Kenyon spar painting.

[Ed Schenck]

Are there any tips to refinishing Kenyon spars that you have experienced? I brought the two(cutter) booms home yesterday. You can see some of the scars in the pics. The booms are not too bad so maybe just some touch up? Or should I completely refinish? If so then how? I wish the mast was in as good shape. But years of stepping/unstepping have really left it in need of something. Maybe replace all the spars with carbon? Have any of you reduced the size of the lines? All my lines seem large given the sail area. You can see the outhaul and reefing lines. I brought all five halyards home also. What a ton of rope! Four are at least 110' and I believe they are all 7/8" diameter. You could lift the boat with any one of them.

 

[Gene G]

touch up

Ed, if that is all you have I'd try to touch up. I haven't done that. so I'll defer advice to others.I have painted mine with Awlgrip and have some pointers if you go the complete repaint route. Email if you want it.If you do repaint, though, think of anything you'd like done before repainting. This might include welding on mounts for things, adding blocks, or whatever.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Thanks Gene.

I will definitely write if painting becomes the option. I see that Galveston is evacuating. I know your H37C is down that way as is Ron Pearson's. Good luck to south Texas.

 

[Mystic51]

valspar spray paint

I just touched up a lot of scratches on the mast of my 28.5 and had to go up the mast to do it. I might have it completely painted next time the boat is hauled. For now I used Valspar (not sure on spelling)spray paint. I did a little sanding first and some white primer next, then the top coat. It's not perfect but looks real good and better than the scratches.

 

[CHET P]

7/8 HALYARDS ?????

Ed are you sure you didn't mean 7/16...I use that size on Harriets Chariot and they seem fine. they are sta-set X and they are easy on the hands when hauling up the sails. my outhauls and reefing lines are 3/8 of various colors to know which line does what, and i use nylon for the vang to give it a bit of stretch to reduce the shock loading on the boom.....7/8 halyards??? your 37 must be bigger than mine..... chet

 

[Ed Schenck]

Chet is right.

That's just another senior moment among many these days. A 7/8" halyard might be a bit large even for Lake Erie.I like "Mystic's" idea of a little spray primer and a good spray paint. Matching might be a problem. I guess it is kind of an "off-white"?

 

[Sam Lust]

Strip It!

The mast on my 33 looked awful what with peeling paint, oxidation which rubbed off on everything, corrosion from oxygen starvation under hardware and the P. O.'s attempt at touch-up via quick enamel spray paint. Do I care about the paint itself? Not a whit! My concern was, as in most cases, minimizing maintenance.I stripped the mast of all paint. Polished it to a brushed machine finish using 100 or 150 grit sandpaper on a finish sander. (In truth I allowed my wife to do the sanding/polishing.)In my twisted opinion the mast and boom look great. Just like a piece of working machinery should. And I certainly won't have to worry about chips and touch-up in the forseeable lifetime.

 

[Ed Schenck]

Strip it!?

That actually did occur to me once. Then I forgot to ask if anyone had done that. In other words Sam you have the "brushed aluminum" look. I have seen other makes of spars that left the factory like that. They look good still. One problem that I have is I do not know when the mast will next be horizontal. So I would have a painted/scarred mast and aluminum booms. But maybe.

 

[CHET P]

raw aluminim????

I think sanding it down to bare finish is not good. The masts we see that LOOK like bare alum are actually clear anodized to protect them. think about what the bare spots look like ( white and chalky) thats what the entire mast would look like in short order besides everytime you sail rubs against it it would leave a black/grey mark, plus the oxidation between any NON alum part would cause the corosion to be even worse... SAND, WASH WITH CAUSTIC SODA (LYE) THEN WATER THEN WITH A MILD ACID (VINAGAR) AND THEN CLEAR WATER. PRIME AND PAINT AND IT SHOULD LAST A GOOD WHILE.....p.s. I USE THE LYE TO ETCH THE ALUM AND THE ACID TO NEUTRIALIZE ANYTHING LEFT. WEAR RUBBER GLOVES!!!!!!!

 

[Ed Schenck]

Sounds right Chet, but. . . .

can you recommend a primer and paint? And how do you match the color? I do agree that the first attempt at least should be to touch up.

 

[avalonduet]

Don't forget ................

Whenever painting raw aluminum, you should ALWAYS include a conversion coating. Alodine is the name I remember. This is an amber liquid which makes the bond MUCH better. Came out of the aircraft industry.Good luck.Dave

 

[Sam Lust]

Raw alumonum is just ducky

Sure, those clear anodized spars are pretty, but as I said, pretty is not my objective. Even anodize starts to look rough after a while. I checked out plenty of boats with raw masts including several belonging to friends and they seem to do just fine. One is on a 1970 Irwin 37 which has been raw from day one and it's just fine, and that's not due to any maintenance.Just think; if I get a scratch that bothers me I just grab a piece of 100 grit and make it go away. After a while the nearly invisable oxide rebuilds and you never know the difference.