typed by ben's 2001 Lowe 1648M all aluminum build (UD 6/27)

[typed by ben]

got the frame and rear support done. all thats left now is 4 piers going from the deck to the hull. those are going to be bolt ins, but there will be a bracket with a bolt hole that will be added to the weldment.


overall views:

in this shot you can see i added two more tie bars between the right and left subassemblies. the two bars in the center are where my seat post will be attached, originally that was all i planned.



the sweet part is the whole thing still weighs less than 5 lbs.

 

[gillhunter]

Looking great!! Really nice fabrication work. Been following your build since the start.

 

[bigwave]

She is going to be stout for sure, great job man. =D>

 

[DrNip]

Very nice.

 

[typed by ben]

thank you for the compliments everybody.

today i decided to rework the foot pedal recess. that aluminum one just was not going to be strong enough so i cut one out of 12 gauge 304 stainless. much stronger, heavier, though a little uglier unless i bead blast it, which i might.

fused everything together


looks like she might work

 

[typed by ben]

one more lol. grabbed some of my scrap and took a quick look.


im actually in from the garage for the night, cant believe it myself but its cold out and im about out of things to make for the front.

i need the shear at work to make the piers for the front so thats probably not gonna happen until next week.

maybe start cutting material with the miter saw for the rear? i just dont know. need to use this couple of hours effectively!

 

[Mojo]

Bead blasters AND welders.. your spoiled. :shock: But man that thing is looking good.

Mojo

 

[typed by ben]

Mojo » Yesterday, 21:45[/url]"]Bead blasters AND welders.. your spoiled. :shock: But man that thing is looking good.

Mojo

ha the welders are here, the blast cabinet is at work. plus i changed my mind- just gonna paint the recess to match the deck. thanks for the compliment! i hope it works good!

quick shot of the piers mocked up.

i notched the top of the angle, then bent it to match the profile of the hull, then clamped that to the table and welded the notches shut. i will transfer holes through the stringers, then put rivnuts into the stringer and bolt the angle to the hull.

i think the piers themselves will be bolt-ins to allow for movement so this thing doesnt get too racked up on the trailer or in temperature changes. the part that contacts the angle bolted to the hull will just be thru bolted. on the weldment i will either weld another short piece of angle underneath and bolt to that, or transfer the hole and use a rivnut. decisions decisions.

 

[Country Dave]

Bro your welds look pretty darn good.................... =D>

Are you Tiging?

 

[typed by ben]

Country Dave » Today, 14:33[/url]"]Bro your welds look pretty darn good.................... =D>

Are you Tiging?

thanks man. they are not something like what a pro would kick out but they are good enough for this job.


and yes this was all put together with a TIG. i have used MIG before but never TIG and never aluminum and i have to say i now GREATLY prefer TIG. its not as fast as MIG but the control afforded to you by a foot pedal is great for a beginner.

the 1" tube i used on my build just would not have worked quite right if i chose a spoolgun IMO

 

[Country Dave]

Yeh the little bit I do know is, Tig for lighter aluminum like 0.125 and thinner and Mig/wire feed for the thicker stuff. I can’t wait to start practicing. I hope my welds turn out as good a yours bro.............. =D>

 

[typed by ben]

Country Dave » Yesterday, 16:04[/url]"]Yeh the little bit I do know is, Tig for lighter aluminum like 0.125 and thinner and Mig/wire feed for the thicker stuff. I can’t wait to start practicing. I hope my welds turn out as good a yours bro.............. =D>

i dont know if theres a hard and fast rule for thickness necessarily, for instance my tig is a miller gold star 330 a/bp. it can kick out 460 amps on a 100 amp supply. it could probably do 1" aluminum if i set it up right. im only on a 30 amp supply so it flips the breaker well before i get to full power

the MIG shines when you have a long bead (2" +) or are in a production environment where speed is important. IMO you just dont have enough time to get the puddle hot before you have to get going with the tip on account of your wire feed. thats just an opinion though. when you start trying it out with your torch and filler metal i think youll see what i mean.

 

[typed by ben]

a small but important update today.

the more i looked at it the more i hated the idea of cutting openings in my deck for hatches. its unsightly and moreover unsafe to form the lids and then not add beauty edges. not only that but id have to cut and weld a bunch of tabs to the frame to stop the hatches from falling through. i just didnt have a really good and simple idea of how to accomplish it.

not good:

then i found a piece of 1.5 x .063 angle. it meets all my criteria:

1. thin to fit the tolerance of my hatches in the frame weldment
2. easy to work
3. cheap

AND since its 1.5" and my frame is 1" i can break up the leftover and have a return lip to retain my hatches. i think the companies that do it professionally do this with custom extrusion, or just break sheetmetal but the angle works for me.

heres half of one:

 

[huntinfool]

I just put plastic ones in mine, but I like the way hours is turning out. I just didn't have time to fan them up.

