08-31-1999
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Contributing Authors
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Join Date: Jan 2000
Posts: 536
Rep Power: 13
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The Choice Of Aluminum Rails
Our new stern rail and bow pulpit have been fabricated out of one-inch aluminum pipe, in lieu of one-inch stainless steel tubing which most sailboat rails are made of. When people speak of pipe sizes, this refers to the inside diameter of the material, as opposed to tubing, which refers to an outside diameter. Our new aluminum rails are in fact 1-5/16-inch diameter on the outside, and provide a quite larger profile. They are nice to look at and to grab. Aluminum has less strength, therefore a larger size is needed for the same job. The end result is a much lighter but very strong product.  | | Larry relaxes for a moment at the sterm. The deck is ready for painting and the new stern
rail is in place. | Virtually all sport-fishing boat towers are made of aluminum pipe and have proven to be reliable. Aluminum is less expensive than stainless steel and easier and faster to fabricate. It also doesn't stain like stainless steel. Is there a downside? Anytime you use aluminum on a boat you have to watch for dissimilar metals making contact. The result could be the deterioration or even disintegration of one or both of the materials. To combat this, the materials need to be isolated from one another as much as possible if fastening together. (This is like using Tef-Gel or a caulking type material when inserting stainless fasteners or pop rivets into the aluminum mast). Since aluminum is a softer metal than steel, it can also nick or gouge easier than stainless, so you need to be more careful with spinnaker poles, chain, etc. How will these new rails hold up compared to stainless steel on Serengeti? We'll let you know. L.H.
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