Well I whacked at it with the hammer. Nothing.. Then I tried to bend it with vice grips on the base and my hand on the tube... Same...
Then I put the base in the vice and put my tuning fork handle in the tube and it started to crack.
So I'm not going to braze the bases.
I found a guy to TIG them for me on Kijiji.ca. (I was looking for a deal on a 110 TIG welder machine....) I called him at 8:30 tonight and he said he had time now... So I took them over and he whipped them up.
I'm happy with the outcome. And they are so much stronger!
I showed him a picture of the braze I did and he said it looked good. Then I showed him a picture of the other side of the braze... with the crack. He said it is tough to keep the heat even all around the tube with a propane torch. (I know...) That's why it broke on the one side and not the other. I tried to break the other side but it isn't going anywhere.
On another note; I went to the dental surgeon today... $130 for 40 min and he didn't look in my mouth! That's $195/hr!
I broke a tooth 2 weeks ago and my dentist hooked me up with a this guy to pull it. (He didn't. We just talked about it. I have to make another appointment for that...)
On the form I had to fill out it asked who caused today's visit... (An odd question... Deserves an equaly odd response.) I said it was caused by...
Orville Redenbacher
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/15...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=1565302222
Above is a link to his book. (I think the Canadian, American and perhaps World dental associations actually created him!)
Here are the pictures.
Tomorrow I can get going on bending the arch pieces.
I picked up a piece of 5/8 plywood today to reinforce the transom ware the ladder is attached and pushes in on the hull. I don't want that to be a problem area. I will sandwich chopped strand mat between it and the wood then give the wood a coat of resin.