Skip,

There is a way to passivate the welds after the arch is installed. I am
using a product called Citrisurf. Wrap a short length of stainless tube
with a rag, connect the + side of a 12V battery to the tube and ground the
arch. Dip the rag in the Citrisurf solution and rub it around the welds for
a few minutes.It is not as good as a real hot dipped passivation but it does
restore color and slow the rust stains. It leaves the surface a little hazy
where it has eaten away the free iron molecules but it can be shined up
again by hand with normal stainless polish.

--
Glenn Ashmore

I'm building a 45' cutter in strip/composite. Watch my progress (or lack
there of) at: http://www.rutuonline.com
Shameless Commercial Division: http://www.spade-anchor-us.com

"Skip Gundlach" wrote in message
oups.com...
Oops. Perhaps. More like 6k, based on my recent build. There's a
bunch of gotchas in his price list; by the time you add it all up (with
him, not apparent unless you've had the detailed discussion with him),
it all adds up.

He uses 1.5" 304 without passivation of welds (polishing only) - a
prior responder to my search here earlier indicated that he was
constantaly having to polish it (the entirety) due to corrosion.

That said, I seriously considered a Wells arch, but in the end went
with a custom builder because, at any price, Wells couldn't do what I
wanted due to their cookie-cutter approach (saves costs, of course -
doesn't impact quality) - and in the end, his price was the same as my
2" custom fabrication. See my gallery
(http://www.justpickone.org/skip/gallery/) under M46Projects for a very
detailed look at how I did it - without having to build a prototype.

L8R

Skip, starting toward active rehab and heading into another (minor
surgery), see ya at SSCA Melbourne where I'll take the HAM exams.

Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2 The vessel as Tehamana, as we bought her

"And then again, when you sit at the helm of your little ship on a
clear
night, and gaze at the countless stars overhead, and realize that you
are
quite alone on a great, wide sea, it is apt to occur to you that in the
general scheme of things you are merely an insignificant speck on the
surface of the ocean; and are not nearly so important or as
self-sufficient
as you thought you were. Which is an exceedingly wholesome thought,
and one
that may effect a permanent change in your deportment that will be
greatly
appreciated by your friends."- James S. Pitkin
----- Original Message -----