Source for replacement chainplates?

[pbryant]

Does anyone have a source for Ariel chainplates for the shrouds? I'd much prefer bronze, but will settle for stainless: which I'll have to replace frequently (explained below).

I'm hoping to not have to buy raw stock and have them machined. But if I do, I'll upgrade to 1/4 inch thick (3/16 is specified) C954 alloy aluminium bronze, unless someone here voices concerns. I'd like to seal the chainplates at the deck to prevent water intrusion, and applying sealant to stainless steel deprives it of oxygen, reactivates it, and causes rapid corrosion in a salt water environment. (Of course, there's always titanium: $$$.)

Here is an excerpt from an excellent post at http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...tes-85335.html that describes the issue with applying sealant to stainless steel:

"As we trace the chainplate through the boat however we hit the first major problem, called the 'blind section, it is the area where the chainplate is penetrating the hull [deck] and is not visible from above or below without removing the chainplate from the boat. Right at the point where the plate enters the cut out to pass through the hull [deck], standard installation guidelines call for bedding the chainplate into the hull [deck] with 4200 or 5200. Immediately we have created a gasket or ring that while water resistant is likely to eventually fail, even if microscopically and allow some water penetration. Once this water has penetrated the salt crystals immediately start to work corroding away the steel."

I've read several posts here describing applying sealant to stainless through-deck chainplates, or mounting stainless external chainplates to the hull sides (where the side against the hull is inevitably deprived of oxygen). That bothers me a lot. Stainless steel + water + salt - oxygen = rapid corrosion. The post cited above describes the process much more thoroughly. My current stainless chainplates look nice and shiny where they are in free airflow, but are rusting at the through-deck seals and bulkhead-facing surfaces below deck (every place I can't normally see - in obeyance with Murphy's Law of Marine Corrosion). If I use stainless, I'll have to plan on replacing them once a year. Bronze (or titanium) doesn't have that problem.