yet another spreader question

[Gorlog]

I am hoping that one day I will be able to post threads in places other than the gear and mateinence section, and that mabey my boat'll see some water. Untill then I come closer with every question. And untill then I certainly appreciate this forum, and I'm sure I will after as well.
I am wondering about materials used for spreaders.
I have already machined mounts and I have some very nice 1" O. D. stainless steel tubing. I am wondering if this would be too heavy. I could also go buy some aluminum of proper thickness, but less heavy.
Thank you for any feedback -- Gorlog

[sailingdog]

Spreaders are usually aluminum for weight reasons. You want to reduce the amount of weight aloft as much as possible. However, stainless steel spreaders would have one major benefit over aluminum ones... they wouldn't have as many galvanic corrosion problems with the shrouds, since both are stainless steel.

If you do use stainless steel for anything, you should make sure it is 316L stainless, rather than a lesser grade, like 304.

Did you use stainless steel for the mast base you fabricated?? If so, you need to use a layer of plastic to isolate it from the mast, since it will cause the mast foot to corrode badly. The same goes for the masthead piece. Both of these would be far better made of aluminum.

[Gorlog]

Thanks Sailing Dog
I did indeed make the mast base, mast head and spreader base out of aluminum, same with the gooseneck, except I used stainless pins. I'm certainly considering just using the stainless steel I already have. In fact, I bored the holes in the spreader base oversized so that if used the 1'' stainless steel pipe I would have to make a bushing. I could make this bushing out of plastic, mabey turn down a piece of pvc or something.
I will work on getting some pictures of my stuff on picaso.net. I'm uncertain if my gooseneck will work without some redesigning. Well actually I'm certain it won't work, but how much redesigning is the question. It's hard to ask without a picture handy, so when I get some I'll post anther thread. Thanks for the info. - Audios

[sailingdog]

I would use aluminum for the spreaders, and then put some sort of isolator on the end to keep the stainless steel and aluminum apart.

If you post the photo of the gooseneck, we can take a look at it. Why do think it won't work?