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Ideas for Cosmetic Improvement of Black Mast

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
We replaced the main halyard and got rid of that graffiti-painting wire/rope but the spin is still an angry guitar string. As a result our white mast looks like a giant osprey held on and scraped her way from top to bottom. The rigger told me a few moths ago to not worry, he's seen much worse. Sounds a little like that Monty Python sketch, "It's only a flesh wound ".....

Still, I am amazed at the cost of coating/painting a mast (boom) in California.

If you still..... have any of those original wire/rope halyards, do replace 'em with low-stretch line.
For several reasons, and preserving the spar finish is just one.

That old wire, meat hooks and all, belongs in a museum or the bin at the metal recyclers. (I sold mine for the stainless steel price-per-pound scrap value after I replaced them.)

Loren
 

tenders

Innocent Bystander
I took my mast down last weekend and will be painting it over the next few months. I did this myself last in 1995 with one-part Brightsides paint, and it held up acceptably with a bit of touchup where I could reach from the deck. It is not that tough a job

What's the case for replacing wire and rope halyards with all-rope? Mine are at least 23 years old and have held up beautifully. Replacements will be inexpensive and compatible with the blocks at the head and foot of the mast. I can't imagine any benefit of all-rope halyards, except weight aloft, which in and of itself does not seem even close to worth the hassle of re-rigging.
 

Randy Rutledge

Sustaining Member
I painted the mast and boom on my Mirage 236 with satin black spray can paint three years ago and it still looks good, no gloss of course being a flat paint but still there and still black. If I paint the mast on GettinAir I will use a two part paint and spray it, don't think I will paint it black though. Your thoughts on how gun metal grey would look.
 

Clarice

Member I
Black mast

In 2013 we had Allen from Sea Teck remove our black mast and boom and replace all the running rigging. They removed the hardware, sand blasted and re anodized (??). Then they replaced some items and all the running rigging. Except for the crane to replace the mast it was all inclusive. I'm going to the boat tomorrow and will get the bill and the itemized list but I think it came in at $7,000. It was a little pricey but was necessary since our pre-inspection revealed that nothing had been done in that area since 1984. As new owners and inexperienced sailors we were concerned for safety with rigging that old. Allan was excellent. He was very friendly and professional and kept to all deadlines. We were very pleased and wi
ll not hesitate to call him again. We are at the Portofino and if you are in the area and would like to see the results let me know. I'l try to get the actual itemized list and pictures up on the weekend.
Janet and Mike
 

Timsb

Member II
Repainting mast and boom

Christian,

I own 1987 32-3. The PO repainted the mast and boom white while the mast was down in the yard a few years ago. It is still perfect. I believe he used interlux and a brush - it came out very nice, there are no detectable brush strokes . I will ask him what he used and how he did it. He's a member of EYO, maybe he'll reply directly.

ps
I have been reading your posts, your sail to Hawaii and the Fastnet race. Thanks for all the valuable information and the great stories.

Tim
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Thanks, Tim.

I turns out my mast is anodized after all. The condition is pretty good, all things considered, it just looks dull. Some of that is from my attempt to wax it last year, which is not recommended for older anodized spars for the reasons I display: the wax won't shine and turns white.

The rigger has finally received the miracle product recommended by Ballinger, and this week he will go up and attempt to polish it. Neither of us knows how well it will work, but I'll report the results.

Regarding Interlux Brightside and rolling and tipping: I painted my boom black two years ago and it has held up well through a lot of reefing and slamming around. But a boom is easy.
 

Timsb

Member II
Christian,

ok, good luck. his reply is below:

"The best article I saw about this was from a fellow named Tim Reilley up in Maine who also used Interlux Perfection. That article is no longer available online. There are two more attached.



It’s HARD TO DO with 2 part paints and get it right, I did my best to follow all the rules and there are still flaws (mostly high up on the mast where a potential buyer cant see them ) Also I removed every piece of hardware on the mast and reattached it.


I would never try this again with these products, I would go with one part epoxy, 1/2 the price. I spent around $400-500 scouring the internet for the paint, all new wiring and new steaming/deck light and a LED anchor lamp. The new shrouds would have cost around $1700 if I did not have a relative in the business.


