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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Near Bendigo, Victoria, AUS
    Age
    72
    Posts
    3,102

    Default A couple of little tinnies

    It's metalwork, but not as we generally know it. But great fun!
    My grandchildren aged 6 and 8 often ask to make something in my workshop that is more complex than they imagine (jetskis, remote control cranes etc). I have them here only long enough each time for very simple things, unfortuately.
    This week they wanted to build a little metal boat....
    I gave it a fair bit of thought and came up with a design for making little 'tinnies' out of 2 and a half dogfood tins.
    I got them to examine our (full-size) tinnie and think about what each piece would have looked like before it was bent into shape. We then sketched those shapes with my help and cut them out of paper and glued them together with tape. It looked indeed like a boat
    I suggested that for a smaller version we could use less pieces of metal and combine some of the shapes, showing them on paper how we could make 'tucks' by cutting out wedges and fold ome piece out of one. The result was still boat shaped but with less joints.
    We then used the paper patterns to transfer the shapes to cut-apart dogfood cans with tops and bottoms cut off and walls rolled flat. They then cut the shapes out with lot of warnings from me that the edges and any jagged bits would be extremely sharp. I showed them how to fold and roll edges (roughly) to reduce the exposed sharp bits. We then folded and hand-shaped the two sides and trimmed them so they would line up with a little outward flange at the keel and gave a reasonably straight rolled over top edge.
    Applied a few clamps to hold it all in shape. They were quite impressed.

    Then I repeated a lesson I had from my grandfather when I was 8 and still remember well!

    I got out an old copper soldering iron which we heated on the kitchen gas stove until the flame went green (much to Pam's delight - not).
    A little Bakers flux along the joints and first showed them, then let them solder the joint themselves.
    The result were a very sturdy tin toy boat. I told them and showed them on our tinnie that metal boats should have flotation built in. So we folded two seats and put blocks of styrofoam under them and then soldered them in too. Last was a bit of tinned wire soldered on for an anchor 'rope' at the front. A good scrub removed the flux.
    Leak test, flotation test and flotation after submersion tests all worked out first shot.
    They loved it!
    So yesterday they aked if we could make another one so they had one each. Three more dogfood cans were washed out and in about 2 hrs we had another one - almost entirely done by the kids.
    Sorry I didn't take photos of the construction, but here is a shot of the second happy home-made 'tinnie' owner.
    Nobody suffered any cuts or burns - not even me....
    2016 July 9.jpg
    Cheers, Joe
    retired - less energy, more time to contemplate projects and more shed time....

  2. #2
    Join Date
    May 2011
    Location
    Murray Bridge S Aust.
    Age
    71
    Posts
    5,942

    Default

    Nice work Joe, looks like a happy young man you have there. Nice to be able to spend time with the grandies.
    Next thing is to work out how to make it work with a rubberband and propellor.
    Kryn
    To grow old is mandatory, growing up is optional.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    Near Bendigo, Victoria, AUS
    Age
    72
    Posts
    3,102

    Default

    I was thinking about something more along these lines...
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p-M9KUbxxfk
    Will have to do that at Christmas time. They leave on their adventure of a lifetime in the morning: 5 to 6 months around the West of the country....
    Cheers, Joe
    retired - less energy, more time to contemplate projects and more shed time....

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Mornington Peninsula
    Posts
    97

    Default

    Wow - what a fantastic project, and so simple!

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
    Location
    shep Victoria
    Age
    97
    Posts
    157

    Default

    I think I need spec savers hit the wrong button again

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    Victoria, Australia
    Age
    74
    Posts
    5,080

    Default

    Great project Joe,

    The kids will take those things that you are teaching them throughout their lives. I use to make those pop pop steam boats when I was a kid, and race them in the irrigation channel at the end of our street.

    Ray

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    gold coast
    Posts
    303

    Default

    You're the perfect Pop Pop for such delightful and enterprising young inventors, Joe. Their lives will be enhansed by your contributions.

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