Aluminum Deck and Supports

[carrouth51]

Hey guys, AWESOME SITE!!!! Stumbled upon this site after finally getting back my lowe 1648. I'm a high school teacher and football coach and now that coaching is done, I need a winter project and am gonna tackle a casting deck on the front and the back of the boat. Gonna do it slow and steady but I hope to have something done before early April so I can chase the stripers in the Roanoke River. I want to build it out of aluminum to try to keep the weight down and was wondering what materials you guys have used on yours. I have looked at U channel, Kendorf, and angle iron. Which of these will work the best? Also, what thickness do I need for the supports? Deck?

Any help would be awesome.....

Andrew

 

[Bugpac]

Find you a local shop that will bend for you, buy your sheet and bend it, you can use your cutoffs to bend some channels etc for added supports. If you plan it out good its very do able.

 

[muskiemike12]

Use 1/8"thick, 1.5"x1.5" 6061 Aluminum angle for framing.

 

[carrouth51]

awesome guys... thanks

 

[Jeffrey]

If I wanted to do the same, could I rivet the whole thing together or does it have to be welded? I would like to cover my entire floor with aluminum, and maybe cover the ribs on the sides.

 

[JMichael]

If I wanted to do the same, could I rivet the whole thing together or does it have to be welded? I would like to cover my entire floor with aluminum, and maybe cover the ribs on the sides.

If you search through the build threads you'll see that the majority of the builds that use aluminum also used rivets. Welding would be stronger, but if done right, rivets are certainly strong enough.

 

[tsaints1115]

And google metal recyclers in your area and see if they have "used" metal. Sometimes it's only a technical term for metal that is still new but can't be sold as so. I bought all the aluminum sheet and angle I'll be using for $2.50 a pound versus nearly 2.5 times as much for new. Yet it's the same material and visually identical.

Also if you're going to have it bent to shape go with 3031 as 6061 will crack at the bend.

 

[bassboy1]

And google metal recyclers in your area and see if they have "used" metal. Sometimes it's only a technical term for metal that is still new but can't be sold as so. I bought all the aluminum sheet and angle I'll be using for $2.50 a pound versus nearly 2.5 times as much for new. Yet it's the same material and visually identical.

Also if you're going to have it bent to shape go with 3031 as 6061 will crack at the bend.

I don't know about your area, but in my area, $2.50 a pound for used aluminum isn't really all that great. If it is offcuts, it is a good price, but if it is anything that has to be re purposed, you'd probably be better off getting new. Granted, prices do fluctuate on a regular basis, but my retail price (what the average Joe could walk into my shop and pay) for a brand new sheet of .090 or .125 5052 is actually under $3 a pound.

 

[JMichael]

The local scrap yard sells aluminum for $1.00 per lb here. Of course there's not telling what shape it's going to be in or sizes.

 

[bassboy1]

The local scrap yard sells aluminum for $1.00 per lb here. Of course there's not telling what shape it's going to be in or sizes.

Story is pretty well the same here. $1 a pound for scrap, or a little more, depending on who from.

 

[jetmech]

I have lightweight honeycomb floor boards from an airplane for sale. I have them in the sell, buy, trade section. 3/8 thick and strong.

 

[tsaints1115]

I'm talking used clean aluminum. There are many classes of "used" aluminum. The stuff I get for $2.50 isn't balled up recycle quality. This stuff is new, usually overstock from a large order, that a customer has returned. It doesn't need to be cleaned before use as it is new. I bought a stack of .120 sheet in 22" X 54.5" 3130, any and all angles I wanted (the exact same stuff in the hardware stores), and blocks of billet 6061 in case I wanted to machine a part. All as new as it was manufactured, all $2.50 a lb.

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