welding armoured steel

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Well, I was talking to a guy at work today and he was saying how there were only him and 2 others that can pass a weld test on armoured plate. He was saying they had to do v-grooves and some fillets. So my question is, is how do you spray an open v-groove in the 1G position without a backing strip? He says they used spray transfer because it is alot harder to penetrate. What are your guys experiances.
Reply:Originally Posted by BlackGT97Well, I was talking to a guy at work today and he was saying how there were only him and 2 others that can pass a weld test on armoured plate. He was saying they had to do v-grooves and some fillets. So my question is, is how do you spray an open v-groove in the 1G position without a backing strip? He says they used spray transfer because it is alot harder to penetrate. What are your guys experiances.
Reply:Interesting bit on the Bradley. Any unclassified (don't need any armor details) info you can remember like the name of the program or of the mod package or which hatches?I work with some people dealing with APC uparmoring, and given that info we could have our folks get the details from TACOM.
Reply:Originally Posted by farmallInteresting bit on the Bradley. Any unclassified (don't need any armor details) info you can remember like the name of the program or of the mod package or which hatches?I work with some people dealing with APC uparmoring, and given that info we could have our folks get the details from TACOM.
Reply:I know of a couple thousand Marines and Soldiers that I built armor for in Iraq 2004 that was very happy I was "qualified"  to weld Hardox and Armox. Since many of the plates we built to attach to thin skin vehicles saved their asses more than a few times. IIRC we used 7018 and 10016 and I only ever have one weld break and THAT was due to a rollover.If you cant fix it with a hammer, it must be an electrical problem."Boy, everyone starts with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before the bag of luck is empty."-Grandad circa 1990ish
Reply:Originally Posted by larpheadI know of a couple thousand Marines and Soldiers that I built armor for in Iraq 2004 that was very happy I was "qualified"  to weld Hardox and Armox. Since many of the plates we built to attach to thin skin vehicles saved their asses more than a few times. IIRC we used 7018 and 10016 and I only ever have one weld break and THAT was due to a rollover.
Reply:Shovelon:Thanks for the info!
Reply:Originally Posted by shovelonNice.  Humvee?That 10016 is pretty angry stuff.
Reply:Here is one pic that I had saved online.We ended up removing the box on the back. It made the truck WAY to heavy and unstable at speed.If you cant fix it with a hammer, it must be an electrical problem."Boy, everyone starts with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before the bag of luck is empty."-Grandad circa 1990ish
Reply:I met a Marine who was in charge of the Hummer up-armoring program at the time.  Happened to sit next to him on a plane trip.Those open-back Hummers sure didn't give much protection. Attached Images"USMCPOP" First-born son: KIA  Iraq 1/26/05Syncrowave 250 w/ Coolmate 3Dialarc 250, Idealarc 250SP-175 +Firepower TIG 160S (gave the TA 161 STL to the son)Lincwelder AC180C (1952)Victor & Smith O/A torchesMiller spot welder
Reply:The US knew soft-skinned light trucks were garbage since Viet Nam and had that later reinforced in Somalia and by the examples of Russian supply trucks getting lit up by Chechens.Of course,the idea that Iraqis would welcome us with a group hug meant we wouldn't need armor and could go in with too few troops and naked trucks.  Total MILITARY leadership failure due to ignoring history which was WELL-known to them.The enemy in Iraq had AKs, command detonated mines (IEDs sound "modern") and RPGs, just like the VC.... In Nam and Iraq, weldors and fabricators plugged some of the gap to save G.I. lives and limbs. (The Nam folks were allowed MUCH more firepower and weren't shy about bolting it on.)http://grambo.us/atav/pickett/pickett.htmhttp://www.garbee.net/~cabell/photosguntrucks.htm Attached ImagesLast edited by farmall; 06-23-2012 at 11:35 AM.
Reply:Good stuff there farmall. I wish I could find more pics of the stuff I worked on. One thing we did was take shipping containers and cut out windows in the sides. Armor plate the area below the "death line" (about where the name tapes are on the uniform) mount a .50 cal in the front and a MK 19 in the back and two light machine gun (M240B or M249) on each side. Load that on the back of a PLS and send it on convoy as a gun truck. When I rolled north from Kuwait in January 2004, we had rubber mine belting hanging off our trucks. I think the theory was, If we look like we are tough and covered in armor hadji will find someone else to shoot at. It must have worked to some degree because we rolled a Battalion sized element past Fallujha without losing a single troop.If you cant fix it with a hammer, it must be an electrical problem."Boy, everyone starts with a full bag of luck and an empty bag of experience. The trick is to fill the bag of experience before the bag of luck is empty."-Grandad circa 1990ish