Replacing Chain Plates

[Emmalina]

Just replaced mine ... Not too expensive and yes they were ready to pop... 30 years old and some were pretty rotten.....I use wadding to pack the bottom and fill up with epoxy no problem.. Last inch I use caulking.... Tried all caulking but it leaked !!!

[Noreastern]

Thanks Cheechako,
Will keep this in mind as we all know change is not always good

[Cruiser2B]

I replace mine myself. Bought metal from onlinemetals.com, 316 stainless 1 1/2 x .250. Shipped to my door the material was $70 or so. I just used old units as templates. After the were completed I sanded and polished them by hand. So far 2 years in service....
Good luck

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[Noreastern]

Thanks Cheechako,

Do not want to go backward! Sometimes older is stronger.
However fifty years is long enough to think about replacement I believe.

Been on both sides of this fence, no good side.

[CSY Man]

Sometimes older is stronger

Quite a few cruisers with the same philosophy have lost their mast.
Chainplates have a finite life like rigging. 20 years seems to be a number that has come up a few times.

Sure you can sail forever with rotten and outdated chainplates as long as it is in a bath tub with no wind.

I got tangled up with a microburst from the Port beam and got laid flat on the side even with reefed sails. Glad I had fresh chainplates then:

The expenses to replace them was not great, the labor was but glad I did it. (1979 boat, all 9 chainpates got R&R in 2003 with 316 electro polished new plates.)
As for caulking and leaks: I used flexible epoxy, no more leaks.

[Hudson Force]

On that list of a thousand compromises with choices on a boat is the chainplate placement. You can't haul in your sails as close with exterior chainplates, but it make inspection and replacement of the chainplates a simpler task.





You also have an unobstructed view of the entire site of the chainplate's attachment to the hull.

[Noreastern]

I will agree, chain plates attached to the outside of the hull are desirable for all the reasons you list. In fact if our old ones would not come out we were thinking of installing new ones with this method. However we were able to get all eleven out with no damage to the inner laminate. The next fifty years will make us over a hundred so will leave that problem to the next guy after this replacement; )

[Stumble]

The idea of external chainplates being safer is just a myth. The entire area under the plate becomes subject to crevice corrosion instead of just the area where it passes thru the deck.

[cheoah]

Originally Posted by Stumble

The idea of external chainplates being safer is just a myth. The entire area under the plate becomes subject to crevice corrosion instead of just the area where it passes thru the deck.

Then there's the holes, too. Having had both though, I much prefer external chain plates. I like the simplicity and ease in which you can pull and inspect compared to glassed in ones. Which also would seem to be an ideal environment for corrosion.

Cruiser2b, did you do the machine work or have a shop cut and drill?

[Cruiser2B]

Originally Posted by cheoah

Then there's the holes, too. Having had both though, I much prefer external chain plates. I like the simplicity and ease in which you can pull and inspect compared to glassed in ones. Which also would seem to be an ideal environment for corrosion.

Cruiser2b, did you do the machine work or have a shop cut and drill?

My chain plates were fairly easy because they were straight with only a few slight bends. I used a band saw to cut the chain plate to proper lengths. Once I had the cut I drill holes using old ones as templets. I used a 1/2 bit for most holes...started with a small 1/8 drill bit. I set drill speed very slow and used lubricant. Easy day, after the chain plate were cut and drilled I sanded them in several stages starting with 80 grip on palm sander all the way to 600 wet/dry by hand. I then used a buffing kit from harbor freight on my bench grinder. Looked very nice when done...

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[cheoah]

Originally Posted by Cruiser2B

My chain plates were fairly easy because they were straight with only a few slight bends. I used a band saw to cut the chain plate to proper lengths. Once I had the cut I drill holes using old ones as templets. I used a 1/2 bit for most holes...started with a small 1/8 drill bit. I set drill speed very slow and used lubricant. Easy day, after the chain plate were cut and drilled I sanded them in several stages starting with 80 grip on palm sander all the way to 600 wet/dry by hand. I then used a buffing kit from harbor freight on my bench grinder. Looked very nice when done...

That's quite a job for what amounts to a bunch of flat stock with holes drilled in it.

Definitely a good job to save a bunch of money on of you're equipped. Would love to see pics should you happen to have any.

[Cruiser2B]

I will check for pics. I can definitely take a few of the new ones in place. I will see if I have any of making them. I had some but a year or so ago I lost my laptop and lost a ton of pictures I did not back up...

As far as making them it took about 10 hours....roughly an hour each. Drilling holes was not as bad as I thought. I just kept drill press as lowest speed. Polishing took the longest. When putting the new chain plates back in the boat I did have to make the area where the past through deck slightly larger because my original chain plates were 3/16 x 1 ¼...
all said and done with new hardware and material, project cost me $125-$135 total....not too bad for piece of mind.

I did inspect the originals and found that they did in fact have crevice corrosion. But I was able to cut them up and use them as backing plates.

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[Cruiser2B]

I also included a picture of the new mast tangs I made as well. Same process too old ones and duplicated them with slightly larger material

I the chainplate pic you can see the size difference of the material. As you can also see I upgraded the size of the hardware to the hull. The Alberg 30 was know for using too small a chainplate bolt.

I also included another pic of a project I did at same time a chainplate and rigging upgrade. Mast base plate for blocks and securing lines to. I could not find and on the market that fit so I made one. I bought a piece of 1/8 plate from Onlinemetals.com shipped for $42. Took me about 3 hrs to make.

I dont have any photo of the new chainplates and rigging installed...i guess they were lost. I will be at the boat this weekend and if i remember I will get you a photo of them installed.

Its been 2 yrs this March and no signs of corrosion on any of the stuff I made.

Hope this helps

[cheoah]

thx cruiser2b for taking time to post pics. The baseplate looks good, looks a lot like mine which came from PAcific Seacraft factory. Not quite sure how you got those crisp bends in there...

I would expect that most of the work is in polishing. It takes forever if you go right up to the rouge and work it over.

[sabray]

As posted prior drilling holes in SS you don't need to go small or buy real expensive bits. Water lots of it and Sharp proper sized bits. Learn how to sharpen the bits on a wheel. It's not hard. Belt sand and increase then belt sand with scotch belts then polish or send it out for electro polishing. Most of the work is in polishing. If I do this again it will be titanium.
I don't understand titanium grades. It's also not so easy to find common size bar stock. Thinking about doing my drogue bridle plates in titanium but I have some homework to do. Reason is they will be very exposed have huge loads and I would rather do this and be done.