I've managed to put two nicks in the 1/19 stainless forestay on my 32'
boat. Dont ask how, far too embarassing, suffice to say a hack saw got
drawn across the wire. Nothing was cut through, but two small chunks
got taken out of two strands. How dangerous is this?

On Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:44:16 -0700,
wrote:

I've managed to put two nicks in the 1/19 stainless forestay on my 32'
boat. Dont ask how, far too embarassing, suffice to say a hack saw got
drawn across the wire. Nothing was cut through, but two small chunks
got taken out of two strands. How dangerous is this?

The stay will break proportionately sooner (i.e with a proof load
about 17/19 of its former rating.) But before that stress level, the
two wires will unravel.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

wrote:
..
I've managed to put two nicks in the 1/19 stainless forestay on my
32'
boat. Dont ask how, far too embarassing, suffice to say a hack saw
got
drawn across the wire. Nothing was cut through, but two small chunks
got taken out of two strands. How dangerous is this?

IMHO, you already know, or you wouldn't be asking.

Time for a replacement.

There are no rigging chandleries ay sea.

Lew

On Oct 7, 8:02 pm, Brian Whatcott wrote:
On Sun, 07 Oct 2007 16:44:16 -0700,
wrote:

I've managed to put two nicks in the 1/19 stainless forestay on my 32'
boat. Dont ask how, far too embarassing, suffice to say a hack saw got
drawn across the wire. Nothing was cut through, but two small chunks
got taken out of two strands. How dangerous is this?

The stay will break proportionately sooner (i.e with a proof load
about 17/19 of its former rating.) But before that stress level, the
two wires will unravel.

Brian Whatcott Altus OK

OK, here's what you do. Get a round jewelers file (you can get some
at Radio Shack) and a magnifying glass. Then gently file the nicks so
they have a very large radius if curvature while watching through the
glass. SS is fairly soft so this shouldnt be hard. This will
eliminate the localized stress riser produced by the nicks. I doubt
that your tensile strength will be affected much after you do this.

On Sun, 7 Oct 2007 17:16:28 -0700, "Lew Hodgett"
wrote:

Time for a replacement.

There are no rigging chandleries ay sea.

And a dismasting is a lot more expensive than a new head stay.

On Oct 7, 9:37 pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 7 Oct 2007 17:16:28 -0700, "Lew Hodgett"

wrote:
Time for a replacement.

There are no rigging chandleries ay sea.

And a dismasting is a lot more expensive than a new head stay.

OK, lets see. Assume the two wires are actually removed thus reducing
the maximum load by 2/19 to about 90% of its previous capacity. This
seems well, worth the risk to me in terms of cost. However, this is
NOT the case. Filing down the two nicks will basically give the two
wires back most of their strength so I estimate the stay will have AT
LEAST 95% of its pre-nick strength (however, you have to remove the
stress riser produced by the nick or it weakens the whole thing).
The average stay that is less than 5 yrs old where such a nick is
removed is probably stronger than the average 10 yr old stay without
nicks (due to crevice corrosion in the fittings). There is a lot of
overstrength in these stays so reducing it to about 95% is nothing.

On Sun, 07 Oct 2007 18:53:39 -0700, Frogwatch
wrote:

And a dismasting is a lot more expensive than a new head stay.

OK, lets see. Assume the two wires are actually removed thus reducing
the maximum load by 2/19 to about 90% of its previous capacity. This
seems well, worth the risk to me in terms of cost. However, this is
NOT the case. Filing down the two nicks will basically give the two
wires back most of their strength so I estimate the stay will have AT
LEAST 95% of its pre-nick strength (however, you have to remove the
stress riser produced by the nick or it weakens the whole thing).
The average stay that is less than 5 yrs old where such a nick is
removed is probably stronger than the average 10 yr old stay without
nicks (due to crevice corrosion in the fittings). There is a lot of
overstrength in these stays so reducing it to about 95% is nothing.

I'm not disputing your numbers, I just think it's a bad bet.

Price of new headstay: $200 to $300.

Cost of dismasting: $20,000+

On Oct 7, 10:30 pm, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 07 Oct 2007 18:53:39 -0700, Frogwatch
wrote:

And a dismasting is a lot more expensive than a new head stay.

OK, lets see. Assume the two wires are actually removed thus reducing
the maximum load by 2/19 to about 90% of its previous capacity. This
seems well, worth the risk to me in terms of cost. However, this is
NOT the case. Filing down the two nicks will basically give the two
wires back most of their strength so I estimate the stay will have AT
LEAST 95% of its pre-nick strength (however, you have to remove the
stress riser produced by the nick or it weakens the whole thing).
The average stay that is less than 5 yrs old where such a nick is
removed is probably stronger than the average 10 yr old stay without
nicks (due to crevice corrosion in the fittings). There is a lot of
overstrength in these stays so reducing it to about 95% is nothing.

I'm not disputing your numbers, I just think it's a bad bet.

Price of new headstay: $200 to $300.

Cost of dismasting: $20,000+

By your logic, you should go to 21 wire forestays to increase
strength. Every little bit helps but there is a practical limit and
replacing a perfectly sound forestay seems silly.

Frogwatch wrote:
On Oct 7, 10:30 pm, Wayne.B wrote:

On Sun, 07 Oct 2007 18:53:39 -0700, Frogwatch
wrote:


And a dismasting is a lot more expensive than a new head stay.

OK, lets see. Assume the two wires are actually removed thus reducing
the maximum load by 2/19 to about 90% of its previous capacity. This
seems well, worth the risk to me in terms of cost. However, this is
NOT the case. Filing down the two nicks will basically give the two
wires back most of their strength so I estimate the stay will have AT
LEAST 95% of its pre-nick strength (however, you have to remove the
stress riser produced by the nick or it weakens the whole thing).
The average stay that is less than 5 yrs old where such a nick is
removed is probably stronger than the average 10 yr old stay without
nicks (due to crevice corrosion in the fittings). There is a lot of
overstrength in these stays so reducing it to about 95% is nothing.

I'm not disputing your numbers, I just think it's a bad bet.

Price of new headstay: $200 to $300.

Cost of dismasting: $20,000+


By your logic, you should go to 21 wire forestays to increase
strength. Every little bit helps but there is a practical limit and
replacing a perfectly sound forestay seems silly.


By YOUR locig, if you don't want to fix it, don't ask!

"Frogwatch" wrote:

Every little bit helps but there is a practical limit and
replacing a perfectly sound forestay seems silly.

"perfectly sound forestay" and "nicked forestay" are mutually
exclusive terms.

Lew