I was told off today

[chrishscorp]

Cut some rebar up once out the front of a clients. Thankfully we were pulling down the front bay and rebuilding, i realised all the sparks had melted themselves into the glass of the windows.
Any grinder work I sheet up now if there is anything nearby that could be damaged and expect others to do the same.

 

[johnalison]

Filings are very different from grinding dust.
Once those little bits of metal have been red hot (or hotter!), the 'stainless' warranty is kind of void.

Grinding in a marina is basically completely out of order.

The problem is, everyone with a boat in a 100m range who gets rust stains will now be looking for the OP.

It is not something that I had thought about or encountered in my sheltered life and so was news to me (& NormanS it appears). Luckily, I don't possess the tools and am therefore unlikely to transgress, so my neighbours are quite safe in spite of my ignorance.

 

[RichardS]

I must admit, it is difficult to imagine any work on a mast* which couldn't be achieved with a drill, a hacksaw and a file. Albeit taking more time than with a grinder.

*assuming a standard aluminium yacht mast.

I needed to mount a sliding pole eye to the front of the mast. The sliding car fits across the front face of the mast onto two rails which are moulded into the mast profile. The rails are tapered at the top of the mast so the car could be slid down from the top of the mast .... but that only works when the mast is new and doesn't have all the fittings riveted to the front of it. The car is 4 or 5 inches long so that means grinding or cutting out that length of ally from opposite sides of the rails so the car can be slotted in and then slid up to it's correct operating area.

There is no more than 3 mm clearance between the back of the rails and the main metal of the mast so a hacksaw or anything reciprocating would be useless.

Richard

 

[jordanbasset]

While at Almerimar some one talk a grinder to their boat to make some repairs. Dozens of boats had tiny but numerous rust stains appear on their decks/gelcoat for weeks after, just about impossible to get rid of as the molten metal sinks into the gelcoat

 

[Poignard]

Reading some of the posts on these forums, and on other technical forums, makes you wonder how anything was made or repaired before angle-grinders were invented.

 

[RichardS]

Reading some of the posts on these forums, and on other technical forums, makes you wonder how anything was made or repaired before angle-grinders were invented.

I managed without an angle grinder for my first 30 years of DIY maintenance so there is always another way .... the problem is that the other way sometimes takes 50 times longer. :ambivalence:

Richard

 

[mainsail1]

I would love a scientist to calculate how far these red hot bits travel before they loose most of their heat. From my experience using an angle grinder I would guess a couple of metres.

 

[lw395]

I would love a scientist to calculate how far these red hot bits travel before they loose most of their heat. From my experience using an angle grinder I would guess a couple of metres.

From my experience of getting paid to polish out the mess (many years ago), they go a whole lot further before they lose the ability to stain gelcoat.

 

[Lon nan Gruagach]

While you are thinking about this, also consider what happens to drill wire brush "bristles" when they come loose.. I have seen one implanted in the glass of a tv screen.

 

[mainsail1]

Maybe the stain is rust from a cold piece of debris?

 

[Poignard]

I think grinding anything without taking adequate precautions to confine the debris to the immediate work area is unacceptable.

Years ago I arrived at my boat, laid up in a South Coast yard, to find the owner of the adjacent boat dry grinding the antifoul off his hull. The stupid clown was kitted-out in a disposable overall with ventilated full face mask to ensure that he was safely protected, but gave no thought to the cloud of toxic blue dust settling on nearby boats and on the ground.

When made to stop he was most indignant and seemed baffled as to why anyone would object to what he was doing.

 

[Jamesuk]

Yard work is for the yard.

The marina is for showing off your boat.

I’ll never forget the deckhand who grinded a steel fitting without protecting the work area only to see what mess he had made half way across the Atlantic when the foredeck awlgrip painted super structure began to bleed rust like some kind of horror movie made for yacht crew.

 

[Halo]

Grinding dust - even of stainless - will rust and eat into gel coat. You were out of order grinding in a marina. He may be a prat but he has a point.
Dont believe me? - Try hack sawing though a stainless shackle over one of your decks and see what happens

 

[Triassic]

Yard work is for the yard.

The marina is for showing off your boat.

