Finished My Boat Project

earlier last year I had a friend give me a walk through windshield, off of an older ski boat. I hate that colder than heck boat ride in the winter, so I decided to build a passenger console and a hinged, walk through door for a complete wind block. picked up some drop aluminum from another friend who is a machinist and borrowed a spool gun welder from yet another buddy and went to town! my aluminum welding skills are non-existant and my training was to plug it in and see what happened. I figured it out. slapped a quick generic camo paint job on it and ready for the winter now! just gonna have to take it off before the dang asian carp start jumping!:banghead
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Looks like that should work fine. That aluminum is not the easiest thing to learn to weld by a long shot. Spool gun on a mig is even tougher I think then with a TIG. Sure have to make sure it is good and clean before starting to weld it.

Looks nice!

Looks like a good job and should work well.

Looks good, that will make the winter catfish trip a lot nicer. Here kitty kitty!

by golly that there is pretty darn sharp. ought to be a nicer boat ride.

Lookin good Greg....... We've also been making some improvements/upgrades to our rig, but it's not time for show and tell just yet!

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Looking good Greg. Add some bars to it and you are ready for the asian carp.

That looks really nice. Definately keep the wind out now. First time I tried to weld aluminum with my dad on a old canoe, he showed me twice. That small tear turned into a basketball size hole before I knew what happened!

Lol, thanks for the compliments! yeah, Chris, I feel your pain! it took me a couple of "practice runs" before I figured it out. funny thing is, my buddy who lent me his welder said"you ever use one of these?" I said, "I been running a welder since I was old enough to pick up a gun,how hard can it be?" well, turns out it can be pretty darn hard! had a few beers while I was welding her up after work one night, I thought hey those welds aren't half bad looking! came in the next morning with a more sober eye and wondered what the heck I was thinking! could be better, could be worse. one thing is for sure, it blocks the wind well.
next up, is a canvas cabin. I have an old bimini top frame, a sewing machine, and some canvas for the top. haven't decided what to use for the sides yet, gonna need something clear and I don't really wanna pay what they want at a boat shop for clear vinyl. I think I am gonna go hit up a convertable top shop and see what they would charge for some. a friend of mine suggested a clear shower curtain, but I just ain't sure that will hold up to freezing temps, water and wind. if ya'all have any idears', I'm all ears!

Looks great Greg. Should do the trick for sure. Its been a long long time since Ive tried welding aluminum and there's a reason for that. I keep saying that im going to set my wire welder up for it but I just havent needed it bad eniugh to do it yet.

Should keep a little a that water off ya too. Looks A-OK.