Capt BisQuick suh, Not quite sure where we are with the originals from A-338.
There is too much background to reiterate here.
Went the powder-coat route with the big windows... and later decided not to use them.
Altered them to take thru machine bolts (outside to inside) because the bitty #6MS
blind holes in the frame of the original were corroded, and I didn't like their flimsy
nature. Those large lights translated to aluminum were a bad idea. However, to
make them work I felt the cabin sides had to be stabilized. Some of that story is here.
The two forward opening lights are also aluminum -- and I also had them coated in the
same "bronze" color polyester powder, that I didn't get charged extra for, because they
happened to be using a batch that week. There are many little pieces,
Miller Powder Coating (Rohnert Park) did a champion job.
BUT, the polyester adds thickness overall. I ended up with the all important exterior trim
ring unable to slip over the frame. Can't grind the coating off to make it fit... because
the aluminum will have a fit... it'll corrode because it won't oxidize properly. But as an
experiment will grind the coating edge open so it slides over the spigot... touch up the
wound with an artist's brush and some of that Aluthane -- see if it works, see if it lasts....
Once you've coated aluminum you can't afford a scratch, because aluminum will start
to bubble & creep. While a scratch on raw aluminum will heal itself, coated aluminum
when scratched will create enough electric potential difference between scratch and
coating in water and salt to cause corrosion. Even tho our mast and fittings are marine
Almag, observation shows plenty of opportunity for our alloy to corrode. Yet, some
ancient almag cleats came off with no evidence of bedding compound...leaving a pristine
anodized footprint like the day it was screwed on 5 decades earlier.. Some were
intensely corroded along with the screws and holes..
Anodize is best and safest for new aluminum. It's a beautiful translucent, porous,
chemical bond oxide finish, yet when scratched may still create potential to corrode.
Would just start phoning around, maybe the internet, for an outfit that does small jobs or
marine work. Aluminum masts are still popular these days, so you have to find somebody.
Anodize comes in hundreds of colors. If you don't like the aluminum look, maybe there's
a bronze or brown that will be perfect -- especially on some of those original beautiful
sculpted chocks and cleats they did back in Holland 50 years ago. While both systems
are environmentally friendly, anodizing is a passivation process done in huge tanks,
and may not be available for small projects.
Good luck with your amazing project!~!
http://www.anoplate.com/
__________________________________________________ __________________________
Aluthane, the aluminum filled moisture cure urethane, mentioned previously, could to
some extreme, be used to coat your aluminum fittings. Haven't done it**, we need a
guinea pig! Aluminum, in current practice, cannot be coated with any foreign substance,
without precise highly toxic two part chemical washes, and toxic tie-coat primer.
SO THEY SAY. However, this aluminum filled urethane has, or should I say, is gaining a
rep for bonding with any metal, and many other materials. Whether it will take the place
of chromates and primer remains to be seen..
Am hopeful. This guinea pig has bonded with his original Pearson mast.
Coating has some quirks : It goes on very very thin, if the surface to paint is smooth the
result will be dull, if it's rough, the coating appears shiney and bright! If you returned the
lid to the can with but one drop of liquid in the moat, the lid is welded there forever,
cannot be pried opened. Partial cans will skin over. Skin fractures when lifted, want a
fine mesh paper filter into a new container. CO2 or argon toppers don't seem to give
even an extra day! A different animal, this ALUTHANE. If I had mangy cleats, I'd dress
them in this urethane ....There is a learning curve to working with it: even roll & tip
requires practice, it's so fast. Like other 'moisture cure', once you open it, it starts to
harden. Try to save it longterm for later, you come back to an aluminum hockey puck.
**except for the mast, where the coating seems almost fused with the old aluminum.
__________________________________________________ _________________________
Instead of tediously grinding failed coats off my poor old mast, SOY-GEL will be tried
instead: it's a safer remover, non-toxic, bio-degradable low-VOC gel. FIRST OF ITS KIND.
Probably digest the Aluthane also!! Should be interesting. ..Stay tuned....
chubble chubble wheeek!
__________________________________________________ __________________________
We have a 100% green Metalco Anodizing, Emeryville, Calif. that specializes in clear,
bronze, and black anodizing. Haven't contacted them.
later EDIT: Talked with Metalco about bringing in projects. No problem with 6061-T-6
with any welding done using 5356 filler rod... for clear anodizing. Or Almag, I'd guess.
Believe their process is a sulfuric acid base, but they produce no toxic waste, and the
plant is near residential neighborhoods. Most anodizers use sulfuric acid which produces
the clear coat we see on masts and booms.
Sulfuric acid hardcoat triple dip oxide process thickens overall dimensions, and can
also repair worn surfaces. Type I chromic acid process produces a very thin anodize that
does not thicken the work, but doesn't provide much abrasion resistance either.
Would be interesting to see what happens when some well preserved Ariel/Commander
Almag chocks and cleats get treated to a nice bronze hardcoat anodized process!!
Reply With Quote