Painting Sheaves

bsfree · #1 (**permalink**) 08-29-2008

I'm refurbishing my mast and a friend suggests I paint the sheaves to protect them. I'm not convinced this is a good idea as I've never seen sheaves painted. I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts on whether I should or not.

sailingdog · #2 (**permalink**) 08-29-2008

IMHO, really bad idea... the tints used in most paints are fairly abrasive and as the paint flakes off it will get in the rope and cause damage to the rope fibers.

SEMIJim · #3 (**permalink**) 08-29-2008

Painting the sheaves doesn't strike me as a particularly useful idea, at best.

Jim

hellosailor · #4 (**permalink**) 08-30-2008

Do you have wooden sheeves?

bsfree · #5 (**permalink**) 08-30-2008

Thanks guys, never thought of the paint flaking off into the rope fibers, that's reason enough not to do it. Hellosailor, the sheaves are aluminum, and the bushings are in good shape.
Thank again.

hellosailor · #6 (**permalink**) 08-30-2008

Yeah, no reason to paint aluminum. It's also a bitch to get paint to STICK to aluminum, and it doesn't really "preserve" it any better than the natural oxide coating. Or a good anodizing, if you really want to help it.