Saturday, 4 April 2015

Cockpit's Edge

Laser cut from my old friend 316 stainless steel I laid out the pieces needed to re-trim the edges in something more classy and more Halvorsen than the 70's composite edging it was originally fitted with. 


I trimmed, bent and screwed all 5 pieces to perfectly follow the shape of the boat. Chamfering the joining edges ready for welding.


To maintain a perfect fit I tack welded all the pieces while they were held in place. Using short bursts of high amperage I was able to fuse the steel cold enough not to discolour the wood.


Then with the magic of two days blending the welds, machining the rounded edges, grinding the machining marks, and linishing the grinding marks, only then was I able to begin buffing to a mirror finish.


However despite all the tedious polishing the results are quite satisfying, using matching 316 filler wire allowed me to create invisible joints forming one single ribbon of shininess round the Cockpit's edge.




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