^^ +1 As soon as aluminium is laid bare, the surface oxidises which protects it from further oxidisation.

My mast is painted black. I am not looking forward to the time when it starts to bubble and have spots of bare making it look like it has the pox.

My mast is bare aluminium and is an almost shiny dark grey. I have no idea if it has some treatment on it. I thought it might have been polished but now I'm thinking it might have had a clear treatment too.

My mast is probably over 30 years old. The alloy looks like its new and I thought it may have been polished with something like car polish!

DrRog said...


The product:





Most clear metal sealers I've come across will degrade with direct sun light (UV) exposure. Is this product UV-proof , and if so, who sells it in Aus? Thanks.

While we are on the topic of mast whats the best way to remove old anodizing Ive worn out gold anodize masts and booms
I did some research a while ago and found some air craft paint stripped was the best after looking further I found it was taken off the market in USA because it was so carcinogenic
Would bead blasting work
Dr Rog
Could you possibly ask the riggers your working with? best way to strip anodized masts?

I'm at a loss to understand why you want to remove the anodizing. The anodizing is nothing more than a controlled layer of oxidation to which dye has been added to colour it.

If you really want to persist with the removal you need to do it mechanically ie. sanding.

Seems like a lot of hard work to me to remove a protective coating only to replace it with an inferior protective coating

southace said...
Great job but personally I would be putting engine instruments into the cockpit like I did!

Did you make this screen Southace?

HG02 said...
loose change the masts have been there for 36 years mate . And I would like to use this boat for another 30 years if I live that long . Dont you think there be corrosion and flaking and plenty of bare places on both masts after that time at sea. Halyards ropes and sails have been flapping on them also in some areas there is no anodizing left in some areas. its all worn away or its corroded off or theres corrosion on it.
I am trying to restore this old girl . This is not hard work to me its a labor of love. If I spend the next three year restoring her. Ill only have maintenance to do for a long time and Ill be retired living on a pension. Wont be able to afford to do repairs then .Anodising looks pretty for a while but its stuffed now.

Sorry HG, I didn't realise they are still the original sticks. You would think that after 36 years they had been replaced at some time .

LooseChange said...

HG02 said...
loose change the masts have been there for 36 years mate . And I would like to use this boat for another 30 years if I live that long . Dont you think there be corrosion and flaking and plenty of bare places on both masts after that time at sea. Halyards ropes and sails have been flapping on them also in some areas there is no anodizing left in some areas. its all worn away or its corroded off or theres corrosion on it.
I am trying to restore this old girl . This is not hard work to me its a labor of love. If I spend the next three year restoring her. Ill only have maintenance to do for a long time and Ill be retired living on a pension. Wont be able to afford to do repairs then .Anodising looks pretty for a while but its stuffed now.

Sorry HG, I didn't realise they are still the original sticks. You would think that after 36 years they had been replaced at some time .

Back in the early eighties I bought a motor cycle called a Vincent Rapide series C 1952 roughly it was made. After world war 2 a lot of old war planes were recycled . I do know the Vincent V twin motor and gear box aluminum came form those planes.

Any way when I roller her out of a Grace brothers shipping contain in Dandenong after it arrived from England I found the previous English owner had a small accident and the Primery cover had a hole in it which had been glues up , patched with epoxy .
When I got her home I dismantled the primary cover and clutch and clean the epoxy out of the motor . I called a mate of mine who is a really a trick fitter and tops in aluminum welding . He started welding up the hole in no time flat , when he finished he said to me look absolutely no impurities it weld was clean as a thistle. I filed it down and sanded it and when finished you would never have know that it had ever been welded. The recipe for making Aluminum has changed from world war 2. If you weld aluminum these days a lots of black crap comes out of where the weld was done .
Some once said that after the atom bomb was exploded it did some thing to metals I do not know if thats true or not

MorningBird said...
After months of sorting shaft and gearbox today I managed to give her a clean and tidy up. Went for a drive around Scotland Island.
Has anybody worn a gearbox clutch out and what were the symptoms? I expected it would slip but are there other symptoms?

Did you drop the oil out of it yet?? If there are substantial amounts of metal particles in it, you have a problem.

I guess the only other symptoms would be noise due to worn bearings or broken gear teeth.

Only one way to know for sure and that is to pull it out and strip it and that shouldn't be too expensive an exercise. Probably worth it with the Lord Howe trip coming up.

Before


After


once the steps clip on she should start looking more of a lamb then a a piece of mutton





I still have some more sound proofing to do on the engine cover Im just so happy to nearly finish a job on this boat Ive far to many thing on the go . Another month and I can relax a bit . I want to get up on deck and get a few thing ready for spring so i can hoist a few sails rigging next year or the year after but she need a few ropes and halyards before she can sail. The Miizzen topping lift is handing on by a thread
Bloody B.O.A.T $$$$$$$ Cisco

Hi HG

I think if it opened to the rear instead of to the front it would be fine and if the space was available to do this it would be my first choice

The before and afters you have posted so far are amazing and I don't think it will be long before yours makes mine look shabby

Regards Don

Good to here morning bird

Just thought I would add to this topic, in Sydney waiting the return of auto ram etc, so decided to check and clean head (toilet) it has both into sea and on board tank, didnt wish to use tank, after cleaning, not a great job to do, but now at least it looks clean, cant see how it will ever work with anything bigger that a wet fart !!! dont think its been used for donks if ever ??????????????????????

If nobody is looking I always bypass and go direct. It is called hanging the freckle or the dongle. Oooh yeah!! That feels good.

For when they are looking, a bucket in the cockpit does the job.