Shrouds

[Howie Curd]

I was inspecting my shrouds in preparation for the season. I noticed the threads in the turnbuckles are a little warn. I was wondering what you guys thought about this / how concerned I should be. Any opinions would be greatly appreciated

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Howie.

It would concern me, somewhat.
Really helpful, eh?

[LittleWing77]

Some pics, perhaps...?

Where are stress areas?

LittleWing77

[Sailor_Grant]

Welcome aboard the CF, Howie!

I am curious about this question as well, I have worn threads on my rigging screws and don't know if I can still use them safely.

[dougweibel]

"A little worn" is too subjective for anyone to give an informed response. My wife thinks car tires are worn as soon as they get dirty. My daughter thinks car tires are worn when the cords start to show. OK, I'm exaggerating a bit, but...

Pictures!

[DougR]

Worn out?? Wear implies loss of material from constant motion, and that's something I wouldn't expect to see on turnbuckles. Usually with turnbuckles it's set it and forget it......

All threaded fasteners are built with a given "class" of fit between the male and female threads, and the class determines the amount of clearance between the parts. Typically SAE fasteners have something like 5 or 6 classes of fit, and it can range from very loose, where the parts can be spun together and apart with light finger pressure, and very tight which requires tools to move. A loose fit could be designed that way.

How to know about your threads? Could be difficult. Probably disassemble the parts and clean throughly and examine the contacted area vs. the non contacted area under strong magnification. Try a 10x loop or something similar. Look for thread distortion, plating lifting, etc. Use a micrometer to measure the outside diameter of the used/unused threads to get an idea of change. Perhaps contact the manufacturer of the part....

For more info Google "threaded fastner design".

[Howie Curd]

I can get some photos tomorrow but it appears that the threads are slightly smaller where they have been screwed in.