I am starting a complete refit of my triton,
Boat is on the hard and mast is down.
I thought you might help with some of the questions I have about painting aluminium spars
So far I have removed all the fittings and I am about to sand to bare aluminum, tried yesterday a 3M ''clean n strip'' disc and it seams to work well, maybe a bit to aggressive though.
1) I have a can of international etch primer, what would you recommend to put on top of that? 1 part poly? 2 part? epoxy?... expensive international paint or cheaper alternative?
2) What is the best way to fill older rivet holes? Is it easy to stick weld them (I have never welded aluminium before)?
3) Can I find a boom end in the commerce? make one? or just leave it like that (see photo)
4) any advice to sand and paint the bolt rope rails?
Also I am planning some long term coastal cruising and find the mainsheet attachment a bit weak, I was thinking of distributing the load by adding a second attachment point on the boom, good idea or not?
pic was taken two weeks ago on a really nice and hot day (38 degrees..) , can you guess where?
cheers
thks
hi mate filling the holes in your mast i would not recommend a stick welder you can get alloy rods but i have used them in the past and found the next to useless the only way to go is a ac tig with a pulse feature as the holes will be very dirty and salt encrusted.
Welding the holes I am sure will weaken the extrusion. Bog.
Epiglass PA 10 is an excellent primer for aluminium.
Select to expand quoterhys245 said..
hi mate filling the holes in your mast i would not recommend a stick welder you can get alloy rods but i have used them in the past and found the next to useless the only way to go is a ac tig with a pulse feature as the holes will be very dirty and salt encrusted.
I might better use an aluminum filled epoxy putty then
To fill the holes, use low temperature aluminium welding rods. You only need a propane gas burner. There is a bloke that sells them at most shows, but they are available on the net.
Select to expand quotecazou34 said..rhys245 said..
hi mate filling the holes in your mast i would not recommend a stick welder you can get alloy rods but i have used them in the past and found the next to useless the only way to go is a ac tig with a pulse feature as the holes will be very dirty and salt encrusted.
I might better use an aluminum filled epoxy putty then
Hi, leave the holes, they are already there and are not causing any strength issues whereas welding to close the holes may, strip the paint and hand sand along the mast to remove any swirling from the stripping and either leave it natural or coat with a protective treatment such as penetrol (I think this is what someone on cruisers forum used). If left natural it will develop an oxide coating that reduces corrosion
Cheers..
Hey mate
leave the holes or fill with rivets if they annoy you, chemically strip the mast, wet and dry hand sand with whatever grade suits, sand to a fine finish using wet and dry paper and WD40/lanolin, leave natural and the aluminium will take care of it self.
If you repaint it you will be chasing your tail for ever.
Cheers
Select to expand quoteJode5 said..
To fill the holes, use low temperature aluminium welding rods. You only need a propane gas burner. There is a bloke that sells them at most shows, but they are available on the net.
that's interesting, I just watched some videos on youtube and it looks easy enough.
I 've just sanded half of the boom, it looks kind of nice natural but I would still prefer with a strong white paint
Select to expand quotecazou34 said..Jode5 said..
To fill the holes, use low temperature aluminium welding rods. You only need a propane gas burner. There is a bloke that sells them at most shows, but they are available on the net.
that's interesting, I just watched some videos on youtube and it looks easy enough.
I 've just sanded half of the boom, it looks kind of nice natural but I would still prefer with a strong white paint
I'm with you, painting looks so much better. Done properly with two pack and all the fittings are refitted correctly using Duralac, you will have a good looking rig for years.. In my opinion masts that are not painted or anodised always look crappie. It is probably just a pride thing, but I like to keep all my things looking immaculate and maybe that is why I have never had a problem selling a boat for top dollar.
Select to expand quoteCapt_Newmo said..
Hey mate
leave the holes or fill with rivets if they annoy you, chemically strip the mast, wet and dry hand sand with whatever grade suits, sand to a fine finish using wet and dry paper and WD40/lanolin, leave natural and the aluminium will take care of it self.