For the amount of labor and skill that it takes to do this $6000 sounds expected. (I think you might owe me some more money for that boat)"


http://www.anything-sailing.com/showthread.php/397-So-you-want-to-paint-your-mast


http://forums.catalina.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=119586
 

Loren Beach

O34 - Portland, OR
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I took my mast down last weekend and will be painting it over the next few months. I did this myself last in 1995 with one-part Brightsides paint, and it held up acceptably with a bit of touchup where I could reach from the deck. It is not that tough a job

What's the case for replacing wire and rope halyards with all-rope? Mine are at least 23 years old and have held up beautifully. Replacements will be inexpensive and compatible with the blocks at the head and foot of the mast. I can't imagine any benefit of all-rope halyards, except weight aloft, which in and of itself does not seem even close to worth the hassle of re-rigging.

Many years ago, I replaced all four halyards (main, jib, two spinnaker halyards) with T-900. When I coiled up the old wire and compared it to the weight of the new line coil, I still remember being amazed at the difference in weight. Given that the weight reduction is so far off of the deck, I do believe that the righting is improved...
It is not just the weight, but the distance above the waterline that makes it important. That and the rust and meathooks in them.

Loren
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
I just replace my two wire halyards, spin halyard and topping lift with line. This time I had a rigger do it, since he has given me good advice and it was time to throw him some work. The materials were about $600 and the labor $300, which includes splices, new shackles, inspection of the sheaves and cleaning of the stays.

I have no problem with wire, but it is nice to hand rope, not wire, when working at the mast.

As for hassle in changing to rope halyards, I don't think there's much to it. But the new non-stretch line isn't cheap.

Love my new Spectra topping lift.
 
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Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
Ballenger Spar Seal

In the end I still have $6,000 and a much improved black anodized mast.

The successful product is called Spar Seal, from Ballenger. It's not on the Web Site, the only way to obtain it is to call Ballenger. It's an acrylic sealer.

Spar Seal has the effect on a black anodized mast of Armor-All does on auto tires. It turns the anodizing black again, and makes it shiny.

This was my rigger's first use of it. I had (unwisely) waxed the mast two years ago, which never shined and left white waxy patterns over time.

The wax showed through the sealer. So we started over, scrubbing the mast with Fantastic and 3M pads, then reapplied.

I'd say the 29-year-old mast is 85 percent improved. Might have to apply the product yearly, we'll see.

Doesn't work on paint.
 

atomic2797

Member I
before/after pics?

do you have any pictures of the final result?

I have my 38-200 out of the water for a keel rebed (also at the Boat Yard in MDR), and since the mast is pulled for that job, would love to tackle the faded black as well.

what was the application? spray, roller, cloth?

thanks,
-Andrew
 

Christian Williams

E381 - Los Angeles
Senior Moderator
Blogs Author
You'll love it. Probably take an hour with the mast on saw horses. There's no real prep, just clean the mast and apply.

I think you have to call Ballenger to order the product, so talk to them about methods too.

Sorry, doesn't make for good photos, at least with a rigged mast. You'll be able to control the lighting and show us before and after pix.
 

Carefree Sailor

Member II
In an attempt to improve the appearance of my mast, I followed Christian's advice and ordered Spar Seal from Buzz Ballenger of Ballenger Spar Systems, Inc. I haven't applied it yet. I asked Buzz for tips on prepping the mast. He responded as follows:

You should clean the mast thoroughly. Comet Cleanser or a similar abrasive cleaner and water works well on tough spots. Let the mast dry and then apply the sealer. It is better to put several thin coats on than one heavy one since it can run. You can thin the sealer with water (not more than about 10-15%) if it is drying too quickly.


 

markvone

Sustaining Member
Painted Mast Cosmetic Improvement

Hi Christian,

How do you think the Spar Seal would work on faded, grey/black anodized aluminum winch drums?

As for a black PAINTED mast, mine is 1981 Kenyon. I was considering a re-paint, but just could not justify the expense, based on the value of the boat. I used MaineSail's gelcoat polishing techniques and materials on my totally faded and chalked up mast. I got an 85% improvement on the first attempt which took three 4 hour days in July (6 - 10 am) doing it by hand. The result of this buff out and polish was that it was pretty hard to notice anything bad with the mast when it was up. The chalk was all gone and it was somewhat shiny, but not car paint finish like the portion of the mast in the cabin, out of the weather. If you looked closely, you could see some fade in the lower section, up to the spreaders when compared to the nice shiny section near the gooseneck which is always covered by the mainsail cover.

