jaw angle danforth

[raedy07]

hello ALL,
i haven't had a danforth anchor for years but am now welding a little 6kg stainless one. but, i don't recall, what is the max. angle between flukes -shank ??? i think to remember it was less then 45*, but how much exactly? this may be quite important.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, ready.

I think that the Danforth anchor has an angle of about 30 - 32 degrees between the fluke and shank (either side of shank).

The Fortress anchor allows pivoting the flukes to 45 degrees for mud bottoms and 32 degrees for sand bottoms.

You're correct, the fluke/shank angle is VERY important, so confirm, confirm, confirm.

[Kettlewell]

The standard angle varied in different generations of Danforths. The patent says it could be anywhere between 25 and 45 degrees, but I believe Fortress has it just about right at 32 degrees for most bottoms or 45 degrees for exceptionally soft bottoms. I have never tried my Fortresses at 45 degrees.

[JonJo]

I appreciate this might be a silly question, but why are you welding up a stainless steel Danforth design? If you are repairing, then its been well worked, do you trust the rest of it? If you are building from new - why not just buy a Fortress, they work better than steel, they are stronger than stainless (of the same thickness) and they are incredibly light.

Having said that - if I could weld, and could weld stainless professionally and allow my grandchildren to trust my workmanship - being parsimonious, I would do what you are doing

[noelex 77]

Welcome to the forum Ready07

It sounds like a great project. SS anchors are increadably expensive and while I love my Fortress they not cheap.

SS won't be as light as aluminium (which is one of the major advantages of the Fortress) but you can use sharp flukes without risk of them rusting, which is one of the reasons the Fortress works so well.

Have you considered a Brittany design?
They are simpler and take up less room than a Danforth, but are otherwise very similar.
They seem to work as well, or better than the Danforth pattern.
The Brittany pattern copes better with changes of direction of pull, but is less good in very soft mud.
Brittany anchors do seem more forgiving of anchor construction. I have seen quite crude copies still set well. In contrast the Danforth seems more sensitive to proper weight distribution and geometry. The bad copies don't work very well, particularly in harder substrates.

[raedy07]

@jonjo
i just happened to have a ss-plate lying around, a fortress is dear, and i like to build things anyway just a small anchor for a little skiff (a BOLGER design probably), selfbuilt.

[JonJo]

Originally Posted by ready07

@jonjo
i just happened to have a ss-plate lying around, a fortress is dear, and i like to build things anyway just a small anchor for a little skiff (a BOLGER design probably), selfbuilt.

Sounds a great project, though I'd be more keen on building the skiff! I'm toying with the idea of building a dinghy, tender for Josepheline - so I'm with you all the way!

Good luck!

J

[Kettlewell]

If I was good at welding and had the equipment I would be playing around with all sorts of anchor shapes. It is a perfect hobby for the mad scientist in all of us cruisers. Once in awhile I run across a rusty mass of steel that is obviously someone's dream of the next great anchor breakthrough, but it is usually in the weeds with other junk at the boatyard indicating it might not have worked too well in the real world.