[Public-List] cracked mast step

[Mike Meinhold via Public-List]

When I took mine around to machine shops (the crack was only through the
mounting holes) they were not willing to weld it  - they all expected it
would fail at the repair.

I had a replacement made - they cut off the plug that fits on the mast and
bolted it to a new baseplate.

Mike
Rinn Duin #272

On Tue, Apr 4, 2017 at 10:00 AM, Gordon Laco via Public-List <
public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:

> Despair not…  this isn’t so serious.  Why it happened may be puzzling, but
> the cure is easy.
>
> First, remember that the only significant force the mast step experiences
> is compression.   It just has to be there, and doesn’t have to do anything
> else.
>
> The cure is to remove it, and have a machine shop weld up the crack.
>
> Why it cracked is more interesting.  Perhaps the four lags securing it
> were overtightened?  Perhaps the glass lay up the step rests on became
> convex?  This could happen by water getting into the laminations and
> freezing, causing expansion which may have raised the middle enough to
> crack the inflexible aluminium casting…
>
> Could be.
>
> I’d say looking into why it happened is the big issue…  the repair of the
> step itself is no big deal.
>
> Cheers –
>
> Gord #426 Surprise
>
> On 2017-04-04, 9:54 AM, "Public-List on behalf of via Public-List" <
> public-list-bounces at lists.alberg30.org on behalf of
> public-list at lists.alberg30.org> wrote:
>
>
>     Hello my friends at the Alberg 30 Assoc.,
>
>     I took Stargazer's winter cover off today, and while most was in order,
>     there was one very alarming discovery; the aluminum mast step casting
> had
>     cracked over the winter.
>
>     There is one crack that goes directly across the fitting, just in
> front of
>     the raised area that goes up into the heel of the mast, and another
> that
>     goes from the port aft bolt slot to the outboard edge of the fitting.
> Both
>     cracks are full thickness.
>
>     I would like to think I would have noticed these cracks last fall, as
>     quickly as I noticed them today, so I think they occurred over the
> winter.
>     That's strange, since I unstepped the mast for the winter, so there
> was no force
>      on the fitting at all. The 'Bright Side' is that it happened now, and
> not
>     while  Stargazer was sailing.
>
>     Stargazer, #255,  1967, is of the old non-hull liner, vertical toe
> rail,
>     hull and deck configuration. The fitting is 50 years old. It should
> never
>     have been made of cast aluminum in the first place. It's amazing it
> lasted
>     this  long.
>
>     Has this happened to anyone else's Alberg 30, and if so, how have they
>     replaced the fitting?
>
>     When we bought Stargazer back in 1997, the mast step was fastened in
> the
>     middle of it's adjustment; the fitting bolts were basically in the
> middle of
>     their slots. I wanted to see if the bolts were free, in case I wanted
> to
>     adjust  the mast step position. The bolts were frozen then, and as
> Stargazer
>     balanced  nicely I never had to pursue it. I am sure the bolts have not
>     gotten any free-er  since. Are there any tricks you guys have come up
> with over
>     the years to free  the bolts up? Stainless steel in aluminum is never
> happy.
>
>     I really thought I didn't have any major projects to do this spring.
> :)
>     thx,
>     Lee
>
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