Rusted Chainplate

[hobo65]

Hello

The chainplate on my '73 Ericson 27 starboard tabernacle wire rigging snapped off due to corrosion. The company tanked years ago and surplus parts are very limited.

Any advice as how to repair or replace is most welcomed.

Thanks

Sunny Boy

[Terra Nova]

Remove the old chainplates and send them to Garhauer to duplicate.

[cabo_sailor]

There are lots of places that will fabricate chain plates. Check with boatyard or look at the ads in Good Old Boat.

I had two with hairline cracks. My friend, who has many years experience working with stainless was able to repair them. I can't even see where he did the work. I took he and his wife out to lunch and that covered it. Oh he also fabricated a new bobstay fitting heavier than the original at the same time.

Like they say, sometimes it's not what you know but who you know.


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[Sailmonkey]

Buy some flatbar and a drill press. Make your own over beer....


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[Terra Nova]

Then there's polishing.

[model 10]

Originally Posted by cabo_sailor

I had two with hairline cracks. My friend, who has many years experience working with stainless was able to repair them. I can't even see where he did the work. I took he and his wife out to lunch and that covered it. Oh he also fabricated a new bobstay fitting heavier than the original at the same time.

Like they say, sometimes it's not what you know but who you know.
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You could get a crack welded up ground down and polished to look perfect almost anywhere. Plenty of cracks can be welded up but in a tension fitting your friend would need to be good. How much was lunch?

[Orion Jim]

A crack is an indication the chainplate requires replacement. In an emergency a weld will buy you time.
Crevice corrosion, work hardening, etc.......

[Terra Nova]

It is highly unlikely to salvage cracked chain plates by welding. They would be unsafe.

[Reefmagnet]

Laser and water jet cutting is available everywhere. My original chain plates are made from flat bar, but the new ones are being laser cut. Benefits are no distortion and little things like the radii and bolt holes can be cut as well.

I drew my replacements up myself using free CAD software and took the opportunity to redesign them so they will now be reversible and interchange with any other shroud chain plate. This, I'm sure, was the original intention of the design but the hand cut and drilled originals were so out of "wack" that they couldn't be interchanged or reversed. This is the advantage of modern CNC cutting processes.

As for as polishing, electro-polishing is relatively cheap otherwise some wet and dry, buffing wheels and lots of elbow grease work.

[hobo65]

To all

Many thanks for all your helpful and experienced replies. The time and interest shown is very encouraging to a new sailor.

respectively,

Hobo65

[cabo_sailor]

Originally Posted by Jim Walsh

A crack is an indication the chainplate requires replacement. In an emergency a weld will buy you time.
Crevice corrosion, work hardening, etc.......

Jim
I see where you are coming from. In this case the original owner had the rig all screwed up. The chain plates involved served the purpose of backstays for the staysail. Instead of leading them directly to the chain plates, he ran them through the spreaders. This put shear tension on the plates causing a hairline crack.

My friend is a mechanical engineer with decades of experience and a list of patents to choke a horse. Much of his work involves stainless. Actually he bought my prior sailboat 15 years ago and still uses it. He examined the chain plates decided they didn't need to be replaced, although he could easily fabricate a new set, welded them, polished them and they look like factory new.

I trust a fellow sailor and a good friend. By the by he did fabricate a new bobstay fitting for the bow but he used thicker stainless than the original.

Thanks for the input. It's good that some of the new sailors get the whole story. I do agree that welding is a solution in only a few cases.

Rich


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[CSY Man]

Chain plates out to be replaced every 20 years, not repaired.
Quite a few owners of older boats ignore the issue, some get dismasted as a result.
It also affects the re-sale value if the buyer or surveyor knows their stuff.
Chain plate replacing can be a pain in the butt, and somewhat expensive, but I sure felt better sailing in gales with brand new 316 electro-polished SS chain and backing plates.