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 Post subject: Mast cleaning and paint
PostPosted: Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:35 pm 
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Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:09 pm
Posts: 117
Location: Buffalo, NY
My mast is black anodized and I’m wondering what can be done to clean it or make it look new again. As this is a new used boat for me, I’m guessing a previous boat owner had the boat near salt water as the mast is covered with very small white marks almost like salt stains or oxidation.

Can anyone advise me if I can paint the mast? If so, should I use epoxy paint? How would I prep or clean the mast to remove these marks?

Thank you for your assistance.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Jun 04, 2006 8:30 pm 
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Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 8:29 pm
Posts: 37
Location: TX
I don't know about the black ano, but on my clear mast and sidebars I scrubbed it down with paint thinner to remove some old adhesive and it looks almost new again, so I did the whole boat. It seemed to wipe away the oxidation as well. You might try a small area to see if it will do anything weird to the black ano before trying it. That may make it look good enough for your needs.

I see two possible methods for paint. One would be a low-buck, down-and-dirty rattle-can spray with flat or satin black. For that one clean the mast with soap & water, rinse and let it dry, then wipe down with acetone or lacquer thinner and mask everything you don't want painted. Buy a couple of spray bombs and go to work. This will look good from a short distance, but up close you'll see the flaws.

The other method would be a high-dollar project. Neither epoxy nor other paints will stick to anything that has silicone on it. Your mast probably has fittings and rivets that are sealed with silicone. To have a perfect job that looks good up close, you're going to have to strip every rivet and fitting off the mast before you prep it for paint. Epoxy paints are very durable, but are for the most part pretty expensive. You'll probably need to use spray equipment to get it to look good as well. Unless you have access to a good spray gun and a compressor already, the cost for equipment adds up quickly. Then you have to wonder what effect the constant dinging of halyards on the mast while towing will do to the paint. Personally, I'd go for the rattle-can spray and spend the money on gas to get to a lake.

Prep is everything when it comes to paint! Even a low-buck rattle-can paint job can look good if you prep it right.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 7:00 am 
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Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:09 pm
Posts: 117
Location: Buffalo, NY
Russ,

Thanks for the info. I do have a compressor and a HVLP spray gun that I could use for spraying the mast. My only concern is can I spray over the black anodized mast? If so, what type of material do I purchase?


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 Post subject: Try this
PostPosted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 8:36 am 
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Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2005 11:27 am
Posts: 538
Location: League City, TX
Before you go to the trouble of painting it try this. :wink: I got this from an old On The Wire article. They said use Penetrol (sp). You can get it at West Marine or maybe a hardware store. It it suppose to be great and will make it look like new. :D I am going to try it on my 20 year old Hobie 17. Hope this helps :roll:

Doug Snell
Hobie 17 # 007


Last edited by DougHobie17 on Mon Jun 05, 2006 9:05 am, edited 1 time in total.

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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 8:56 am 
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Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 8:29 pm
Posts: 37
Location: TX
The anodized layer of aluminum is aluminum oxide with dye impregnated in the surface pores. It's chemically bonded to the base metal, so it won't ever peel off. The process is a little like chrome plating except the oxide layer isn't deposited onto the metal like chrome.

I see no reason any kind of paint won't stick to it if the surface is properly prepped; however, you must keep in mind that most of the sandpaper you normally see is also aluminum oxide. My guess is you'll use lots of paper. That said, I have seen an aluminum etch in the West System epoxy catalogue. They recommend it before application of their epoxy resins, but I know that if you sand aluminum (use 80 grit) beforehand it will stick just fine.

Epoxy will bond to most any clean, dry material that has enough surface roughness for the epoxy to grab onto. You will probably need at least one coat of primer, followed by the topcoat. I'm not sure what effect (if any) the added weight of the paint would have on the sailing characteristics. I'd for sure mask off the sail track in the mast so nothing got in there as well. If it were my boat, I'd go for the rattle-can job, but I'm a cheap bastidge!


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Jun 05, 2006 9:11 am 
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Joined: Fri Jul 15, 2005 10:43 am
Posts: 779
Location: St. Louis, MO
I painted the black anno mast on my H16. I used Acetone to wipe it down and clean it. Then just used either Krylon or Rustoleum flat spray paint. It looked just fine. Even up close. I did no sanding as the anno was rough enough. I sold the boat 3 years later and it still looked great.

_________________
Nick

Current Boat
In the market
Previous boats owned
'74 Pearson 30
'84 H16
'82 H18 Magnum
St. Louis, MO


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 6:43 am 
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Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2006 7:09 pm
Posts: 117
Location: Buffalo, NY
Thanks everybody for the info. Just got this boat would like to clean it up before I put the mast up. Your comments certainly helped.

T-bone


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Jun 06, 2006 9:51 am 
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Joined: Thu Nov 13, 2003 10:00 am
Posts: 383
Location: Long Beach, CA
LP Paint stick to just about anything. You can get a one part Linear Polyurethane or a two part. I understand that the two part is a bit more durable.

Later,
Dan


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