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How do I paint my anodized aluminum mast?
It is difficult to paint over anodizing. If it is in very poor shape remove it before painting. To paint anodized first degrease using Fiberglass Solvent Wash 202. Then give it a heavy sanding using 60 or 80-grit sandpaper. Apply one coat of InterProtect 2000E (Thinned 15-20% with 2316N Reducing Solvent). Allow to dry overnight and apply a second coat of either Epoxy Primekote (thinned 25%) or Pre-Kote primer. Sand and apply Perfection (if using Epoxy Primekote) or Brightside (if using Pre-Kote).
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Making an Anodized Mast Look Like New
Options for renewing your spar range from cleaning and painting to re-anodizing..
Have you done any research on the best means of cleaning an aluminum mast? Im having other work done to mine and thought it would be a good time for a cleaning.
Bob Pendleton
If your mast just needs a good cleaning and polish, then a non-abrasive cleaner/wax will work fine.
Our most comprehensive report on cleaner-polishes was Metal Cleaners (PS June 2006 online), in which we tested 16 different products. Wed opt for one of the liquid cleaner-waxes like Collinite No. 850 Metal Wax, a non-abrasive cleaner-wax is in the same family as Collinite No. 885 Marine. Other products that matched the Collinites performance in restoring and protecting metal were Meguiars Mirror Glaze Professional All Metal Polish, Mothers California Gold Chrome Polish, and Star brites Chrome and Stainless Polish. Star brite also makes Ultimate Aluminum Polish, which we have not yet tested.
There are more than a dozen such products on the market, but we can’t speak to their effectiveness. Avoid using a power tool for this job, and steer clear of abrasive cleaner/polishes. The anodized surface is very durable, but over-aggressive polishing will shorten its life.
If your mast is extremely weathered, you might consider coating it. While coating aluminum is tricky, its not too difficult for a confident do-it-yourselfer-or a classic car enthusiast who has restored a few old MGs.
There are two approaches here. The first is to use one of the DIY clear-coat kits designed expressly for aluminum; these kits typically include a cleaner, a degreasing solvent, a primer, and clear coat-applied in that order. The second option is to use a high-quality linear polyurethane (LPU) paint.
We have not tested any of the clear-coat kits. However, based on our experience with similar products, clear coating would be a two- to three-year solution, where as an LPU job can last 10 years or more. For both of these projects, the bulk of the labor is in the meticulous prep work required, so the longer-lasting LPU makes more sense to us.
Prepping the mast for LPU is a big project. For a proper job, youll want to remove as much hardware as possible. Then you need to wash, degrease, and prime (typically with a zinc-chromate primer) the surface before painting. Applying an LPU is not much different than painting a hull.
The Inside Practical Sailor blog post online Painting Your Boat Like a Pro (posted Oct. 5, 2016) has links to our LPU paint tests and related how-to articles. Marine-maintenance guru Don Caseys This Old Boat covers the basics of LPU painting as well and is available in PSs online bookstore.
It is important to remember that when you re-install any mast hardware, the hardware and screws or rivets must be isolated from the painted aluminum. For bedding, use a UV-resistant polyurethane sealant; for rivets (monel is preferred) or screws, most riggers use Tefgel, Tuffgel, or Duralac. If you skip this step, the paint will fail at the hardware interfaces within a couple of years.
If you have the funds to hand the project to a pro, you could have the mast re-anodized. Unpainted masts are protected from corrosion through anodizing, an electrochemical process that converts the metal into a shiny, anodic oxide finish.
Most cities will have an anodizing facility, but anodizing requires that the mast be immersed in an acid-electrolyte bath, and not all of them will have a tank to fit a mast. Charleston Spars, in Charleston, S.C., has a large facility that specializes in masts, and there are others around the country that also do this work-but youll definitely want to get references.
Powder-coating the mast (often with anodizing) is an option, and you can find powder-coating services in almost any big U.S. city. The facility you choose should have plenty of experience in powder-coating surfaces for the marine environment; Charleston Spars also does this work.
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Collinite 850 says “medium cut”, doesn’t that mean it is abrasive so not suitable for a mast?
