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

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.

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 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.

On 2007-10-07 19:44:16 -0400, said:

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?

Dangerous enough that my only thought is to replace it.

Demastings aren't any fun, and you've degraded that stay by about 20 percent.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's new pages: http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI pages: http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

On Oct 8, 3:56 am, Jere Lull wrote:
On 2007-10-07 19:44:16 -0400, said:

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?

Dangerous enough that my only thought is to replace it.

Demastings aren't any fun, and you've degraded that stay by about 20 percent.

--
Jere Lull
Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD
Xan's new pages:http://web.mac.com/jerelull/iWeb/Xan/
Our BVI pages:http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

Since when does 17/19 become 20%? If your only thought is to replace
it, you need to think more because your logic means that you should
make it safer by going from 19 strands to 21 to be even safer. On a
scale of relative dangers, one he deals with the nicks this becomes a
very small danger compared to almost anything else on a boat. Your
average marine head would be far more dangerous.