Yikes, caution viewing

Aukai

Aukai

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I'm confident it won't come apart, and it has no visual appeal, it's all about function at this point. My first attempt at an aluminum project with the the spool gun. I'm learning a lot, this is a mount on a boat T top for a Green stick fishing pole. I've waited 5 months for a real fabricator, so I took things into my own hands. The shade on the helmet was too dark, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it :rolleyes:


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A weld that holds well and does not break apart is more than acceptable in any project , that weld in the picture can be touched up to look even better but at the end of the day functionality wins every time.
 
Several decades ago, when I was engaged in Great Lakes fishing, I made a pair of dual rod holders for my downriggers. They were fabricated from aluminum from a piece of shop-cast round and some 3/8" x 2" bar stock. I used my mig welder, without the benefit of a spool gun, to join the two pieces They held up well for the ten or so years of use. The most difficult part was broaching the 3/4" hex holes through the 2" lengths of round with a homemade broach.

Mig welding without the benefit of a spool gun was challenging too. I am reminded of an old quote from Reader's digest. A well decorated sergeant was asked why he always led his men into battle. His reply, "Didja ever try to push a string?".Downrigger Rod Holder.JPG
 
I think it looks great, especially considering the new spool gun AND the overly dark shield. If the fish are flopping around in the boat because of it then it must be perfect.

Keep in mind tho that this is coming from someone who loves to harass fish...........
 
I’m going to be the wet blanket here.

As you probably know, landing a marlin (hard to tell, but looks like a marlin) involves some pretty serious force.

Looking at the welds, I’m seeing a lot of voids and what looks like poor penetration. What it looks like is immaterial, unless it looks like poor penetration.

For example: from the pics, it looks like the rh side “block” is undercut where the weld is and the other side of the weld where it meets the plate looks like its mostly on the surface, which indicates poor penetration. Pretty common issue with amateur welders: you’re concerned with getting the thick block right and thinking the thin part will be ok because of the amperage you’re running to penetrate the thick block. Don’t feel bad if that actually is what I‘m seeing, its very challenging to join a thick piece of Al to a (relatively) thin one. Its difficult to get the thick piece to not suck away the heat at the weld while making sure the thin piece doesn’t melt and “slough off”. Getting the settings right to puddle the thick piece and not blow away the thin piece is a very fine balance. There’s a lot more to it than just getting the amperage right and I think I see what might be some “technique” issues.

It may hold, it may not. If it were mine, I wouldn’t trust those welds to hold back the forces that game fish is going to put it through.

I’m not trying to be a jerk, I’m just trying to give you my honest assessment based on what I see in those pics.
 
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I appreciate the input, I tried to concentrate the heat to the block more than the 1/4" wall. It will be scrutinized as it is used, there is a break away system to relieve some of the stress of any big strikes, it's painted, so it is what it is, I have material to make another if this one becomes problematic. The bottom plate has heat deformity where the welds are on top, fingers crossed. Thank you very much for your insight.
 
If you want to avoid that “warp” in the future, don’t make one big go to cover the entire area to be welded. Weld a spot then weld another spot away from the first spot, then go back to the first spot And offset an inch and make another short weld, then a spot somewhere away from it. Repeat that until you have filled in all the spots.

One big weld puts too much heat into a concentrated spot and like steel, aluminum will shrink and warp as it cools . It warps worse than steel because it cools faster than steel does and results in more “shrinkage”.Aluminum is much worse for warpage than steel and you need a plan if you can’t have it warp however it wants too.
 
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