Like You , Been many years since I oxy / acet welded in high school . Never really got the hang of it then , so really doubt I would have the patience to try tig , Even though I watched my Dad weld a complete rear quarter panel on a '59 ford using nothing but a torch and 3 foot pieces of old bailing wire that I had to straighten and cut to length for him .
Here is a picture of the type boat we use to have . All Aluminum , Seen the damage one took when it hit a boulder running 40+ mph in the Rogue River here in Southern Oregon . Never broke through the hull , just a dent the size of a grapefruit which then tapered down to a 3+ foot long scratch . Bottom thickness on ours was .190 , while sides were .125 . , So , depending on what water you would be in , may consider a thicker size ??
This is the company ,
Fishrite Boats | Custom Aluminum Fishing Boats , ( pretty cool place , although there are several boats always being built at one time , only one welder ever works on your boat . If they are sick for a few days , ( ours was ) , your boat sits . They take a lot of pride in their workmanship as the actual serial number / Vin number includes the welder's initials ) . Sold it when my Father-in-law past away as both the better half and myself just could not get into using it anymore .
Fred H.
! Think out of the box, just because you're right handed, don't think there is any rules saying you have to use the right hand to hold the torch! It takes more skill to feed the rod than to hold a torch still, especially if you're sliding the torch along with your hand resting on the material. Get a piece of Tig rod right now, while setting watching TV or just plain doing nothing, practice feeding rod with both hands! This is the hardest thing to learn about Tig welding.
