"Anchor" wrote in message
news
On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 20:22:15 -0700, engsol wrote:

The mast is on sawhorses. I inspected the spreaders. I liked
what I saw.
Aluminum tubes going from round at the shroud end to oval at
the mast, with
really sturdy mounts.

Here's the problem. The shroud end has an aluminum plug with
a groove to accept the
shroud, then there is a cap to retain the shroud in the
groove. The plug and
cap were connected using two stainless screws. Guess what?
The corrosion
was so bad I had to hacksaw stuff to get them apart.

I'm having the machine shop make new plugs and caps, but I'm
at a loss
as to how to secure the cap to the plug, to say nothing
about how to secure
the plug into the spreader tube....without getting them
chewed up again.
Bronze screws, if I can find them?

Any hints? Nigel Calder, you read this newsgroup? lol

Thanks,
Norm B

Do not dispair. Corrosion is well understood.

Aluminum, titanium, and more exotic alloys are used
extensively in the
aircraft industry. They use thread coating pastes to prevent
corrosion.

Use your favorite search engine to search on "aluminum
corrosion thread
coatings". I use google.

Go see your favorite electrician and get some "gray stuff' that
they use in electrical boxes when attaching aluminum cable.

Leanne