Soldering fishing boats

 

To say I soldered fishing boats sounds quite simple given there are only three elements to be connected - hull, mast and sail. This blog post gives a bit of an insight into the many steps to arrive at the competed form above. There is lots of action on the workbench.

It all starts with the making of the three components: sail, hull mast.

The first soldering step is to solder mast into hull after the hull has been drilled, the drill hole cleaned and the mast ground to remove oxidation. Soldering is done by holding mast and hull in a vice. I use a small spiral of solder over the mast.

Before soldering the sail to the hull I slightly bend the sail entry hole so the mast will sit well, cut a groove into the sail and hull so they can lock together when held in the vice for heating with small soldering torch. The area to be soldered it coated with flux.

I create and cut small u shaped bits of solder to hook around the sail and mast for heating with small soldering torch after coating the soldering areas with flux.  I usually solder both sides - bit of over engineering bot I want the boats to be strong.

After the soldering is finished the boats are soaked in hot water and then scrubbed with a brush and soap to remove excess flux.

The boats are then ready for the top of the mast to be trimmed and ground; and the installation mounting wire to be formed into shape so it can lock over a 25mm square mesh. Boats are ready for installation.