Aluminum Polish for Mast/Boom/Etc.

[David]

Looked in archives and could find nothing.
Any good advice on what to use to clean/polish up the mast/boom pulpit/etc.?
Two week wait on fiberglass repair work, so decided I want to shine up the aluminum.

[skip1930]

Since the mast is not typically anodized
A good cleaner wax and lots of elbow grease.
Got salt? An aluminum brightener as used on OTR semi trucks.
Mag wheel cleaner, then wax sounds about right.

Avoid the silicone as these only shine up the dirt.
I think your looking to remove the oils and soils before the shine.

skip.

[Salty19]

Mast and boom looks anodized to me.  I wouldn't use anything harsh or may discolor it causing it to streak white.
Don't use simple green, 409, etc.  Car wash soap is mild, just don't let it dry.  Wax is fine.

[skip1930]

"the mast is not typically anodized", opps maybe I'm wrong. Easiest way to find out is to open up the web site for Dwyer, the mast supplier to Com-Pac and read what is said about the masts sold.

skip.

[brackish]

"the mast is not typically anodized", opps maybe I'm wrong. Easiest way to find out is to open up the web site for Dwyer, the mast supplier to Com-Pac and read what is said about the masts sold.

skip.

Wish I could remember.  Worked for an aluminum extrusion company in the late sixties.  Olin Mathieson Metals.  A small part of our volume was aluminum mast sections.  Not sure for whom, I just saw the factory run sheet which only identified the wholesaler.  Maybe for Dwyer.  Porthole dies.  Slow runout because of the porthole.  Don't remember if they were anodized after they where extruded, stretched and cut to wholesale length.  Wasn't important to me back then. 

[David]

Question posed to Dwyer and their response:

Gentlemen:

I  purchased a 1980 Compac 16 and wish to clean or polish the mast and boom.  Can you tell me what to use on it.  Some have said that these parts are anodized and I should not attempt to clean them.  What course of action should I pursue?

Thank you.

David

Hi David, We use a cleanser like 409 and a very light touch, if at all, with a
fine Scotch Brite pad when cleaning spars in the shop. These are new spars;
we do not have experience with 30 year old spars.
Best Regards,
Jay Kirby

[Salty19]

I humbly stand corrected!   With that said, No way I would put a scotch brite pad on any portion of the boat except stripping woodwork or the bottom for refinishing.  Maybe I'm just too paranoid about scratches??? 

[wes]

The experts at the Sailboat Company have this to offer:

We use Marine Penetrol for masts and booms. It's a product made by the Flood Corporation and comes in quart cans. West Marine should sell Penetrol. A Flood Corporation phone number is 800 321 3444.

[bimmerhead]

I went a differant route, my '77 CP16 mast and boom were beat-up by improper stowage while trailering, lot's of gouges and scrapes, I used all the previously mentioned tactics with no results. I decided to go for broke with an angle grinder and a fine scotchgard wheel, now they sparkle, but whats the preferred method to finish? powder coat or paint? I sail fresh water only...  for now..

[brackish]

I went a differant route, my '77 CP16 mast and boom were beat-up by improper stowage while trailering, lot's of gouges and scrapes, I used all the previously mentioned tactics with no results. I decided to go for broke with an angle grinder and a fine scotchgard wheel, now they sparkle, but whats the preferred method to finish? powder coat or paint? I sail fresh water only...  for now..

In the past most mast that I've seen or heard of that were refinished were done so by priming with zinc chromate then finish coating with catalyzed polyurethane.  Powder? how would you get an oven long enough to cure it.?

[wes]

David - the bible for this sort of thing is Don Casey's excellent book "Sailboat Refinishing", which you can buy for a song on Amazon. I think every owner of an older boat should have it on their shelf. He has a whole chapter on masts - basically his approach is to prime with an acid based aluminum primer, then paint with a two-part linear polyurethane (like Interlux Perfection or similar). Lots of tips in the book - highly recommended.

Wes

[skip1930]

Brackish asks; " Powder? how would you get an oven long enough to cure it.?  "

Aluminium Mag wheel polish like "Mother's" ? from AutoZone.

powder coat or paint? That's a 30 foot long oven son...don't have one in my pocket. Could do this...hang the front of the work on one track while the back of the work is hung on another track. We did this Youngstown, Ohio for a company who P-coated decorative cast street light poles.

skip.

[bimmerhead]

Thanks Guys,

I'll scrap the powder coat idea, I forgot about curing and ovens and such...

And I actually considered Skips idea of polish and clear coat, but that would be blinding on a sunny day, even with sunglasses.. So that leaves 2 options I can think of, prime and paint, or re-anodizing, is that an option anyone has tried? Or more importantly, is re-anodizing even a valid option? I'm just not up to speed on the process, but I'm sure it's done everyday somewhere..

Thanks!

[skip1930]

"...re-anodizing,"...that's a chemical dip/flood process that makes the aluminium's surface harder and at times colorful, we would send out our aluminium Hatco Food warming Equipment to be anodized with huge industrial finishing equipment. That's not going to happen either.
Nor is Electrocoating in an E-Coat painting tank...like this. Hold control key down and tap + key to enlarge drawings. Tap - to shrink.

Scrape it, prime it, paint it with semi gloss white [I like oil base] but water base is popular too. Polys darn near dry on the brush between the can and the work. Fast solvents here.

skip.

Auto body coming out of E-Coat [Electrodeposition] tank after being primed on 100% of all metal surfaces, including the edge of holes.
Of course this is not anodizing which is a smaller operation using different chemistry.

The basic idea of the E-coat tank and all ancillary equipment necessary to keep her 'sweet'. About $2.6 million worth

[bimmerhead]

Funny Skip,

Hey I'm just asking!

I think this ones under control, I'll keep you posted on how it turns out..

BTW, anodizing tanks are typically 14' max in my area, no joy for 17' plus mast, something else to build someday?

You guys are great fun!