Mast steps: aluminum mast with stainless steel screws?

[mitiempo]

Originally Posted by sailingchiro

I can't imagine how many beers it would take to tap all the holes for screws. Hats off to you guys that have done it. I don't have the patience or desire.

Tapping in aluminum is easy. Use a drill to tap. I haven't used a tap manually for decades. Tales very little time.

[geoff3nebel]

Mast steps are a snag hazard, add weight and windage plus you have to drill loadsa holes and make sure you get the steps level…
How many times are you reckoning on climbing up your mast?
Have you thought of Mastmate?

[JPA Cate]

We had folding aluminum steps on our previous boat, up to the first spread,r. They never snagged anything. Jim often went up when we were exploring among coral heads. What you see from deck level can usually keep you off them, but the view from above, looking down into the water is MUCH better. Obviously not much good if where you go is brown or muddy water.

We drilled and tapped, used s/s screws, and silvery looking aluminum and grease anti-seize. No problems with it.

MastMate may be fine at a dock, but not so much in rolly anchorages. Unfortunately, many rolly anchorages in the world, and unfortunately, you need to go aloft when you need to go aloft, even if it's in a gale, which Jim did once, and man, did he get bruised up! (We were on the wind, the baby stay had broken [crevice corrosion], and it needed to be fixed. Were afraid to heave to to replace it.)

Ann

[wsmurdoch]

Originally Posted by sailingchiro

I can't imagine how many beers it would take to tap all the holes for screws. Hats off to you guys that have done it. I don't have the patience or desire.

Adding a bit more to post #4...

I started off drilling then tapping each of the holes that secure my folding mast steps to the mast while hanging in a bosun's chair. It was not too much fun. I quickly changed to temporarily mounting the steps to the mast with large hose clamps, dimpling the mast with a 1/4" drill through each of the holes, then drilling thru and tapping the holes with a 1/4"-20 drill and tap bit turned in the slow speed setting of my battery drill. After each hole was drilled, I swabbed out the hole with Tefgel, painted the screw threads with Tefgel, and inserted that screw. When I had all four screws in place, I took off the hose clamps and adjusted the little plastic screw in the folding step. The beers came later.

Everything I installed was aluminum. I bought two screws of the proper length for each step and trimmed the other two to the proper length to avoid their picking at the internal halyards in the mast. So far, so good.

[MicHughV]

I can't say mast steps have ever interfered with halyards, etc. On occasion, a halyard will get entwined between steps, but a quick shake of the halyard usually solves the problem.

When I installed mine, I used the previously installed one's to stand on, and simply climbed up the mast as I went. At the top of the mast, I situated two steps on either side of the mast at the same elevation so I could stand and work on masthead lights, or whatever else required me go up there. At the spreaders, the spreaders became mast steps.
Setting the correct distance between the steps is very important, you don't want them too far apart.

Cruising the islands, I routinely climbed up to the spreaders, to give me a better view of places I was trying to get into.

I found them to be very handy. It's not something you use every day, but if you need to go up the mast, for a quick looksee, they're good to have.

If nothing else, just to the spreaders is handy.

I will.....reluctantly...... admit, that I'm not a 160 lb 24 yr old spring chicken any more, so these days, I will look for a "volunteer" to do mast work. For safety sake, the "volunteer" will be ensconced in a bosun's chair, but hauling him up is made easier by the fact, that the "volunteer" can provide most of his own upward propulsion by using the steps.

If you just sail locally, you probably don't need them. Most any rigger will have their own device to get up the mast, but if you go to far off places, it can be a lifesaver.

Mast steps harken back to bygone years. I rarely see, if ever, any sailboat with them. Most folk use a bosun's chair to go up the mast.

[Searles]

5200 metal to metal ,monel rivets with tef gel.,lasts forever,two by1/4 monel rivets each end .⛵️⚓️

[Manateeman]

We have talked with a lot of other aluminum boatbuilders about different approaches to isolating metals and fastenings.
3M 5200 is great stuff but it’s not perfect for some jobs. A thin sheet of plastic ...take your pick as to material..might be better under the steps. Remember some plastics suffer from the sun or can creep under load. We firmly believe Tef-Gel is about as good as it gets for stainless threads into aluminum.
We pulled some stainless bolts in aluminum that were threaded into aluminum with Tef-Gel after being underwater in salt water for six years and after cracking them loose, they turned out by fingers. Truly impressive.
The automakers and aircraft guys also have interesting solutions.
FelPro has a gasket material they developed for aluminum water pumps and we are going to try this set in with polyurethane.
Hand tapping is tedious but you can feel if the pressure is too much. Slow and steady and keep the tap clean.
Rivets are just so nice. Quality rivets and good tools and a dab of Tef-Gel.
Happy trails to you.
Mark and the manatee crew.

[roverhi]

Rivets are quick but a total pain to install unless you have Popeye forearms or a powered rivet gun. Aluminum rivets are easier to set but marginal for strength. Used aluminum rivets on my steps and a few of them have loosened up a little. If I was going rivets again would go with Monel not Aluminum.

Previous boat drilled and tapped for steps. Was afraid I was going to have permanent wrist disability from turning the tap on all those holes. Discovered the drill/tap bit which makes the job a lot easier/quicker but requires a bit of restraint. The tap threads became jammed up with aluminum when doing 8 fasteners in quick succession. Think the heat from drilling ended up melting aluminum into the tap threads as I couldn't clean it out with a wire brush.

[vpbarkley]

If you are tapping threads into an aluminum mast, a thread forming tap will give you better results than a conventional tap; stronger threads and no chips from threading falling into the mast. You drive the thread forming tap with a reversible electric drill.

That said, Rivnuts will give you threads which are several times stronger. This is because a mast is very thin and you will have few threads engaged. A Rivnut is perfect for this application. Aluminum Rivnuts and screws can be purchased at McMaster.com.

[Cheechako]

I hated my mast steps. noisy, tangling devices.
I would coat the rivets or screws with something, probably Lanolin.
If you consider SS steps, keep in mind that every 10# of weight 20 feet up is 200# of righting moment lost.

You will spend more time installing steps then you will time spent up the mast.