Mild steel on deck

[Dave95979]

Hello I would like make a bracket out of 10 mm mild steel it is all I have in my shed to make a bracket to fit some cleats on my deck ( I will post a vid of it when I have dun it ) as it is hard to explain

How can I treat the meatal so it does not rust ?

Can I just paint it if so what with ?

Thanx for looking

Dave

 

[sailorman]

Hot dipped galvanised

 

[PCUK]

You will need to clean it back to bright metal with an angle grinder. Then while it is still warm give it a coat of epoxy primer. International Interprotect is as good as any. then give it several more coats referring to the overcoating time in the instructions. Finish with the paint of your choice. when bolting it to the deck or bolting things onto it, make sure that the paint in the holes isn't scraped off as the bolts are tightened. If cone correctly this will last for years. Alternatively get it galvanised as already said.

 

[fredrussell]

Can you not just buy some 316 stainless steel and use that? Its not that expensive at all these days and ebay suppliers will sell very small amounts. In my experience, however well you paint mild steel, in a salty environment its only a matter of time before the rust appears. I agree with PCUK that epoxy primer will give good protection, but try tightening fixings on it without damaging the coating. Not easy.

 

[PetiteFleur]

Hot dipped galvanising is best for mild steel. Can be expensive unless you can get it included in some-ones larger batch. It is costed on weight. Making it from stainless is a good alternative if you can get some cheap and if you can weld stainless(assuming your bracket needs welding).

 

[wully1]

Mild steel, no matter how it's treated will rust in time.. this is the reason the BT Challenge steel Yachts all had stainless steel decks.

If you can tolerate the rust stains then OK, but otherwise invest in some 316 for what you want to make.

 

[GHA]

You will need to clean it back to bright metal with an angle grinder. Then while it is still warm give it a coat of epoxy primer. International Interprotect is as good as any. then give it several more coats referring to the overcoating time in the instructions. Finish with the paint of your choice. when bolting it to the deck or bolting things onto it, make sure that the paint in the holes isn't scraped off as the bolts are tightened. If cone correctly this will last for years. Alternatively get it galvanised as already said.

Unfortunately unlikely to work, least didn't for me Grinding to get rid of mill scale is wishful thinking, and bolting without nicking the the coating is unlikely as well . Galv or stainless, I ditched the toerail angled cleats made from mild steel and paid for stainless angle.

 

[KellysEye]

Cleats should always be stainless steel but what is a bracket for a cleat?

 

[Dave95979]

Yes it is for a bracket to fit a clam cleat on a thin part of my cockpit like a cross because the cleat is a little wider than the rail

 

[PaulRainbow]

Yes it is for a bracket to fit a clam cleat on a thin part of my cockpit like a cross because the cleat is a little wider than the rail

Spend a few quid and get a bit of stainless, or get a local stainless fabricator to make it or sell you an offcut. The small cost will save years of looking at rusty stains and wishing you'd have made it from stainless. Galvanising or painting mild steel will cost more than a bit of stainless.

 

[Dave95979]

this sort of thing
unless there is some plastic ( strongish ) i could make it out of
Mabee nylon 66 ?

 

[{151760}]

A disc of marine ply, varnished, through-bolted and sealed with Sikaflex would do that job.

 

[Graham_Wright]

Pop into your local scrap yard and ask for a bit of stainless. They'll probably give it to you but you won't know what you will get. If it's no more than very slightly magnetic, it will probably do the job.

 

[PetiteFleur]

A piece of Tufnol would do fine, these sort of cam cleats aften had a Tufnol base years ago. Or a piece if cheap plastic chopping board, about 5 or 6mm thick would also work well.

 

[Dave95979]

this is what i have dune
https://youtu.be/Lf4T1a6zmKE

 

[Poignard]

One quick, low-cost, neater solution would be to take that gadget back to the chandlery snd swap it for a a proper Clamcleat

http://www.bigship.com/catalogue/accastillage-1/coinceur-bloqueur-et-taquet/clam-cleat/

 

[Dave95979]

I got them cheep and I like the way they work I am just not a fan of the ones I had on there

 

[KellysEye]

I agree with 316 stainless steel, it's only a matter of before mild steel rusts unless you coat it with Zinc rich epoxy but it has to be done when there is no humidity otherwise you risk flash rusting.

 

[PCUK]

Unfortunately unlikely to work, least didn't for me Grinding to get rid of mill scale is wishful thinking, and bolting without nicking the the coating is unlikely as well . Galv or stainless, I ditched the toerail angled cleats made from mild steel and paid for stainless angle.

Having built a steel 40 footer I can tell you if done properly it will never rust unless damaged. However, stainless will still be best. 304 is fine above the water-line as I know from 40 years of using it!

 

[MM5AHO]

The problem with paint is that all paints are porous.