Yeah, right, like I would build anything simple...
I am sure that some of you have noticed a number of containers showing up in photos here and there.
And the thought has probably been, "Better not to ask."

Well I have the container sets finished. All but burned up the single mold I was using to cast them.
The first few came out heavy, but after a bit of experimentation, most of
them weigh less than three ounces(85g). I am pretty happy about that.

So now, what to do with all these containers? This is the "barge" part.
We build a barge. Yea, yea!! This is the easy part yes?
Of course we want to Build it out of something waterproof and can be knocked around...
build it out of plywood, simple. Build it out of carboard of fomecore, easy schmeezy...

Of course I pick, as Forklift now knows, the most impossible material in the world. Alumnium...
Hey, it's for a good cause, Tualatin Crawfish Festival, and a regatta event we are planning.
So it should be worth a little time, investment, and at least someones trouble. (I drafted someone to help.)

AHHHhhhhhH!!!!! *runs and hides from the aluminum*

Heh! I'll definately be watching this one!

Wish I had an aluminum gluer.

Hello Umi

Interesting subject,
I see you have a well equipped workshop.
Machinery and tools will help you go a long way these days, don't you think so?

Stephen

I won't ask why you chose to use aluminum.

My only guess is that you want to gain expertise with this material---.

remember the trick to welding aluminum is to play with the amount of heat you use and to increase your argon pressure to 50 to 60 psi and practice lots of it

Aluminum...good choice of material for big or small projects, easy to work with

Nice thing with an alluminum barge is if you hit something with it ( or vise versa 0 everyone near by will hear it!
Like a Timex- will take a lick'in and keep on tick'n.

That isn't my shop, it is a friends shop. He has five or six welders, and a plasma cutter.
I figured that since he has all this equipment, he should do something with it. So I told him that he should help me build a metal barge. He needed the welding practice anyway.

And ,like Keith mentioned, the fact that the barge will go "boooong" when it contacts the curb, or makes hard contact with a boat will be funny. I have some other evil plots in the design, but that's for the people at the regatta to witness first hand.

Originally Posted by Umi_Ryuzuki

I have some other evil plots in the design, but that's for the people at the regatta to witness first hand.

Hee hee, lost container(s) round up?

something to give the Tito to chew on, alli barge, thats gonna be heavy

Originally Posted by Umi_Ryuzuki

I have some other evil plots in the design, but that's for the people at the regatta to witness first hand.

Looks like you have the makings of a remote operated fireworks barge. I was thinking about doing that with the wooden barge I made but then I found out that the city here does not like fireworks so that idea sank before it started. Now model rocketry is still OK around here .

Looks good Umi and I too wish I had an Aluminum Gluer. My dad has steel gluing equipment but he is in WA and I am in VA

Massey

Here are the containers drying after a bath. I wanted to wash any residual oils off so they wouldn't pollute the pond should they accidently fall in the water.

At one of my ponds, Lake Balboa, it is the other way around. Your boat gets polluted as soon as you put it in the water.

FWIW, I am the Umi's victim... err.. Friend that put this thing together. .080 6061-T6 Aluminum.

EMSPAUL: Do what? PSI? You want to control your flow rate for TIG and MIG. Usually 15 to 20 CFH.

Very nice work...but it seems like an aweful lot of trouble to go through to make a male plug for the mold.....

I'd almost suggest a 1" tack every 6" and then a bead of caulk to make water tight.....but practice of the "gluing" technique will make everything perfect.