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Old 28-08-2009, 08:49   #1
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I'm Back on the Job! And I Have Stainless on the Brain...

Ahoy, Friends!

Long time no post. At the risk of over-sharing, I filed for divorce in January, and it's all done and over as of last week. To be honest, it was painful to even think about the boat in the interim, with the spectre looming of losing her outright or not being able to afford to keep her (same thing, really). But now Miss Cheatin' Heart is gone gone gone (spread the word to all those 30-something-to-40-something single sailing gals out there ), and I am free to re-embrace my Second Career with unfettered zeal.

Today's obsession: Stainless Steel.

I have grand plans in this department. Very little of her old stainless superstructure is salvagable. I think I can polish up the old stanchions, but the aft rail, bow pulpit and mast hoops were poorly designed and badly executed. Her davits (which I found damned handy) were made of ugly mild-steel box stock. So, maybe excepting the stanchions, I'm starting over from scratch.

I saw a ketch of roughly Diva's size down in Trini with solid ss rails all the way around, with lovely pivoting boarding ladders attatched near the gates, and fell deeply in love with the concept. So, my project list at this point includes:

1) Hard rail all the way around; gates port and stbd; pivoting swing-down boarding ladders mounted just aft of gates
2) Full-height bow pulpit allowing headsail/anchor work in nasty seas without fear of MOB;
3) Aft rail and gate;
4) Big-ass davits that won't even know there's a dinghy on 'em; saddle for mizzen boom; premeditated mounting surfaces for a couple big solar panels;
4) Bimini frame, aft cockpit (canvas can mount forward to hard dodger);
5) Mast hoops, properly spaced from mast and designed to rest comfortably against when heeling;
6) Dorade vent guards, and several other minor projects I'm forgetting.

First, O Sages of Cruisers Forum, educate me about grades of stainless. There exists a particularly low-carbon variety of 316, "316L". Is the inevitable price delta worth it? Is it as widely available? Also, I'm told I need to specify a "polish level" on the tube I get. I want "Lovely Shiny Wow"...but somehow I doubt that's the industry term.

Sourcing: there is a very good custom metal shop right in my boatyard in Trinidad. They do beautiful work at a very reasonable price compared to US labor prices. The problem is that stainless stock is outrageously expensive down there. So, I hope to find it up here and ship it down. I'd be grateful for any leads. I'm waiting to hear from my guys down in Trini re optimal tube stock lengths and overall quantity.

So, Gurus, do that voodoo and weigh-in as you like re design, metallurgy and source...thanks!

Love,
Geoff
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Old 28-08-2009, 09:06   #2
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Geoff,

Welcome back, and check into oceangirl's site here for soulmates.......i2f
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Old 28-08-2009, 10:09   #3
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Thanks i2F...and you're right, OceanGirl is a fine-lookin' sailor! (And I like her choice of boat, too. I had a beloved CD30 myself...)
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Old 28-08-2009, 10:49   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Geoff S. View Post
Thanks i2F...and you're right, OceanGirl is a fine-lookin' sailor! (And I like her choice of boat, too. I had a beloved CD30 myself...)
What was that old saying: "A fool returns to his folly as a dog returns to his own vomit"

If one can't keep one boat afloat how's he going to manage another, without time to reflect on his mistakes.
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Old 28-08-2009, 11:37   #5
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LMAO. Great quote delmarrey...roughly from Proverbs, I believe. I'm quite partial to the below assessment of relationships, some with people...some with boats.
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Old 28-08-2009, 11:48   #6
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Touché, DM! Nyuk. Now, now, a man can admire a fine sheer-line without needing to acquire the vessel...
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Old 28-08-2009, 14:31   #7
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Welcome back Geoff. Wondered where you got off to. Looking forward to seeing more pics of your boat as you progress.

Cheers....
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Old 28-08-2009, 20:53   #8
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316L is for when you need to weld 316

Hi Geoff,

There are others here who know more than I, but AFAIK the purpose of low carbon 316 (ie 316L) is for welding. If you are not going to weld on the piece, use normal 316. If you are going to weld it (pulpits?) then use 316L.

