Barient 28 drums not gripping well

[Cap Morgan]

Hello out there on the high seas!

My Barient 28s are pretty old and I've just removed them for servicing and replating of the drums. One area that I need to address is the central drum where the lines wrap around and grip. Mine are rather smooth. I was just wondering if anyone has DIY solutions for adding grip that doesnt shred the lines. Has anyone used Drills, Dremels or other common tools to rough the surface enough to create grip? Also, did you do this before of after replating?

Thanks in advance!

[SailingHarmonie]

If you are having the drums rechromed, it should be a small extra cost to have them shot blasted to restore something like the original texture.

Anything you do yourself to save money will look exactly like that is what you did. If that would make you happy, you need to do it BEFORE plating. Otherwise you just remove the plating you just paid for.

But no matter what, talk to the plating shop. Be sure whatever you are going to do is compatable with the process and will result is a long lasting job.

[JPA Cate]

Yes, talk to the plating shop, some of them are equipped to supply knurling before the chrome, and it will look like new, and very shiny!

Ann

[DougR]

So, my Cal 39 also has Barient winches, the primaries are stainless drums and the secondaries are aluminum. Are you sure yours are plated?? My winches have a surface treatment that appears to have been blasted with an abrasive, something like sandblasting....certainly more aggressive than bead blasting...

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by DougR

So, my Cal 39 also has Barient winches, the primaries are stainless drums and the secondaries are aluminum. Are you sure yours are plated??

I too have the #28 Barient winches.
They are chrome plated bronze.
And yes, the drums are not the most "grippy".
They like an extra wrap or so.

[Jim Cate]

FWIW: When we bought our current boat the bronze Barient winches (32 and 27) had just been replated. They were stunning in appearance, but the silly buggers at the plating shop must have thought they were ornaments for a Harley Davidson, for they ground the drums to a mirror finish. Lovely to look at, but slippery as snot on a doorknob... took extra wraps to keep the sheets from slipping under load, and that was unsatisfactory.

My DIY solution was to wrap some 36 grit sandpaper around a length of 1x2 and, leaning hard on the "tool", run it up and down on the surface of the drum until there was a pattern of vertical grooves completely around the circumference of the drum. The finish thus provided worked a lot better than the shiny one, but not as good as the original kinda pebbly surface from Barient. I was a bit worried that this would compromise the plating, but 20 years later it looks about the same. I've had to re-do the treatment every few years, but the renewal was much easier than the initial treatment.

Jim

[thinwater]

Does anyone know how they were originally textured?

• It was not knurling
• It doubt it was in the mold (the drums were sand cast)
• It wasn't sandpaper

It looks like a dulled needle scaler to me. Not uncommon in industry, when some texture is required. Fast and relatively uniform. Strip the plating if you can, buy a cheap scaler, and go at it. Not too much or it won't release smoothly. Smooth it a bit before plating.



Knurling tends to eat ropes.




Does anyone know for certain?

[HeywoodJ]

I don't know for certain. Went digging through some dusty archives to see if there was anything, and came across a Lewmar patent (available online) and below is their description of state of the art (as of their 2004 filing) in lead-up to how their patent was going to improve things:

One known finish for a metallic winch drum is provided by shot-peening. In this process, ceramic grit shot particles are directed at high speed at the grip surface of the winch drum. Another known finish is provided by needle-peening. In this process, a set of reciprocating hardened needles is pressed against the drum surface. Both processes result in a random arrangement of relatively fine (in relation to the dimensions of the drum) peaks and dents on the grip surface of the winch drum.

Peened finishes provide good gripping characteristics and controlled letting-off of rope from the winch drum, but have a tendency to promote premature rope wear. In addition, the quality of the peened finish can be variable. That is, peened finishes are susceptible to variations caused by e.g. changes to the velocity and direction of the shot particles. Subsequent processing can also affect the finish. For example, chrome plating onto a peened brass surface will tend to “soften” the finish of the brass surface. Thus there are many factors which can make it difficult to maintain the reproducibility of peened finishes.

[Jim Cate]

And of course there is the approach taken by Anderson: vertical ribs on a smooth surface. I've never understood why this works so well, but those with Anderson winches report they hold well with fewer wraps than conventionally surfaced drums and don't chafe the sheets.

Jim

[Bowdrie]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

And of course there is the approach taken by Anderson: vertical ribs on a smooth surface.
Jim

They certainly go back a few hundred years.
Perhaps in some ways we're not up to speed as much as we think we are.

[chrisr]

we had some similar problems with (i think lewmars) that had done a fair bit of work and were wearing smooth / not gripping too well

the answer is to take a center punch and just work around the drum tapping lightly / repeatedly all over. works best if the punch is at an angle so creates a small crease or 'tear' in the surface...rather than a neat dimple.

takes a little time, but fixes the problem

cheers,

[MartinF]

I believe a directional finish would be best, facilitating rope movement in a vertical/axial direction whilst resisting horizontal/tangential slip. When the winch turns the rope is forced to slip along the drum over a rough surface, exacerbating rope wear. Jim's vertical sandpapering (post 6) is excellent from this point of view. Any other ideas for imparting vertical corrugations to the winch drum?

[Cap Morgan]

Thanks to all that have responded to my post regarding my winches.
After searching for weeks down here in Miami I just threw the towel in (I just can't afford Miami anymore). The quotes are between $480 and $600 each to rechrome my winches and, yes, mine are chrome plated brass for those who asked. I decided to use a Dremmel with a Brillo-like attachment to reduce the surface corrossion and brighten them a bit. For my money they came out pretty good for a boat that has no pretenses of offering any "bling" whatsoever. Envolee is for sale with several modifications/ upgrades and these freshly serviced winches should do. Listed on Pop Yachts and Yachtworld for anyone thats interested. CAL 39, Miami Florida.