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Old aluminum mast repaint / keep raw
Discussion in ' Metal Boat Building ' started by xslim , Jul 12, 2016 .
xslim New Member
Hi All! I'm rebuilding the 30-year old aluminum sailboat. I'm hoping at the end of rebuild / refit to have a low maintenance go-anywhere sailboat, so I don't care if it's not pretty. The paint on the mast and topsides is chipping off, so I was thinking, is it OK to strip the paint completely and leave the mast unpainted (raw) ? The mast is deck stepped. What would be the drawbacks? Also, can anyone recommend best way to lead cables from mast to cabin? Currently they are lead thru plastic ring and sealed with some sort of sikaflex / silicone. Thank you!
Barra Junior Member
No Paint. My unpainted un -anodised 15 meter mast is now 17 years old. Lived in a Saltwater tropical enviroment. Its still immaculate. I may rebed the fittings in a few years (20 year birthday party maybe) Never been coated with anything. Paint application will only hasten corrosion. Apply fittings with liberal amounts of barium chromate.
Thank you for reply! I newer heard of barium chromate. I know of teflon paste and sikaflex.
PAR Yacht Designer/Builder
Aluminum masts have been painted successfully for many decades and it offers good durability. The addition of paint does not increase the probability of corrosion, in fact the exact opposite can be expected. What Barra is mentioning (my assumption) is Duralac (barium chromate), which is a paste and used on dissimilar materials where corrosion might be expected. This isolation membrane can be accomplished a few other ways, though most things typically attached to an aluminum spar (stainless) really don't need it. Technically, stainless and aluminum should be isolated, but in reality, you can rivet or screw a stainless track (or whatever) to an aluminum extrusion and it'll hold for 30 or 40 years. In this time you will get some pitting, depending on maintenance, but in all honesty, how much durability do you really need. As to passing lines or wires through a cabin roof, you can use one of several approaches. The bullet proof way is a bulkhead fitting, which is like a mechanical compression fitting and it has an internal rubber, that squeezes the wire bundle to prevent leaks. Something as simple as a rubber boot will do, as can a healthy bead of polyurethane. The low dollar route is to side a rubber fuel line over the wires, with enough length to pass through. Drill a hole slightly smaller than the rubber hose and force the hose into the hole and seal with polyurethane. Not pretty, but it works well. I use bulkhead connectors myself, as they look professional and can be stepped on, without concern.
Painting the mast - here the question is - if I can strip it to bare aluminum and skip on painting - I'll do that. For passing the wires - do you use bulkhead fitting for each wire? So as a minimum of 3 small holes - VHF, light and windsensor ? I know Duralac. I use Tef-gel. Almost same. I have few parts that previous owner skipped on using it. Now those screws are seized into aluminum and I needed to drill them out.
Aluminium dingys are very popular in Austalia. Very few are painted. The French have aluminium production yachts with unpainted hulls. Many comercial aluminium boats that don't mind the asthetics do not paint what they don't have to. (antifoul/nonskid excepted) Any corrosion under the paint pits the aluminium terribly ( I understand the chemicals involved in the corrosion can't escape due to the paint, making the corrosion at that point worse) especially near mast fittings. Go for a walk around any marina ignoreing the marina queens that never get used and hence the coating never gets compromised for a look at what paint does to a mast. In the real world where PAR obviously doesn't reside, if you are happy with the look then keep paint well away from an aluminium mast. Ps. stripped my 12month old pwder coated aluminium anchor winch 15 years ago as the coating started to fail through every day wear and tear (blisters of corrosion). Haven't had to touch it since
rwatson Senior Member
Barra said: ↑ ..... Go for a walk around any marina ignoreing the marina queens that never get used and hence the coating never gets compromised for a look at what paint does to a mast. In the real world where PAR obviously doesn't reside, if you are happy with the look then keep paint well away from an aluminium mast..... Click to expand...
Attached Files:
Atd13-paint-1.jpg.
99% of aluminum hulled yachts are painted, damn I guess they'll all sink soon. 99% of all aluminum built aircraft are painted, damn they must be falling from the skies like rain. Barra, we don't know your experience, nor expertise, but clearly a misrepresentation of coatings on aluminium isn't very helpful or particularly accurate.