 

[typed by ben]

huntinfool » Today, 08:06[/url]"]I just put plastic ones in mine, but I like the way hours is turning out. I just didn't have time to fan them up.

well thanks. i looked at those myself but i wanted to make sure the hatches are big enough that i can fit bulky items like PFDs.

 

[typed by ben]

ran into another practical problem today:

what about when i need to replace/service my batteries? im pretty well tied to locating them right here. i dont want to remote them and have to run 20' of 0 gauge cable. i also want to balance out weight since this boat only weighs 350 lbs.

so, what if i just make a little hatch, big enough to take the lid and leads off the battery?



that might be fine for swapping leads. but the day will eventually come where i need to completely lift out the batteries- like for winter storage. ill be damn well stuck.



looks like ill be cutting out that center member and forming another hatch. cutting out the member is one thing- then i gotta polish down the old welds, and (since these areas were never designed for hatches) clean out the seam welds in the corners.

should have thought about that from the start because i rushed my way into several more hours of work. just shows how absent minded you can get when considering all the different fits and finishes you want your boat to have.

 

[typed by ben]

cut out one of the center members i mentioned above. ill have to make some more lids at work this week, which will make 4 hatches in that area. thats a couple more than i was comfortable with but its going to make life MUCH easier WRT the batteries.


i also got 2 of the 3 pier supports knocked out. everything is welded, drilled, cut, etc. it lined up nicely and now ALL the force i apply transfers straight to the boat, like i want.

nevermind the crappy assorted fasteners. somehow i ran out of 1/4-20 stainless hardware. just means another trip out.

 

[typed by ben]

for those who were wondering, heres a couple more shots showing how the piers, angle, and stringers all tie together:



1/4-20 stainless rivnut, pre drilled to .386



.250 hole transferred through the angle, then secured with 1/4-20 HHCS. i went .250 instead of the customary .281 because i didnt want these things moving around in the hole too much.

above you can also see the relief cut i made to bend the angle to meet the profile of the hull. i made two parallel cuts, then bent the angle to match, then clamped it all together and welded the reliefs shut. if you are doing this to a long piece of angle you will want to weld before you transfer the holes through, as the holes may move on you

then bolt it all together!

 

[typed by ben]

couple things to talk about today:

1. resized and moved my trolling motor mount. you may remember i had the mount following roughly the angle of the gunwale, cutting across the front part of the deck like you see on 'glass bass boats. well, real estate is at a premium on these smaller boats so i downsized the whole mount and moved it aside to make more room for a nav light and front electronics. i also get snagged from time to time and ill need to use the whole front of the boat to reach up in the tree or whatever other kind of mess ive cast into.

i also have officially removed HALF of the carpet glue from the front deck! scraping with a heat gun is not a job you look forward to.


2. cut and formed all my hatch lids. here's a pic of two of them sitting in place, no clamps or nothing:

3. i went back on my earlier word to use that 1.5 x 1.5 x .063 angle. just too goofy to do, plus it wont form. i dont know what alloy it is but it fractures too easily so im guessing 6061. one of the guys at work suggested annealing it but f that. too much work for little return.

instead i cut strips 1" wide and welded those under the frame. theyll stop the lids from falling through and give an overall more finished look to the hatches. right now they are just tacked on one side; to keep them from ripping under weight ill have to get into the corner on the top side where the lid rests. and yes, i left myself plenty of room for a bead up there.

top view. in the corners between the strip and frame is where ill have to put another bead for strength

to compensate for the loss of the "picture frame" beauty cover value, i bought some .5 x .5 x .050 angle. a few miter cuts and some tacks and theres my beauty cover. not sure how to attach these but i MAY weld them to the deck, since they arent integral to anything else

were really starting to move on the front portion of the deck now. another night like tonight and ill have all the hatches done and finish welded and i can move onto the battery hold downs. 8)

 

[typed by ben]

things have been moving slowly but steadily over the past month.

1. i moved onto the 3rd generation of my foot pedal recess. the previous location put it really close to the front deck bulkhead, which made it cramped and left literally NO room for the TM strain relief. i ended up moving a cross member so i could have more room for the recess.

this new one is made from .125 6061. its 4" deep and puts the top of the pedal just above the deck. it also leaves room at the front of the weldment for my TM plug to be hidden away. its a nice upgrade in those 3 facets as previous generations were shallower, smaller, poorly located, and less than ideal material.


2. started checking out how all my storage will work out. not too bad. you can also notice on the front deck bulkhead that almost all the carpet glue has been scraped off, then sanded. dont have to use too much imagination to see what shell look like now.


3. one of my uncles by marriage builds electric cars as a hobby. he is in the process of changing his pet project over to lipo batteries , and a few days back he messaged me on facebook to see if i wanted an old 4 bank battery charger. i said "sure" but was a little concerned of his asking price because what he was offering is a top of the line charger.

his asking price: FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hot dog! this is normally a $450 charger.

more to come!