Aluminium Windows

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asj1

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I have just removed the aluminium windows from my Fulmar for re-glazing.
The frame on the inside is bright shiny - in very good condition, on the outside where it has been in the weather they are much poorer, dull stained and though not corroded don't look so nice.

My question is can the outside frames be improved through polishing or rubbing down in some way or will that destroy them as it will rub off whatever coating (anodising??) was already there in the first place?

Regards

Andrew

<hr width=100% size=1>Andrew
 
If bright and shiny I would guess it was polished at some time and if still shiny is coated to protect it. The outside is probably dull because it's anodised as you say. Mine are silver inside and out and require no maintainance other than washing occassionally. If it were mine and going to the trouble you are to restore the glass I would have it all anodised to match which settles any future deteriation on both sides. If cost is a factor keep the insides shiny if you like it and just anodise the outers.

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the anodise layer is an aluminium oxide, so if crappy or pitted you can sand it down for a smooth starting layer. You can anodise stuff yerself, plenty of kits on the market using google.

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Try a green plastic abrasive kitchen cleaning pad and some "cif" on the outside and see if it helps . the anodising is quite hard and shouldnt suffer. try a small area first and check it out . Rob

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Hi asj1!

I too have a Fulmar and have just replaced all the windows. I hadn't intended to, but as your description of shiny inners and dull outers was exactly the case with mine, I decided to have the outer frames re-anodised. It was a disaster! As there was no sign of corrosion on the external frames, I thought it would be plain sailing. However, when the frames were acid dipped (or whatever it is they do to remove the old anodising) tiny pin pricks of corrosion appeared that hadn't been visible before. The newly anodised frames looked lovely and shiny, BUT still showed all these little crevises!

I took the frames back and complained and they re-polished, then re-anodised them, but the fixing holes were distorted by the polishing and you could still see the pitting in places. I swallowed hard, and decided to buy new.

The really annoying thing about this whole sorry episode, is that the Westerly window specialists (C and J International Windows, Unit 10, Peacocks Industrial Estate, Providence Street, Cradley Heath, West Midlands B64 5DG) had clearly warned me that this was likely to happen as they'd seen it before. I, of course, knowing it all and thinking that here was a bit of selling talk, ignored it. Damn silly mistake.

On the other hand, Jan and her husband, who run C and J, produced a simply perfect set of windows at a really good price. Lovely people to deal with too. Highly recommended if you also decide to go the replacement route.

Hope this helps a bit,

Cheers

Jerry


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What was the price of replacement windows and did they reglaze them or did you do that yourself.

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Hi Rex,

I'd rather not give the price I paid for the windows as it would be misleading. I supplied the perspex (I'd intended doing the re-glazing myself) for them to fit, but they supplied everything else. I can assure you that the quality of work was exceptional, which I suppose is only to be expected, as the owner was the manager for the Company supplying all Westerly's windows. They bought the dies for the rubber extrusions etc and the knowledge shines through IMHO.

Do give Jan a call, (she's a really lovely lady) and have a chat about about things. She'll give you a price for new or for refurbishing and re-glazing your exisiting windows - or anything in between. Well worth the cost of a call!

Hope this helps

Cheers

Jerry

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We take all the bare aluminium down to a stain finsih with 240 wet and dry paper then take them to a powder coating shop (Powder coating is used to paint bridges and not the BMW underneath)

We find that the powder coating in a sandtex finish covers any monor defects in the metal and stays clean.

Also powder coating works out to be inexpensive, much cheaper than primer and top coats of al. compatable paints!

All our al. parts look new!
We have the powder coating done in white sand textured finish and matt black for the electrical panels I made.
Should work well for window surrounds......

<hr width=100% size=1>Building a steel sailboat in Comox, B.C. Canada.
 
Hi Calluna!

I'm not sure whether they do, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did. They have the dies for the aluminium and rubber gasket extrusions for the Westerly range and obviously great experience with the marque, and I'm fairly sure they manufacture windows with other types/sections.

I would give Jan a call, because if it's humanly possible to help, she will. I suspect that if you can provide templates for the sizes they would be able to sort things out for you. It would help others on the Forum if you would post whether they do make windows for other boats, in case others are looking for a good window supplier.

Their telephone number, which I forgot to post yesterday is: 01384 411884

Hope this helps

Jerry


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