Ad Hoc Naval Architect
rwatson said: ↑ ".... At that point, the chemical equation changes, as moisture and aluminum, in the absence of air, are the ideal incubators for a phenomenon known as poultice corrosion." Click to expand...
PAR said: ↑ .... clearly a misrepresentation of coatings on aluminium isn't very helpful or particularly accurate. Click to expand...
Ad Hoc said: ↑ The image shown is not the result of poultice corrosion. For poultice corrosion to occur it needs a wet wick like substance such as foam/wood etc in direct contact with the aluminium.... Click to expand...
Petros Senior Member
I do not know if it is 99 percent, but certainly American Airlines, Fed Ex, and many other commercial carriers do not paint their aircraft, most military aircraft are not painted either. Most aluminum canoes, row boats and skiffs come unpainted as well. I suspect much of it depends on the alloy and the environment. raw aluminum is corrosion prone, the higher the strength generaly the more prone it is to corrosion. Most Al alloy comes with a thin, almost clear coat of oxide to protect the underlying metal. bare aluminum is shinny, that is not the case with an aluminum mast.
rwatson said: ↑ Which is what it is. Click to expand...
Petros said: ↑ .... raw aluminum is corrosion prone, the higher the strength generaly the more prone it is to corrosion. ... Click to expand...
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Most all military aircraft are painted, not the other way around. In fact, show me the current operational military aircraft that aren't painted. Most all commercial aircraft are painted, not the other way around, Ditto aluminum yachts. I'm not arguing for or against coatings on aluminum, though am suggesting a lot more aluminum structures are coated, rather than left raw. Personally, I don't care either way, owning both on many boats, devices, etc. On things I handle often, I prefer a coating, if only to keep the oxide from getting all over everything. As to aircraft not being particularly exposed to salt water environments, well this just isn't reasonable, nor logical, considering from where they fly. Must be a special white alloy they're using. You don't think this is raw aluminum do you? Maybe this image will clear things up a bit. Even those aircraft that are seemingly polished aluminum are coated, otherwise they're buffing their brains out every month, just to keep it pretty.
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Mast Painting
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I just got an estimate from the yard for painting the mast and boom it looks chipped and not very seamanlike at all. does 2500.00 seem like a bunch of money it''s only a thirty foot boat to break it down it goes like this lift time 150.00 labor 165.00 r&r standing rigging 220.00 prep and paint mast and boom 1485.00 plus 400.00 material thats a lot of paint? retune mast 110.00 this seems like a gotcha to me, I may be wrong, but I''am willing to be educated on this not sure I want to pay the price but willing to learn.
Kryst! For that kind of money I’d bet you could buy brand new sticks for your 30 footer, paint and all! For all it''s worth, why not paint it yourself? Someone out here''s got to know what kind of paint to use and how to prep the aluminum and existing paint (I doubt you''d expect to need the same results as found on the presidential yacht or the like). Besides, wouldn’t it make you that much more proud of ol’ Betsy to be able to say that you did it yourself? Just as a note, I painted my mast but that one''s wood. I used regular old Pittsburgh house paint and it is holding up great after better then 5 years of hard use! Pi
Yikes! I was going to paint mine as well but after looking at you''re estimate I''m am definetely painting the mast myself. I pick up Don Casey''s book on sailboat refinishing and it covers mast painting, prepping, etching, priming, etc.. It''s pretty interesting reading if I say so myself. Then alls you need to do is pay riggers to remove/replace the mast, tune the rig and your off!
For that matter, why pay for someone to step and unstep the mast? There are public rigs set up on either side of the bridges of the Shinnecock canal here on Long Island, and they''re very easy to use by just two people. If you''re in an area with a canal or other waterway with low bridges, you might have access to free rigs to pull and step masts too.
Free lifts? Not here in the west..SF Bay that I know of. Pretty good..I''d go that route myself. Get the book on painting first. Lee
Holy mackerel!!!! If it''s aluminum and for that kind of money I think I would look into having it black anodized. You''ll never need it painted again. And if your mast sits on a step on deck you can step it yourself. I have a HD 27'' mast that I step everytime I take it out (trailered s/v). If it steps on the keel then you''ll need a lift. What would the cost of a new mast be?
