# Hello from the Great Lakes!



## Brent H (Jun 4, 2019)

Hey out there in Metal land!  

I work on a ship and also build lots of things in my times home.  I have a Mill (Bridgeport Series 1 2J head 2 Hp) and a Lathe (10" Utilathe - currently being updated), welding tools etc and also a full wood working/cabinet shop!


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## CalgaryPT (Jun 4, 2019)

Nice....really nice. I like the ship part too (secret dream of mine).

Welcome. I'm more on the fabrication side, welding, sheet metal, ironworker, hydraulic bending, etc. I do have a 6x24 lathe and mini mill but don't use them much.

You'll find lots of friends here.

Shop pics encouraged


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## DPittman (Jun 5, 2019)

Work on a ship?  As in a server? Or captain? Or maintenance?  If you do anything regarding the operation /maintenance/ design/ day to day operations of a ship.... Here is one prairie dog that knows zero about ships and would love to see pictures or hear of your work on a ship!


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## CalgaryPT (Jun 5, 2019)

Prairie dog number two here.


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## YYCHM (Jun 5, 2019)

Prairie dog number three here.


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## Brent H (Jun 6, 2019)

Hey Guys, 

I am the Chief Engineer so I am in charge of all the maintenance, repairs installations etc.  We have a team of 7 including myself, 3 engineers and 3 oilers.  Right now we are at anchor in Quebec Harbour at Michipecoten (sp) Island in Lake Superior.

The ship has a Clausing 13" professional lathe and a do-All drill press - sadly no room for a mill (a proper one) we have a Craftex little mini one that we have burned the motor out on a couple times trying to surface aluminium...LOL

Day to day operations vary, but we do quite a bit of machinery repair and routine maintenance on everything from the galley dish washer to our main engines  (4 Wartsila 12v22 series 2135 Hp each)

I get a good chance to play on the lathe after work and I just purchased an old 10" Utilathe and will be working on restoring that.  Found a chunk of cast iron and machined out a new drive pulley for the motor as the original had been broken.














Here are a couple pics of the ship in action - ice breaking out a big laker in the winter and a shot of one of the engines:


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## DPittman (Jun 6, 2019)

Wow cool stuff!  
4 2135hp engines ... that's hard to imagine for a fellow like me.

So excuse my ignorance but...
Is a ship like that government/armed forces owned only?  What is the purpose of such a ship?  Is ice breaking the main role? Who pays for that?


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## Brent H (Jun 6, 2019)

The ship is Coast Guard - Federal government - Dollar costs are partially recovered from the private ships ( anyone using icebreaker assistance) and the taxpayers.  The Lakers move billions $$ in cargo up and down the lakes (Highway H2O) as it were.  The "expense" of the ship keeps the cargo guys going and thus keeps the people ashore working to fill the ships and move the stuff all over.  Salt from the Goderich mines and lots of raw materials from Alberta and Manitoba.

For you guys out in the parries we help the ships move tons and tons of grain, lumber, oil, iron ore, cement, asphalt, steel products etc and it keeps the economy going.  Big time grain is shipped from Thunder Bay through  the water way system and off to other countries.  We are pretty "cheap" to run looking at the big picture  - say 4 million for a year and we escort about a billion $ in commercial goods in the winter.  We maintain the entire water way system from Thunder Bay to St Catherines including all the light houses, buoys and Search and Rescue.  We are ice breaking roughly 60% of the time and its a big part of our function from December to the end of March/mid April.  One of those Lakers can carry something like 1800 transport trucks full of cargo


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## Chicken lights (Jun 6, 2019)

Brent H said:


> The ship is Coast Guard - Federal government - Dollar costs are partially recovered from the private ships ( anyone using icebreaker assistance) and the taxpayers.  The Lakers move billions $$ in cargo up and down the lakes (Highway H2O) as it were.  The "expense" of the ship keeps the cargo guys going and thus keeps the people ashore working to fill the ships and move the stuff all over.  Salt from the Goderich mines and lots of raw materials from Alberta and Manitoba.
> 
> For you guys out in the parries we help the ships move tons and tons of grain, lumber, oil, iron ore, cement, asphalt, steel products etc and it keeps the economy going.  Big time grain is shipped from Thunder Bay through  the water way system and off to other countries.  We are pretty "cheap" to run looking at the big picture  - say 4 million for a year and we escort about a billion $ in commercial goods in the winter.  We maintain the entire water way system from Thunder Bay to St Catherines including all the light houses, buoys and Search and Rescue.  We are ice breaking roughly 60% of the time and its a big part of our function from December to the end of March/mid April.  One of those Lakers can carry something like 1800 transport trucks full of cargo


That’s pretty cool!


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## Everett (Jun 7, 2019)

Now that is cool, thanks for sharing! Hope you get some shop play time soon.


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## Tom O (Jun 7, 2019)

I believe a friend of mine was/is working on those Ralph Dunn.


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## YYCHM (Aug 21, 2021)




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