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Random Quote: I sailed the sea to see the sea! You know what I saw? I saw the sea!
Has anyone built their own? I have a 210A spool gun machine, going to buy a cheap notcher and borrow a hydraulic bender.
Did you use pipe or round tube?
What wall thickness?
Anyone document their build or know of anyone who did?
I plan on building a plywood and 2x3 jig that mimics the spots on the boat that the legs will land on.
Any Ideas or methods to run cables through the legs? Nav light, spot light, spreader lights, power wires for VHF, and radar at sometime.
I built one twenty years ago, out of square aluminum tube, with a spool gun, also (never could master TIG welding).
Two lasting lessons from that project:
-Aluminum has to be REALLY clean for a quality weld. Competency in carbon steel technique does not equal the same in aluminum.
-All of your tubes need a low-point weep hole for moisture to escape. I didn't provide weepholes, and actually had a tube freeze and split.
I'm sure some real pros will chime in with further tips.
schedule 40 anodized aluminum pipe is what is normally used. I never had much luck with a spool gun but it might do good on that clean material. Good luck and post some pics
A spool gun will make for a nasty mess of welds on aluminum pipe. 1 rule to remember- 1 pass, one clean weld. Notice aluminum posts, and tops never have grinding marks. So if you make a big nasty dirt dobber weld on the top, thats going to be your finished product.... Most of these items are tig welded by master tig welders. Good luck, and please post pictures of the results.... A friend tried this once with a mig wire feeder, it was a mess.
24' of 1-1/2 OD x .125 wall x 1.25 ID 6061 Aluminum Round Tube is $60 at www.metalsdepot.com
So all in all I think I can come under $700ish with a hardtop.
Anodized pipe is a whole different ball game then milled finish pipe.
To properly weld aluminum (anodized) pipe you must mix argon and helium gas as your sheilding agent. I have never had luck with a spool gun as well but it is possible in the right hands. If you are going use anodized pipe take a dremel and remove the anodizing from the area the weld will lay.
The anodized or coating will resist being welded and make for a poor weld if let in place with a mig gun, with a tig you can use the torch to remove the anodizing and preheat the metal as well.
Be carfull bending the pipe it is very easy to damage the coating make sure the dies are free of burs, that will mar the pipe causing a spot for corrision to start.
The aluminum tube you speek of is a good material if you plan on powder coating it but if not it will corrode very fast, a 5052 grade aluminum is designed for the marine inviroment.
The real question is how much weight will you be adding on top of your boat? What will change in the roll moment? What will the roll result be in a beam sea?
__________________ Capt. Lindsay Fuller June Bug Charters Beach Haven, NJ
IGFA Certified Charter Captain
Member - Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association
Life Member RFA and NRA
We Support JCAA, IGFA, Ducks Unlimited
Retired Officer of New Jersey Army National Guard
I think under 200# or so, theres a few other 25 wellcrafts with radar archs and hardtops on the river that I looked at no one mentioned any adverse affects. I also removed an old windlass and pulpit which weighed over 150#. Even with 35 gallons of water in the on deck livewell, extra battery, 3 guys and full gear the scuppers are still above the water line. So I think it can handle the weight.
If the spool gun doesn't work I can use a friends tig, but its 3 phase so I'd have to do the welding there. Instead of in my garage.
Spool guns are not designed for welding tube (too clumsy, have chopped up welds), that is a place for tig. I had a shop with a spool gun repair an alum tube davit years back and it looked terrible. Much grinding and bondo to make it look ok for paint. Also- dimensions are critical, too tall- no good, too short- no good, too vertical- no good, too swept- no good. I am all about DIY on boats- glass, finish, electrical, wood, upholstry, plumbing- but metal fab is best left to the pros. I can spot a homemade top, tower or arch miles away- it can detract from your boats value rather than add to it. The annodized work you see is Taco Metals tubing- they supply the tube with the best quality annodizing to the tower fab shops. If you plan on powdercoating, I'd consider LP instead. Powdercoat will boil and flake around any unprotected stainless fastners and around any nicks- if you think it won't happen, it happens more often than not, and you cannot touch up powdercoat, LP you can touch up.
My vote- get a shop to fab it for you, you can install and rig- plenty to do there. Leave it annodized or LP.
Use 6063 al pipe not 6061. 6063 will bend for you with out cracking. Clean it real well with a new SS wire brush. Pre heat it. Practice a little and go to either Miller or Lincoln weld web sites to get some more tips and then practice some more. After your done welding it buff the welds and the splatter then take it to a sandblaster and then powder coat.
When you install it use 5200 to seal between the boat and your mount plate and put some more on the fasteners when you install them. Then before it dries clean up the mess. Sealant is both a friend and your nightmare. If you can use vinyl or rubber gloves use them. Your wife and coworkers will thank you.
6061 Al Pipe will crack when bent where as the 6063 is softer and also more corrosion resistant.
I have made a couple arches that looked good.
Last thing to remember much heat will warp it. Idea to tack it and take some where to finish weld it will end in miss aligned holes.
__________________ 2004 North River, 21' Seahawk 250 hp and T8 Yamahas
2011 Ford F350 DRW
2005 Northern Lite Camper
Member of CCA
Anodized aluminum cannot be welded unless you take out the alumine isolating layer (anodized layer).
Argon shall be used.
To get clean welds without grinding, use Tig and not mig welding. Stronger cleaner.
But yes, mig can be used for pipes. The difficulty in Tig welding is that gaps between pipes must be minimal, while Mig can just fill up gaps as tooth paste.
Thanks for the input guys, looking at some tigs, theres some syncrowaves and econotigs for around a grand. I'll post pics of my progress once I get set up. Just gotta get my wife to buy something expensive so I can justify a tig
Thanks for the input guys, looking at some tigs, theres some syncrowaves and econotigs for around a grand. I'll post pics of my progress once I get set up. Just gotta get my wife to buy something expensive so I can justify a tig
TIG, TIG, TIG! Spool gun is for speed, straight, horizontal runs.
Also you will need an AC TIG machine with High Frequency for Aluminum. They are more expensive for some reason. (they plug into AC so it should be easier to make but the DC's only are cheaper)
Thanks for the input guys, looking at some tigs, theres some syncrowaves and econotigs for around a grand. I'll post pics of my progress once I get set up. Just gotta get my wife to buy something expensive so I can justify a tig
Your going to need something with at least 200 amps to get enough penatration to avoid cracking
If you have any questions about a machine let me know, I built anodized and powdercoated towers for many years for a living and have used many different tigs over the years. Be carefull many of them require big power to operate, 100amp breakers minimum.
Building an Aluminum hardtop frame 