We repainted ours - it was painted originally and the paint was totally oxidized and missing in many areas. It is A LOT OF WORK. The money does not seem unreasonable. The paint is expensive (we had awlgrip - 2 coats) as are the acid washes (2) and the primers (3). You have to remove EVERYTHING that is removable. This takes a lot of time. You have to CAREFULLY label everything and drop it in ziploc bags or you will never get it put back together. You have to sand EVERY spec of paint off. You have to sand any corroded areas. Then you have to tape anything left that should not be acid washed (stainless fittings). Then you acid wash with one type of product. Then you acid wash with a different type. Then you have to get the first primer on within 3-6 hours of the last wash, which has to be done right after the first wash. The primer has to go on with time to dry before the dew point, so you have to start early. And you will work non stop for hours. Eat a large breakfast and get going. Then 2 more primers. Then you sand with 320 BY HAND. Then you can paint. We did all the work ourselves with the exception of the painting and priming. We paid a painter with a sprayer to spray the primers and the awlgrip. Don''t forget to do the spreaders, the boom, and the mast head. Still want to do it yourself? If you don''t do the prep and all the steps, why bother? It won''t last. $2500 seems cheap now that I''ve done it myself.
sadie14 Whew!! I think I will take a nap!! Wondering why my wallet is lighter, my arms sore and this extra bag of screws? Everything you say is true, I just didn''t realize it until after I was done. Though, now it is the brightest, shiniest stick in the marina!! Well worth it. Oh, you forgot to warn them about the cost and time of the other projects that creep in like new mast wiring, new anchor and steaming lights (LED, of course, new deck lights..........
You''re right, John. We also rewired, re-halyarded, re-rigged (ourselves, stayloc), re-lighted, greased winches, new screws on every re-used part. We love the results, but honestly, I would NEVER do it again. (Until I forget the pain.) It was a huge job - not to be undertaken lightly.
Just had a 55'' main and 30'' mizzen painted.. quote from a good yard was for 2800 had big blow out when I got 7400 bill. Starting to think sometimes new is better than maintenance...but disposable mast<g>
I have painted several masts. remove all the stuff you can, sand, prime & paint with a brush, roller or spray. Our best paint job was done with the roll & tip method using Brightside paint. The manifacturer instructions will lead you to a beautiful job. John
mast painting Capt Sea Weed has got it right, sand with 80 grit then 220 then etching primer. I shot mine with urethane 2 part light grey it came out automotive finish just get a good prep its only aluminum
I''m in the process of painting the mast on my Islander 30 as I type. Using International two part Interthane. I''ve done this before on a previous boat (12 years ago) and it still looks like new. It is a tough paint to apply right but the finish is great. The solvents and paints (prime wash, primer and finish) smell real bad. I''ve pretty well finished the boom, mast step and spreaders, starting next week on the 40 ft mast in the garage (keep the doors open through the laundry room and into the workshop!). The paint is expensive as are the thinners. I calculated that the entire paint job will cost be about $300.00. But it is an enormous amount of work. The mast is 25 years old and badly corroded. Lots of sanding and filling, let alone trying to get the stainless fittings off (can you say grinding and drilling?!?) And then while it''s down the wiring will be replaced, the halyards put inside, new lights and new rigging to go with the Harken furler. Lots of fun (and money!). Good luck.
Ken, In my opinion 2500. is a very reasonable estimate for unstepping, stripping, preparing, painting, reassembling, restepping and retuning the rig. You would be well advised to take lots of pics or even video the mast and fittings before the disassembly starts wether you have it done by the yard or do it yourself. While the rig is down consider everything else you might want to do. Such as tri-color light, new wiring, antenna, lightning dissapter, conduit if you don''t have it now, etc. etc. Any mast work goes easier and faster when it''s laying on horses. Make sure that the threads of any fasteners that are added after the paint job are coated with an insulating material to prevent corrosion. Bottom line: this is a big job and you should be prepared to be involved every step of the way no matter who does the actual work. Good luck
Thanks for all the input folks. I think I''ll try to do the mast next year,It''s 70 degrees today and the water is calling,besides the budget is shot for this year and I still have to find a source for teak in the bay area I''m just not use to paying ten a board foot for solid woods would a spruce or fir hold up on a grating?