Last year, I had two days in August with the mast down. I re-did the compound and polish with my Makita 8217 in a couple of hours. I didn't really get that much better shine. I think with more time and a little more experience and technique you might be able to get to near-new finish. I tried wet sanding up near the masthead (where you can't see it from the deck), thinking I needed to take off a little more of the outside surface, and that just scratched up the paint. The mast paint is much harder than automotive paint, so polishing takes longer. The final shine factor requires more time in the polish and glaze final steps to get perfect results. I didn't try the glazing final step on either of my buff outs, but I suspect now that it's how much time you spend on the final steps with the hard paint that get you to near-mirror finish.

If you have a WHITE painted mast, the improvements will come much quicker and it will be much less noticeable if you don't get near-mirror finish. If I had a white mast I suspect I would be plenty happy with the effort I put in the first buff out 4 years ago.

Once you have gotten the technique down by practice working up near the masthead, you really only need to get the lower section, up to the lower spreaders, near-perfect and shiny. You can't really see much detail or of the finish above the spreaders from the deck.

I have pictures I'll post when I get home.

Mark
 

markvone

Sustaining Member
Black PAINTED Mast Compound Pics

Here's three pics of the mast. The nice looking section in the left pic with the halyard exits is under the main cover most of the time. The polishing is in process above the halyard exits in pic #2. Remember the bottom 6.5 feet of the mast in the middle pic are inside the cabin out of the weather. Far right is mast up, hard to see details but also hard to see defects.

Lastly, don't forget to buff out underside of lower spreaders.
 

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atomic2797

Member I
perhaps its paint

I also called Buzz Ballenger yesterday and had him overnight a bottle of the Spar Seal out to me. As soon as i got it, I headed over to the boat yard and started applying it. I did a few coats at the masthead without seeing any real improvement. A little disappointed after hearing Christain's results.

But now after further inspection and looking at this thread, especially Mark's pictures, i think i might have a painted mast. (wow rookie mistake):redface:

To me it looks very much like weather anodized coating, but perhaps its just really worn paint.

So I'm back off to the yard tomorrow to try to buff it out. Will report back with pics.

If anyone in the LA area does want to try the spar seal, let me know..... I have a bottle. =)
 

markvone

Sustaining Member
Paint vs Anodize

Look at the mast surface near your stainless fittings. On my painted mast, I have the classic bubbling of the (paint) surface where the paint is lifting due to the reaction between the stainless and aluminum. I can also get a fingernail under the paint layer in a lot of places where the paint is damaged and missing. Anodize is a chemical reaction to the top portion of the aluminum not a layer added on top.

Found a few more pictures, one pre-buff and the other a closer view of the lower mast section buffed out. I forgot to mention that the mast paint still looks the same from the buffing after 4 years. The paint on the Kenyon masts was very good quality.

attachment.php
attachment.php


Just getting the chalked old paint off is a huge improvement, but adding some shine really looks good.

Mark
 

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fscott007

Junior Member
E 38 painting

The SeaTek pricing is interesting. Thanks, I'll check that out.

Alan, where did you go for the work?

Sea Tech is going to be doing my mast, boom and spreaders. Removal, trucking it to their shop, sand blasting and repaint reinstall $7600. Does not include yard crane.
 

Kenneth K

1985 32-3, Puget Sound
Blogs Author
I've been looking over mast/boom refinishing threads, including this one:

http://www.ericsonyachts.org/infoexchange/showthread.php?15492-Pedestal-Refinish

I have my boom off for re-rigging and want to touch up some scratches before putting it back on the boat.

20190114_202438.2.jpg

The original finish seems to be black-anodized, and it's generally in good shape so I don't want to sand it down to bare metal--just prime and paint the scratches. I pulled this chart off the Aircraft Spruce website:

View attachment PTIxref1.pdf https://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/pdf/PTIxref1.pdf

It shows that all 7 of their primers are compatible with an enamel topcoat, but apparently Zinc Phosphate and Zinc Chromate are only available in a spray can. I'd prefer to brush on, as I'm dealing with thinner scratches.

Anyone have experience with any of their brush-on primers?
 
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