and decided this one was an easier one to resurrect. Put it all together and thought 'damn my heads in the way, followed by my feet'. I've already ordered a bit of ally tube to lift things up. You can just see a bit of tape showing out the bottom of the mast pocket and that's the lowest it can be for Class 5. And you can guess I went for the mast length option, I am not touching a sewing machine ever again if I can help it. The air has been blue here on and off for a week. Going to be saving my pennies up and paying a sail loft to sort the next one

Cheers Col

still looking great though. I reckon you must be soo pleased with the result.
welcome to your new addiction. I still reckon its one of the cheapest addictions you can build

colk2004 said...



Just in case someone else is thinking of doing it here's my mast crane in bits.

Cheers Col

After seeing your snazzy crane, i decided to do a bit of recycling myself. The bearings are extras for the wheelbarrow wheels; the bushings are leftovers for 5/8" axle mounts, and the tube was in the garage. Total extension I use is about 6" or so, but I can raise it if I have to. The tube is pretty long because I am using a tapered mast, and when it's sunk all the way on the mast, there is a very small step between the mast and the crane. Works well, no flex at all. Also includes a gopro mount

cheers, John