Corrosion on maststeps, problematic?

[Tupaia]

A lot will depend on the amount of erosion under the step pads and on the inside of the section. If it were me I would take out the higher one of the two halyard entry fittings very close the the step bale and feel (or look endoscope) inside the section to establish if the corrosion is limited to the outer surface. There is a lot of work to deal with the outer surface but if similar corrosion exists inside as well any weakening of the strength will be doubled and will be impossible to deal with.

[partyvi]

Originally Posted by Benz

Probably because stainless is so much easier to find, harder to strip, and stronger. But I've long thought that alloy fasteners, sized properly for load, would be far superior.

First - self-taping screws for the mast - NO in any case, due to sharp ends inside is not good idea. But aluminum pop-up rivets for light load things (like steps) i think much better than any SS fasteners.

[Benz]

Originally Posted by partyvi

First - self-taping screws for the mast - NO in any case, due to sharp ends inside is not good idea. But aluminum pop-up rivets for light load things (like steps) i think much better than any SS fasteners.

I can't guess why you quoted me on this reply--I never advocated for self-tappers. I tap threads into masts to receive fasteners.
I think an aluminum machine screw would be far better than a pop rivet, though I'm not against rivets in some scenarios.

[dlj]

All comments about checking the extent of the corrosion I agree with.

For fasteners, I would use monel rivets.

dj

[MicHughV]

Well, the obvious answer is to remove one step and see what you've got. This way you'll be able to inspect the drilled holes, any thread, fastener, etc. After which, you'll have some direction in which way to best proceed. It will also allow you to measure the thickness of the mast wall, which will determine the optimum fastener to use.

As is typical for many of these threads, trying to analyze a problem from a single photo, is difficult to do. Many good ideas have been floated, but if it were me, I'd remove one step first and have a looksee.