If you repaint it you will be chasing your tail for ever.
Cheers
Exactly.
The quickest way to reduce the life of an aluminium spar is to paint it.
Watch this, a mast is much easier.
Select to expand quotegwiongwion said..Capt_Newmo said..
Hey mate
leave the holes or fill with rivets if they annoy you, chemically strip the mast, wet and dry hand sand with whatever grade suits, sand to a fine finish using wet and dry paper and WD40/lanolin, leave natural and the aluminium will take care of it self.
If you repaint it you will be chasing your tail for ever.
Cheers
Exactly.
The quickest way to reduce the life of an aluminium spar is to paint it.
Watch this, a mast is much easier.
Being in the aluminium fabrication business, I can tell You polishing is not that easy. It is very slow and dirty. My sheeties hate it. Painting doesn't reduce the life. Even if done poorly you will only get a bit of white oxidation under the paint which is easily treated. 99% of aluminium power boats are painted. Yes there is a little more maintenance enquired with paint if you want to keep it looking good and this plus cost is the main reason they don't paint commercial boats.
dulux metalshield epoxy enamel after a good sanding - holds up great on anything, including aluminium and I think would be great for your mast too
Select to expand quotecazou34 said..
Any tips for the mast and boom tracks?
Looking at your boom, it's not a very big one and the amount of work it will take to make it look good, I would consider buying a new bit of boom section and building a new one. If you did that you could build and strip it then have it white powder coated.
I just finished this process myself. Painting it was well worth it. Makes the whole boat look 5 years younger.
Agree with leaving the holes alone but if you must plug them then do so with spare rivets prepped with Duralac (NOT Dulcolax!!)
Just sand the aluminium with an 80 grit orbital, clean with wax & grease remover (from autoone / repco) and then spray with a 2 part epoxy from any automotive supply place. Then just ask for some 2 pak white like Totoya Hilux / commuter. They will know the code dont worry! Make sure you obviously use the correct mask for the job of course and dont spray on a windy day.
If you get any runs or contamination then just wait a couple of days and then wet sand it with some 600 grit and then buff with a little compoud. (dont bother with the top half of the mast, only the birds will know!).
If you dont have any experience with spray painting stuff this is actually a good first project as the objects are pretty easy to spray and the paint is pretty forgiving. Then the skills will follow you around...
Best of luck.
Select to expand quoteJode5 said..
To fill the holes, use low temperature aluminium welding rods. You only need a propane gas burner. There is a bloke that sells them at most shows, but they are available on the net.
I tried this recently and no way could I get enough heat into the aluminium to get it to work.
That was on 1.2mm thick stuff, a lot harder on a mast.
Select to expand quoterumblefish said..Jode5 said..
To fill the holes, use low temperature aluminium welding rods. You only need a propane gas burner. There is a bloke that sells them at most shows, but they are available on the net.
I tried this recently and no way could I get enough heat into the aluminium to get it to work.
That was on 1.2mm thick stuff, a lot harder on a mast.
That's strange, the rods I use have a melting point of only 300deg and I use Mapgas which will produce a bit more heat.
Select to expand quoterumblefish said..Jode5 said..
To fill the holes, use low temperature aluminium welding rods. You only need a propane gas burner. There is a bloke that sells them at most shows, but they are available on the net.
I tried this recently and no way could I get enough heat into the aluminium to get it to work.
That was on 1.2mm thick stuff, a lot harder on a mast.
I have had the same experience using similar aluminium alloy brazing rods before, not on masts though,,, but all the same,,, the problem lies in that large aluminum profiles sink a lot of heat and you run into the problem of heat spreading to large area before the braze melts and pools up on the aluminum.
Tigs can provide a lot of heat instantly in a tiny area and the weld to the mast to fill a hole can be done very quickly before the heat is conducted into a large area. If the aluminum is dirty and you use the cleaning action of the tig to burn the crap away,, you run into a problem of taking too long with the tig as well. I have found it best to run an over size drill through the hole and open up the surface around the hole to shinny metal with a burr in a die grinder. 