Good luck with it,

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Old 29-08-2009, 01:16   #9
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My dream is to...

My dream is to be able to do nice stainless welds on my boat.

Please tell us (with pics if possible) how you do it and how you get on.
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Old 29-08-2009, 06:37   #10
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Some tips

Hi Geoff,

dont know anything about prices overthere but maybe can give some
help regarding the material.

First of all 316 and 316 L is the material to use.Instead of these numbers
there are material numbers as 1.4401,1.4401,1.4571.

The material 1.4401/04 is much better for polishing the 1.4571 has Titanium inclouded which makes it more resistant ( waste water tanks f.e.) but makes it much harder to polish nicely because the Titantium is
so hard.
All the numbers are f.e. used on MEGA-YACHTS so should be o.k. for us
normal yachties.

Material length are normaly for tubes: 6 metres for round bar and
flat bar 3-4 metres and plates do have three sizes

Yes, you're right to say you want it nice and shiny is not far enough
for the industry to know what you mean. First of all the more shiny, the
more expensive.
See f.e. tube is produced out of plates, bended then welded. After welding normaly the welding should be passivatet. So this is the first
you should ask after.
If you want it shiny i would say you want it polished to high gloss.
( not to mirror gloss, this is mega-yacht-standard and far too expensive)

I suppose you know how it works polishing metal in general, start with
Korn 200 to 400 to 600 to 800 to 1000 to 2000 and then polishing.

So ask them how many steps they have in sanding the tube and you
see the higher up the better ( at least here in Europe). A smooth surface
also protects you much better for any kind of upcomming rust.

Hope this helps you a bit and my english was not too bad for understanding, just ask otherwise, and sending regards from
Germany

Lampe
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Old 29-08-2009, 07:44   #11
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Thanks all, great info. Boracay, I'll certainly take photos (if you've been to my photo album you'll know I'm not shy about that!) but I probably won't be able to shed much light on the how-to; I intend to let the pros do the work while I stand back grinning and writing checks. Yup, Don, that's my understanding too, that the "L" means less corrosion at the welds someday; good tip to think about where I'll need welding and where I won't.

Herr Lampe, danke shoen! Great succinct primmer on stainless; just the info I needed. Is there a different material number for 316 vs. 316L? I see in your next paragraph, you refer to "1.4401/04"...is 1.4404 the 316L? And it looks like I'll want "high gloss" as opposed to "mirror". While Diva sure seems like a Mega-Yacht to me (see check-writing reference above), I'm still one lottery ticket away from having Mega-Yacht-depth pockets.

Now...does anybody know a good reasonable source for ss tube?
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Old 29-08-2009, 08:47   #12
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Hello Geoff, having seen so many of your wonderful pics, its nice to have you back. ps, did you know I was once a Lloyds coded welder? oh yeah, ......im single too !!!!!
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Old 29-08-2009, 16:55   #13
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Beautiful looking work...

Beautiful looking work. I can see why you want nice stainless.

Are you making up templates or a temporary structure to give to your welder?

I'm jealous!
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Old 29-08-2009, 18:04   #14
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Aw, shucks, thanks folks for the kind words!

Boracay, templates are probably in my future for things like the pulpit, davits, ladders and bimini frame; the toprail is pretty much a no-brainer (mostly a function of getting the geometry of the stanchions right, I would think).

And Miss Anjou...(that's a pear, n'est ce pas?) you're a sailer, a welder, and a diesel mechanic?? And way too cute to be single?? I need to start pricing flights to Worcestershire...

Cheers,
Geoff
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Old 30-08-2009, 10:16   #15
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Ok, now that I've hijacked my own thread , back on topic...

Another consideration might be wall thickness, too, eh? Is there some "marine standard" for ss that corresponds to "schedule" (as in, "schedule 80", "schedule 40", etc.)?
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