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Skills -
leaking seawater pipe solution, template, jig, clamp, vice, weld, drill, rubber,
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humor, humour, cartoon, cartoons, welding, machining, fitting, repairs,
fabrication, steel, tools, seaman, cadet, officer, crew, fun, laugh, smile, gag,
joke, industry, safety, illustration, training, graphic, graphics
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Our reader, Fred Thibodeau of J.S. Barry Industries, has contributed an alternative solution to
help Mabuk out. He can be contacted at:
Thank you, Fred!
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 First, Mabuk did some
measurement to to find out the actual diameter of the leaking pipe.
Then, he cuts a template
out of a piece of sheet metal. (A piece of stiff cardboard will also do, but
naturally, it will not be so durable). The rounded portion of the template is
part of the diameter of the leaking pipe.
 He then constructed a jig
for rolling sheet metal. It looks something like the picture on the right. The
two rollers are pieces of pipe and they are welded to the two flat bars. The
whole assembly can be welded to the work bench or clamped with a bench vice. |
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Using the jig and a piece
of mild steel sheet, he presses the latter at different positions as best as
he can until he gets a nice curve on the sheet metal.
He checks the curvature of the sheet metal often with the template, so
that it will fit the leaking pipe.
Once he has the correct curve, he welds some tabs or strips at the ends.
The tabs or strips have drilled holes for bolts.
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 He made two pieces of
clamps as shown on the left.
During the fabrication, he makes sure that when the two halves are
brought together on the leaking pipe, there is still a small gap between
them. In this way, tightening of bolts and nuts through the tabs will
compress the two halves against the pipe.
Next, he gum rubber sheets on the inner surface of the clamps. These
will act as gaskets.
He clamps the leaking
pipe with his new clamp.
The repair should last until the pipe can be renewed or repaired at a
later date.
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