WELD 231 covered a lot more than running a bead. The term also took the class beyond the classroom with a field trip to All American Marine, an industry partner who graciously hosted the class for a tour of their shipyard and a firsthand look at professional aluminum boatbuilding.
On the boat: The whole boat, from the first cut to final assembly.
The plan set is a full package of drawings, a materials list, and a step by step build order for a 12 foot aluminum skiff. The class covered reading the cut sheets and the build sequence, and scaling the whole design down to a half size, 6 foot version while keeping the proportions correct. Getting comfortable with the drawings before cutting anything is what kept the build on track.
On the boat: Every part of the build, every day in the shop.
This is the main safety standard for welding and cutting, and it sits behind all of the other safety material. It covers protecting personnel and those working nearby, ventilation, fire prevention, and working in tight spaces. The standard makes clear that safe setup is part of the job, and that each rule traces back to a real hazard.
On the boat: Every weld on the hull, seats, and figurehead.
Welding aluminum gives off fumes from the metal and the filler wire, and some elements like manganese are harmful in high enough concentrations. The class covered keeping clear of the plume, using the shop ventilation and fume extraction, and reading the safety data sheets for the materials in use. That mattered here because the class laid a lot of weld on aluminum in one room.
On the boat: Every machine setup during cutting and welding.
Welding equipment is electrically live whenever it is switched on, including the electrode and the work itself. The class covered keeping gloves and clothing dry, inspecting cables and connections, grounding the work properly, and never touching a live electrode. Knowing how the machine is wired, and what to do if someone takes a shock, is basic to running it safely.
On the boat: The cutting and welding stages, and cleanup afterward.
Sparks, spatter, and hot metal can start a fire up to 35 feet from the work area, and they can drop through gaps and smolder for a long time after welding stops. The class covered clearing combustibles from the area, keeping a fire extinguisher close, and checking the area once finished. A welding shop has many ways to start a fire, so this became routine.
On the boat: Forming the bends in panels, the seat, and brackets.
The press brake bends sheet metal by pressing it between a punch and a matching die. The class covered how the machine works, how the back gauge positions the bend line so the fold lands in the right place, and why the tonnage and tooling have to suit the material. This is the machine that put the bends into the flat aluminum parts.
On the boat: Setting the correct angle on each folded part.
There is specific language for bend angles, including the difference between the inside angle and the outside angle of a fold. The class covered reading which angle a drawing is calling out and which one the bend math uses, so a part does not get formed to the wrong angle. Reading the angle correctly is the difference between a part that fits and one that does not.
On the boat: Cutting flat blanks for any folded part, such as the seat.
When metal is bent it stretches around the corner, so a finished part ends up a little longer than the flat piece it started from. The class covered working out the bend deduction and cutting the flat blank shorter than the sum of the finished legs, so the part comes out the right size after bending. Skip this and the part is always off.
On the boat: Folded parts that mate together, like seat and bracket joints.
The inside setback is the distance from the corner of a bend to where the inside radius actually begins. The class covered accounting for it so two folded parts meet without running into each other. It is pure geometry based on the angle and radius, and leaving it out leaves parts that interfere.
On the boat: Laying out flat patterns and finishing folded edges.
The outside setback is the matching distance on the outside of a bend, and it feeds into the bend deduction math. The class covered using it when laying out a flat pattern so the outside edges finish cleanly instead of hanging over. It works together with the inside setback to get both the fit and a neat edge.
On the boat: Accurate flat patterns for all of the aluminum bends.
The K factor describes where the metal stops compressing and starts stretching inside a bend, written as a fraction of the material thickness. It is found by test bending a sample of the actual material, then used to predict the bend deduction for any angle. For the aluminum in this build, getting the K factor right is what made the flat patterns accurate.
One of the highlights of the class was a day touring All American Marine, a 57,000-square-foot shipbuilding facility on the shores of Bellingham Bay.
Since being acquired by the Bryton Marine Group, the company operates as a standalone business building high-speed aluminum vessels, including research vessels, passenger ferries, and hydrofoil-assisted catamarans. It is known for building some of the first hybrid-electric and hydrogen-powered commercial passenger vessels in the United States.
Ron Wille walked the class through the complete shipyard. He showed the class the vessel they had just started building for the California electric ferry, along with a research vessel they were building for the University of Texas. All American Marine also runs a welding internship program, and the class saw current students at work.