Home |
Search |
Today's Posts |
#11
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
Cleaning and refinishing alum mast steps
wrote in message ... I have a bunch of folding mast steps - the kind made from 2 cast alum pieces. I took them off the mast before I repainted it with LP - now I'd like to clean them up and put them back. They're uncoated alum so have a white powdery dusty feel to them now. What to do with them ?? ----------------- www.Newsgroup-Binaries.com - *Completion*Retention*Speed* Access your favorite newsgroups from home or on the road ----------------- What you should do is get them bead blasted. (using glass beads) This will remove all the oxidation. Them get them anodized. End of problem. However, you will find that doing this will probably end up costing you about the same as just purchasing new ones. I believe they cost around 28 bucks a piece new. My recommendation - purchase new ones. Or, best of all - do nothing at all as the white powder looking stuff is a good coating in and of itself. Wilbur Hubbard |
#12
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
Cleaning and refinishing alum mast steps
In article , cavelamb himself wrote:
I would think about it carefully before deciding to powder coat a mast. Besides the simple logistics of an oven large enough, the issuese of weight aloft and the coating chipping due to mast flex would be stoppers. Best protection for aluminum is a two part primer followed by a topcoat. I've always had good sucess with Randoplate or EpiBond for the prime coat. Tehn paint as desired. It's lighter, won't crack or chip, won't have little divits where the coating didn't stick, and is most likely a LOT cheaper. For what it's worth... The OP wasn't talking about powder coating a mast, only the 2-part cast aluminium mast steps that are bolted to the mast. Justin. -- Justin C, by the sea. |
#13
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
Cleaning and refinishing alum mast steps
Justin C wrote:
In article , cavelamb himself wrote: I would think about it carefully before deciding to powder coat a mast. Besides the simple logistics of an oven large enough, the issuese of weight aloft and the coating chipping due to mast flex would be stoppers. Best protection for aluminum is a two part primer followed by a topcoat. I've always had good sucess with Randoplate or EpiBond for the prime coat. Tehn paint as desired. It's lighter, won't crack or chip, won't have little divits where the coating didn't stick, and is most likely a LOT cheaper. For what it's worth... The OP wasn't talking about powder coating a mast, only the 2-part cast aluminium mast steps that are bolted to the mast. Justin. Sorry all, I missed that. But I'll stick to my choice for aluminum protection. I've had serious trouble glass bead blasting epibond off of metals. Gooooo-oood stuff! -- Richard (remove the X to email) The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not. Thomas Jefferson |
#14
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
Cleaning and refinishing alum mast steps
|
#15
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
Cleaning and refinishing alum mast steps
There have been a lot of replies to this thread, but I would like to offer
two thoughts of interest. First the best, cheapest, durable and most attractive solution is professional powder coat. It makes no sense to do this at home because it is not less expensive and unless you have made the seriously expensive investment in preparation tools and equipment, it won't be as good. The cost of professional end to end powder coating is less than the cost of high quality paint ignoring your time and labor. Secondly, if the corrosion in the aluminum is pitted and then professionally bead blasted alone any new coating, including powdercoat will fail because of salt deposits within the crevices of the corrosion. This problem can be so severe that placing a virgin piece of aluminum on top of this corroded and prepared piece will cause the virgin piece to start to corrode within hours of intimate contact. The only solution to this problem that I have found that I know works is thoroughly wash the prepared piece after beadblasting with vinegar, then flush with fresh water. This appears to effectively neutralize any residual salts. Steve wrote in message ... I have a bunch of folding mast steps - the kind made from 2 cast alum pieces. I took them off the mast before I repainted it with LP - now I'd like to clean them up and put them back. They're uncoated alum so have a white powdery dusty feel to them now. What to do with them ?? ----------------- www.Newsgroup-Binaries.com - *Completion*Retention*Speed* Access your favorite newsgroups from home or on the road ----------------- |
#16
posted to rec.boats.cruising
|
|||
|
|||
Cleaning and refinishing alum mast steps
Here is another brand that has a link to the manual in PDF format.
http://www.harborfreightusa.com/usa/...ateg oryName= |
Reply |
|
Thread Tools | Search this Thread |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Forum | |||
ISO Pace-Edwards Mast steps | Cruising | |||
recommendations for alum. mast refinish ? | Boat Building | |||
cleaning an anodized aluminum mast? | Boat Building | |||
Source for aluminum non-folding mast steps | Cruising | |||
mast steps - fastep? | General |