MANUFACTURE
These are some of the manufacturing skills I have acquired whilst undertaking various personal projects at home.
MASONRY
WELDING
BOAT BUILDING
MASONRY
I have found that working with concrete has given me a lot of satisfaction. This is a skill that took me very little time to come to grips with and have greatly enjoyed the processes I have gone through to create a variety of fun things.
Constructing jigs for concrete weights I was making. Reinforced using chicken wire and 8mm rebar.
Learning how to lay bricks whilst building myself and my housemates a BBQ at University
Jigs were designed to be easily separated and use a single clamp as shown to be held together whilst the concrete sets.
Parts were removed 24 hrs later and placed in a water bath for up to 14 days to cure. Curing took up to 21 days.
Out door gym project - wire mesh is placed over the primary layer of concrete foundations.
Finalised concrete weights:
20kg
10kg
5kg
A one-inch slab was laid, which was then screed roughly to give a textured finish to prevent the floor from being slippery
WELDING
Welding is a skill I have spent a lot of time trying to perfect and have found myself using the skill in almost all of my projects. It is a difficult skill that I would like to learn more about.
An example of a decent weld using stick welding.
Most of my welds tend to be half as good given the condition of the equipment I use.
A reinforcing frame I welded together for a fishing rod holder I was making out of concrete
A gym bench I made for my out door gym project
A camping bed I put together which was designed to flat pack - welding required a lot of patience because the box sections I was using were extremely thin and so I had to be careful not to make holes in the material.
BOAT BUILDING
The boat-building projects I have been engaged with have helped me with my understanding of the various processes and skills required to produce a product such as this. My knowledge is admittedly limited but I want to learn more. Below are a few things I have done within this practice.
Resin curing on the transom I had made for one of the jetskis.
Within the boat hull of a 30ft catamaran - experimenting with the use of nylon cord and mesh as an additional form of reinforcing within a fibre laminate structure.
Fibre layup for catamaran hull
The interior design of a 30ft catamaran. Timber and plywood was used to form the interior structures. Certain areas then had a few layers of fibreglass laid over.
Finishing touches on the jet ski conversions project. A lot of care and time was taken at this stage of the manufacture, especially when it came to preparation before painting .
Catamaran project - paint inspection and aesthetic evaluation