[Public-list] Mast Track Lubricant

[Jay Davenport]

Another choice (at much less cost than the Harken system) is the Strong system. It is a one-piece plastic extrusion which is pre-cut to the exact length for your boat. It is then slid up the mast on the existing sail track, and fastened there from the deck. All the slides on your sail are replaced with Strong system slides, which come in varying configurations, but which all slide very easily in the plastic track. High load bearing slides on the sail, such as those in front of full battens, are fully articulated and adjustable. 
 
The system is bought through your sailmaker. I have had it on Revolution for two seasons now, and I love it. When I release the main halyard from the cockpit, the mainsail drops to the mast with no problem. With the old metal slides on the metal track, the sail would always bind and jam when I released the hayard, particularly in front of the full battens.
 
Jay

jim mennucci <quest433 at verizon.net> wrote:
I want to tip my ore on this slidder or track lubrication thing...fact is 
that the you got metal on metal and a geometry that doesn't facilitate 
lubrication. On this basis its going to be next to impossible to move the 
slides if there's any load on them. If you want to move the slides get the 
load off 'em otherwise the friction is probably high enough to jam 'em.. 
The only real way of dealing with it is to go out and buy a Harkin 
roller-based system. A typical coeficient of friction for stainless on 
stainless is about 0.7. A typical roller bearing coeficient of friction is 
about 0.005 or less. If you do the math you see that rollers are better by 
a factor 140. Putting a layer of bee wax or whatever on the track faying 
surface attempts to keep the track slider off the track proper thereby 
avoiding metal to metal contact. I'm afraid this is short-lived at best. 
Thank god roller-based slides were invented.

Jim Mennucci



----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kristofer Coward" 
To: "Alberg 30 Public List -- open to all" 

Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 12:45 PM
Subject: Re: [Public-list] Mast Track Lubricant


> On Mon, Oct 03, 2005 at 02:31:14PM -0400, John Birch wrote:
>> Hard candle wax - rated #2 by Practical Sailor - cost - about 2 cents - 
>> or
>> you can buy the expensive aerosol dry lubricant for about $15-20 which 
>> will
>> last about 2 weeks longer - those were the finding of PS.
>>
>> Been using hard candle wax for years - works great.
>
> I use the wax from tealights myself. Not only are they wildly cheap,
> those little metal casings allow me to burn them anyway after wearing
> them down to lube my mast track (and companionway hatch).
>
> Cheers,
> Kris Coward
> Candy Cane #583
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