Ken, the only places I''ve found here in the Bay Area are 1. Axelrod & Co. Teak - 415-626-4949 2. Exotic Hardwoods & Veniers - 510-436-5702 3. Handloggers 305 Cutting Blvd., Richmond, CA 94804 Tollfree: 800-461-1969 Tel: 510-231-6190 3. McBeath Hardwoods -510-843-4390; 415-647-0782 4. White Bros. Lumber -510-261-1600 5. Woods Unlimited -510-895-5266 As far as I know and heard Spruce and Fir won''t hold up out there. It''s far too acidic.
Check on a wood called Afromosia...same properties as Teak....same look....much cheaper!
Geees!Here I was thinking about doing my mast and boom, also. It's 36 years old, an original Spartan on my Cape Dory 25'. I've done everything else on my boat, from top to bottom, and although I know it would be a lot of work, time and effort, I can't see how it would be all that expensive. On the other hand, maybe prices have gone up quite a bit since I last did a major project. Maybe I'll just get a 12VDC blender and start making some margaritas and think about this for a few years! Fair winds..... sailorsloopy
Ken… When you finish your mast painting you’ll need something to make you chuckle…your search for teak reminded me of this story…A sailor in San Rafael called a local lumber company and asked if they carried teak wood. Oh si, senor, said the helpful clerk who answered the phone. We have lots of teak wood. Great, said the San Rafael sailor, I’ll be right down. When the sailor arrived at the lumberyard he found mahogany, rosewood and apitong but no teak. Frustrated he went to the front desk. Hi, he said, I called earlier and you said you had teak wood here but I can’t fine it. Oh pardon, senor… we have lots of teak wood. What kind do you want and how teak do you want it… one inch or two inch teak.
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COMMENTS
Chips and scrapes in a carefully painted mast start out as a cosmetic issue. But as moisture intrudes and corrosion takes over the paint blisters and hard metal becomes powdery aluminum oxide. Left unattended, especially in damp, salty areas, such as in the bilge or underneath mast hardware, this corrosion process can destroy metal and impair ...
Re: Recommend Me a Mast Paint. "... Bare Aluminum: Wipe the surface free of oil and grease with Pettit 120 Thinner. Remove oxidation and etch the surface with medium grit emery cloth; remove sanding residue. Apply one thin "wet" coat of 6455/044 Metal Primer; allow to dry at least two hours. Proceed with the first coat of Easypoxy.
A sailboat mast is like a long electrical fuse: one bad spot and the show is over. ... The good news is that although paint brand allegiance may vary, generic mast prep and painting techniques have a high degree of correlation. When it comes to the first step in the prep process, every expert sings the same refrain. Remove the hardware if ...
Jay Tracy. Mar 17, 2004. #5. Painting an old alum. mast. We repainted our alum. mast but used a different approach as suggested by a rigger. He suggested we wet sand the mast, wash it off, treat it with alum. prepainting solution and paint it with Krylon clear enamel.
I did the mast on my 26 footer thirty years ago. Used two-part epoxy paint (Awlgrip). Removed all the mast hardware, sanded it down to bare metal, used the proper etcher and primers, and applied a few coats of paint. Sold the boat a few years later, then saw it about 20 years later and the mast looked great. Anything less than properly applied ...
After a rough surface prep you will want to use Alumiprep (acid etch/cleaner) follow directions for dilution, let dwell for 5 minutes or so and rinse with plenty of fresh water. Then you will want to make sure the surface is dry and the temperature is over 70 degrees at min., hotter is much better, and then coat with Alodine.
If it was my 16' boat, I'd either do the mast right or not do it. I say that because it's aluminum, and painting aluminum is more difficult to paint properly as compared to wood, steel, or fiberglass. Paint doesn't like to stick to it unless the surface has been properly prepared. That means, as others have suggested, properly abrading it.
bob77903. 178 posts · Joined 2008. #5 · Jul 30, 2015. Just painted my mast. Sanded the old paint with 80 grit, removing half of it to bare aluminum. Washed the sanded mast with acid bath, and primed with zinc chromate. Sanded primer with 280 grit, and finished coated with Awlcraft 2000 Jet Black....
