Just a side-note on welding , etc . Got a chance to go along on a freshwater dive to observe the salvage of an old steel tanker hull , so I jumped at the chance . Upper Georgian Bay still has floating ice-chunks , so the water gives you that instant "shrinkage" ; my friend has just switched out all his old 3-hose gas cutting equipment (compressed air , Mapp gas and oxygen) , and has gone to an "exothermic" electric cutting and welding outfit . It's kind of unnerving throwing the switch knowing you're under the steel hull of a tanker with an electrode holder in your mitt ; the electrode has a fairly long life and at 150 amps you can cut through about an inch of plate steel plus whatever algae and crap has accumulated on the steel . I didn't have much time to mess with it , but they say it cuts through concrete too ; the tip temp runs up to 10,000 dgrees F. . Also tried my hand at some underwater welding on 3/4" plate , and got a pretty good vertical/up weld going . Kind of spooky working in the dark , but we were only down 45 feet ; my buddy says it gets darker with depth ; no thanks . After 30 minutes , I'd lost feeling in my fingers and toes so I bailed out ; one hell of a trip though ; makes my welding jobs in the shop look pretty tame . Just thought I'd share that , although it has nothing to do with my 55 build , I'll do anything for a unique fab experience . Be safe...Bob
Reply With Quote