Whenever I have been into a boat yard there are often plenty of people carrying out maintenance and repairs to their boats using a variety of power tools all capable of producing dust and sparks. As James says this is the time and place for such activity but surely other boats close by are just as susceptible to such debris there as in a marina?

 

[Heckler]

While at Almerimar some one talk a grinder to their boat to make some repairs. Dozens of boats had tiny but numerous rust stains appear on their decks/gelcoat for weeks after, just about impossible to get rid of as the molten metal sinks into the gelcoat

plus one!

 

[Poignard]

Firms that shotblast hulls rig tarpaulins around the work area. No reason the amateur cannot do likewise. There is no excuse for damaging or soiling someone else's property.

Properly run yards have an area set aside for such work.

 

[rotrax]

Those who want to do cutting and grinding of metal components on boats need to go to Comox, BC.

It sounds like you can do anything you like there!

I know you can. Brent Swain said so.....................................

 

[Concerto]

Whenever I have been into a boat yard there are often plenty of people carrying out maintenance and repairs to their boats using a variety of power tools all capable of producing dust and sparks. As James says this is the time and place for such activity but surely other boats close by are just as susceptible to such debris there as in a marina?

+1 Maybe all steel yachts should be banned from marinas as they are likely to cause problems to other owners as any drilling or sanding may cause rust spots on nearby yachts.

A couple of years ago my boat was lifted out, the hull was pressure washed over the lift area where the residue was collected and then she was moved to the yard. Another yacht was then lifted and processed the same and positioned between mine and an old friend with another yacht that was just getting ready for launching a couple of days later. This recently lifted yacht then decided to pressure wash his hull again, but in the process managed to shoot water up in the air towards my friend's yacht. The water dropped in through the main hatch and onto to some woodwork that had just been varnished. My friend was extremely annoyed and complained to him. He also complained to the marina and his boat was moved to the otherside of the yard the following day. I spoke to the owner with the pressure washer and asked why he was using it. "I am just cleaning the boat as I am off abroad for 6 months" What a ####, it was going to be dirty all over in 6 months. A self centred owner with no consideration for anyone else - they berth near us all.

 

[thinwater]

I needed to mount a sliding pole eye to the front of the mast. The sliding car fits across the front face of the mast onto two rails which are moulded into the mast profile. The rails are tapered at the top of the mast so the car could be slid down from the top of the mast .... but that only works when the mast is new and doesn't have all the fittings riveted to the front of it. The car is 4 or 5 inches long so that means grinding or cutting out that length of ally from opposite sides of the rails so the car can be slotted in and then slid up to it's correct operating area.

There is no more than 3 mm clearance between the back of the rails and the main metal of the mast so a hacksaw or anything reciprocating would be useless.

Richard

Multitool, like Fein Multimaster? I've used one on a spar before. But I'm not picturing the problem. They are, however, much less messy than a grinder for close work and shallow cuts.

There are a lot more cutting tools than a grinder. If I must use a grinder, I try to take the item off the boat.

---

One poster said that if you couldn't aboard to lose it, break it, or bleed, you shouldn't have a boat. I say it's like driving a car; if you can't handle a few shopping cart dingy or rocks thrown by tires, you should walk. Really. If a car throws a rock or blows a tire, it's a road hazard, get over it. Sailing has road hazards, and to some extent, this is one of those. I say this is real life and if stains bug you, don't have a boat. Are we men or are we girls?

 

[Frank Holden]

Imagine this if you will...... lovely fine and sunny day..... very fancy old yacht with lots of varnish on the downwind side.... stern in..... husband wielding the brush on the cockpit coamings .... wife hunkered down in front of him.... watching to make sure there were no holidays......
Stern in on the opposite side of the walkway... upwind... an oldish steel boat.... and quite a handy breeze...
Bet you can't guess where this is going...
.
.
.

Wife sitting in cockpit brushing a very hairy cat.......

Dunno what happened ... I just kept on walking....

A week earlier same wife had asked me for some computer advice.... old style beige box PC would start up... run for a few minutes ... and shut down....
'Probably cat fur clogging the fan' sez I.... woman looks at me as if I am stupid....

Several days later she tells me they had taken the PC to a computer repair shop and guess what.....