Select to expand quoterumblefish said..Jode5 said..
To fill the holes, use low temperature aluminium welding rods. You only need a propane gas burner. There is a bloke that sells them at most shows, but they are available on the net.
I tried this recently and no way could I get enough heat into the aluminium to get it to work.
That was on 1.2mm thick stuff, a lot harder on a mast.
same for me. Bunnings rods? Maybe they are not low temp rods, will try with something else.
Splatter welding aluminiun with a mig will work too. Clean up the surface with a SS brush and clean the hole as mentioned already. Lot more grinding and filing for a perfect finish than tig. Practice on scrap first though!
Striped all the paint off this mast. Took some getting off.
Removed all the broken off s/s screws from the masthead fittings, welded up unused damaged holes (not that there were many) and re fitted the masthead gear/ instruments. I had planned to polish the aluminum and coat it with Nyalic but the surface was way too pitted to get a reasonable finish so I changed my mind.
Primed the mast with Norglass "no rust" all surface primer (Single pack product)
Changing my mind again I decided to topcoat with 2pk polyurethane
Sill looks magnificent 
All was no plain sailing though,,, I started with the boom first and because I didn't allow enough time after priming to flash the solvents in the primer off, my 2pk topcoat lifted and peeled off within about 36hrs of painting. I did leave the recommended time lapse but due to cold chill weather and the fact that I poured the paint on with a 2.5 mm nozzle I ended up trapping the solvents under the paint.
I then stripped all the paint off and reapplied it. The only blessing was that this had happened before I topcoated the mast.
As I am total amature with painting I will not recommend what I have done or my choice of products.
The rig still looks great but I guess only time will tell.
Select to expand quoteJolene said..
Striped all the paint off this mast. Took some getting off.
Removed all the broken off s/s screws from the masthead fittings, welded up unused damaged holes (not that there were many) and re fitted the masthead gear/ instruments. I had planned to polish the aluminum and coat it with Nyalic but the surface was way too pitted to get a reasonable finish so I changed my mind.
Primed the mast with Norglass "no rust" all surface primer (Single pack product)
Changing my mind again I decided to topcoat with 2pk polyurethane
Sill looks magnificent
All was no plain sailing though,,, I started with the boom first and because I didn't allow enough time after priming to flash the solvents in the primer off, my 2pk topcoat lifted and peeled off within about 36hrs of painting. I did leave the recommended time lapse but due to cold chill weather and the fact that I poured the paint on with a 2.5 mm nozzle I ended up trapping the solvents under the paint.
I then stripped all the paint off and reapplied it. The only blessing was that this had happened before I topcoated the mast.
As I am total amature with painting I will not recommend what I have done or my choice of products.
The rig still looks great but I guess only time will tell.
looks good Jolene, I am going to use the norglass 2 pack too
Select to expand quoteJolene said..
Sill looks magnificent
I see you have fitted a Supernova light to your masthead. Good move. Is it the combined anchor/tri light??
Select to expand quotecisco said..Jolene said..
Sill looks magnificent
I see you have fitted a Supernova light to your masthead. Good move. Is it the combined anchor/tri light??
Yep it's the combo, very pleased with it so far
It took me a wile but here are some updates on the mast and boom paint.
I tried the aluminum brazing rods and it did not work... because I wasn't using the correct ones. You need low temp rods that melt at 380C. I found online only one place in Australia that sell these things (its called ultra bond). Tried the coke can trick and worked well too. This stuff is pretty handy. Here is an example on the boom:
I am now painting with 2 pack norglass products but have had some issues with rollers that tend to disintegrate. The high density foam rollers just seam to dissolve and the short mohair ones loose their hairs (both from bunnings).
Any better alternative than the bunnings stuffs?
That is just the undercoat and they are dozains of hairs like that. I have been pretty successful at rolling and tipping one part paint in the past and achieving mirror like finish but its the first time I use 2 pack paint and if I have the same amount of hairs on my final coat it will be terrible.