To paint anodized first degrease using Fiberglass Solvent Wash 202. Then give it a heavy sanding using 60 or 80-grit sandpaper. Apply one coat of InterProtect 2000E (Thinned 15-20% with 2316N Reducing Solvent). Allow to dry overnight and apply a second coat of either Epoxy Primekote (thinned 25%) or Pre-Kote primer.
If your mast just needs a good cleaning and polish, then a non-abrasive cleaner/wax will work fine. Our most comprehensive report on cleaner-polishes was Metal Cleaners (PS June 2006 online), in which we tested 16 different products. Wed opt for one of the liquid cleaner-waxes like Collinite No. 850 Metal Wax, a non-abrasive cleaner-wax is in the same family as Collinite No. 885 Marine.
The paint looks nice, but is a pain. Our last boat (I made the rig) and didn't paint it. Had that boat ~15 yrs. and never regretted not painting it. It was easy to clean w/white vinegar (if needed). Current boat is painted and is needing attention. Repainted the mizzen boom years ago and still looks good, but if it didn't have paint already ...
19468 posts · Joined 2005. #2 · Mar 9, 2008. "Unpainted" masts are actually clear anodized. Aluminum, if left bare, will oxidize to a degree and stabilize, but the oxidation leaves a dusty/flaky surface that is unattractive and rubs off on contact. If the paint is in good shape you should be able to do a scuff sand and repaint.
Use a 2-part paint and at the end of the day, I think brush-tip method will be fine. I actually sprayed mine with a 2-part but think brush-tip would have resulted the much the same. You don't need that much of a glimmer on a mast verses doing a hull for example. Paint the mast, boom and spreaders and it will make the boat look sharp. Good luck ...
I'm rebuilding the 30-year old aluminum sailboat. I'm hoping at the end of rebuild / refit to have a low maintenance go-anywhere sailboat, so I don't care if it's not pretty. The paint on the mast and topsides is chipping off, so I was thinking, is it OK to strip the paint completely and leave the mast unpainted (raw) ? The mast is deck stepped.
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Join Date: Jun 2008. Location: Alaska. Boat: Stevens 47, 1985, Jael. Posts: 2. Mast Painting. I want to have my mast painted and I have been quoted $10,000 for stripping/remounting hardware, sandblasting and painting the mast boom and spreaders. The mast is 67' long and the boom is 20'.
Painting the mast on a Westsail 42 full keel blue water sailboat. If you enjoyed this video, then give it a thumbs up, make a comment, share it, or support t...
Mast Painting. I just got an estimate from the yard for painting the mast and boom it looks chipped and not very seamanlike at all. does 2500.00 seem like a bunch of money it''s only a thirty foot boat to break it down it goes like this lift time 150.00 labor 165.00 r&r standing rigging 220.00 prep and paint mast and boom 1485.00 plus 400.00 ...
Jan 2, 2006. #7. Painting a mast. In 1996, I painted my Irwin 31 Citation's aluminum mast and boom Imron beige, matching the new paint for the hull and deck. Although the boat was sold two years ago, it remains in the harbor near my new boat. The mast paint is holding up extremely well although there are spots of corrosion in a few places.
There's a lot going on in this video as we try to get the boat ready for launch. We repaint the topsides after our our last coat of paint went terribly wrong...
Mar 19, 2008. #8. I did my mast last year. I had to unstep my mast to truck my boat back from Mexico and thought it was a good time to redo the paint job on the mast since it hadn't been done in 10 years. The boat yard at that time had a rate of $65/hr and I winced at their estimate.
The mast paint wasn't in good shape and the mast had been removed and stowed for shipping with the boat, so it was an opportune time to paint it before install. I wanted to do the job right and was diligent in seeking professional assistance before undertaking such a job for the first time.
In Europe, there are around 300 tornadoes on land a year, and 500 waterspouts, he says, based on data from the European severe weather database.This is far fewer than in the US, where there are ...
A gray paint chosen to be a close match to the original mast anodizing will give you a like-new mast and no one will know you painted. Ideal pre-treatment of aluminum involves "acid etching" bare aluminum with dilute phosphoric acid to help paint adhere properly, followed by treatment with "alondine" which converts the bare metal to help with ...