Painting aluminum masts and rub rail channel

[Paul Crawford]

I recently purchased a 1975 Venture 23 sail boat and am in the process of having it professionally repaired and repainted. The paint job looks so good that it makes my old mast and aluminum rub rail track look old and ugly by comparison. Does anyone out there have any suggestions as to how and what I can do or use to improve their appearance i.e, paint, etc. Thanks, Paul Crawford.

 

[steve paul]

several options I know of

Paul,I'm curious about this myself but I believe the options limit us a bit for practicality. I believe the options are:Paint the mast, lot's of prep and correct primer. Risk is paint will chip eventuallyAnodize the mast, probably not cost effective sandblast the mast slightly but it will roughen it up and you might not like the finish. Perhaps some other media like glass beads or walnut shells would leave it more polished. Ask a sandblaster, this might be the cheapest way to go.Clean the mast with an aluminum cleaner, they make a semi-trailer cleaner available at truck stops. You could also use Aluminum Jelly. These treatments at best would make the mast bare aluminum again and hopefully make it a uniform finish.In your searches let us know what you find available. Just some ideas that blew through my head.Steve P.

 

[Mark]

Polish

Maybe you could use some fine rubbing compound and a buffer, polish it shiny. Might be worth a try. I used some Rustolem "hard hat" spray paint on my Hobiecat rudder assembly several years ago, it looked good for a while, but the chipped paint looked worse than the stained/discolored aluminum. Wouldnt recommend paint.Does anyone have experience with power-coating?

 

[steve paul]

Yes,

Powder coating requires baking at 350-400 deg f. That's why I didn't mention it but it is an option if you could rig an oven of that size. Perhaps a salamander heater and several feet of culvert or furnace duct would do the job. Honestly, naval jelly or semi trailer aluminum wash will clean the aluminum, but you're right, it may need polished after that.Once cleaned down to bare aluminumum it will oxidize quickly to develop it's own natural sheen.Steve P.