Painting aluminium mast

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Carronade

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The gold anodized mast on my boat is looking quite bare! The anodizing has almost completely gone on the side exposed to the prevailing wind and is looking poor on the other side. I am thinking of painting it with a gold paint. The problem is what to use and how to prepare the mast. I have experience with spray painting and have my own compressor but not sure if spray is the right way to go. Has anyone got any experience of refinishing an aluminium mast?
 
Aluminium is hard to paint. Rather it is hard to get paint to stick to it. That having been said a mate painted ( brush + awlgrip ) the mast on his moody 33 about 6 years ago now and it still looks far far better than the old battered and faded anodising.
 
I had a 17m mast professionally painted last year - the cost turned out to be about 7k incl sandblasting the existing paint off, but the initial estimate was for half that.. Looks great and I hope it lasts as long as the 18 years the last paint job was on there. But ideally, I wouldn't have a painted mast at all.
 
I am ready to be shot down in flames here but as I have read painting seems to be difficult. How about using the plastic wrap that can be used to cover boat hulls as seen in one of the sailing magazines last year. I realize that this only lasts a few years on cars and boats but could be done in sections and is reversible i.e. it will peel of with a heat gun.
 
I have always painted my masts. Not anodised but bare. You need something like alodyne etch primer then paint. Mine is a dark blue to match the boat colour scheme. I just use ordinary enamel. it gets damaged so each year I touch up the paint on the mast and spreaders. Keeps it tidy looking. Years back on new small aircraft it as found that the 2 pack poyurethane tended to hide corrosion under the paint. So while 2 pack is very tough it can remain intact over corrosion which is more obvious with an enamel. good luck olewill
 
I seem to recall the fist step is to remove the anodised coating prior to etching and then painting.

seems like a lot of work for a finish that is easily damaged and will need annual touch ups.

Good luck and fair winds. :)
 
Many large expensive yachts have painted masts from new, some Oysters I believe have white masts. To make a professional job is difficult but not always expensive,the paint for a mast of say 12 metres could be around £300. Epifarnes have a specialised primer for anodised aluminium and they recommend that you dont abrade it. A next coat of epoxy resin & zinc phosphate primer is sprayed, this is high build and will fill light scratches, follow with polyester twin pack at least two coats.
I think if you dont strip the mast of fittings it will never be a good job as painted old rivets will shed their paint the first season and any edges will soon invite corrosion and peel back . Personally I would always paint white it shows less imperfections and seems to look right. The main expenses will probably be getting and storing the mast inside a suitable building also the spraying equipment and respirator so if you dont have these facilities your costs could be over £1000 other extras include monel rivets corrosion inhibitor / gaskets . Just to add any breaks in the anodising will need meticulous cleaning especially rivet holes.... or you could just slap a coat of hammerite on it I didnt but a lot do.
 
I'm afraid I can't see what is remotely difficult about painting an aluminium mast, assuming a bit of common sense. Take off everything that is removeable, clean and degrease with a hot caustic soda solution, rinse with very hot water, dry, apply a mist coat of etch primer, followed by the undercoat and topcoat of your choice.
Read up on safety precautions for using caustic soda and etch primer. I use zinc chromate etch primer in aerosol cans from lasaer.co.uk. Get the undercoat and top coat from a supplier of car paints, and if you don't have spraying equipment use a mini roller, with a small brush for the crooks and nannies. Most auto paints, even brushable grades, are quick drying so you have to work fairly quickly and resist the temptation to go back over the paint you've just laid on.
I've refurbished loads of aluminium bits this way, including the roller furling gear on my Corribee, and the mast on a Trintella 29. No problem getting a decent finish, even working outside as long as you choose good weather.
 
srp said:
I'm afraid I can't see what is remotely difficult about painting an aluminium mast, assuming a bit of common sense. Take off everything that is removeable, clean and degrease with a hot caustic soda solution, rinse with very hot water, dry, apply a mist coat of etch primer, followed by the undercoat and topcoat of your choice.
Read up on safety precautions for using caustic soda and etch primer. I use zinc chromate etch primer in aerosol cans from lasaer.co.uk. Get the undercoat and top coat from a supplier of car paints, and if you don't have spraying equipment use a mini roller, with a small brush for the crooks and nannies. Most auto paints, even brushable grades, are quick drying so you have to work fairly quickly and resist the temptation to go back over the paint you've just laid on.
I've refurbished loads of aluminium bits this way, including the roller furling gear on my Corribee, and the mast on a Trintella 29. No problem getting a decent finish, even working outside as long as you choose good weather.
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My thinking was that if I was going to the trouble of removing all the fittings and spending time and money then I was hoping for job that would last 10 years or more so I did a fair amount of research , I have seen too many masts with flaking paint. Painting an ally mast is fairly unique as the amount of flexing it does plus the harsh salt environment and temperature differences making any paint work to the extreme and if you get it wrong someone will have to strip it off and its more money.
I can report that my 10 years are up and apart from some small repairs the paint has stayed on, money and time well spent.
 
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parbuckle said:
My thinking was that if I was going to the trouble of removing all the fittings and spending time and money then I was hoping for job that would last 10 years or more so I did a fair amount of research , I have seen too many masts with flaking paint. Painting an ally mast is fairly unique as the amount of flexing it does plus the harsh salt environment and temperature differences making any paint work to the extreme and if you get it wrong someone will have to strip it off and its more money.
I can report that my 10 years are up and apart from some small repairs the paint has stayed on, money and time well spent.
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Agreed, it is a harsh environment, but paint can take a fair bit of flexing, and I think modern car paints have similar conditions to withstand, apart maybe from slapping halyards. For an existing mast which has lost much of its' anodising and looks a mess then painting is going to be a cheaper alternative to replacement, so it's probably worth having a go if it's got to that stage.
 
My mast/boom was powder coated cream from new. It now looks tatty from the scratches and me putting Duct tape around it during transportation (It peeled the paint off when I took it off, should have used electrical tape :rolleyes:) Crabbers no longer powder coat their masts apparently.
 
Carronade said:
The gold anodized mast on my boat is looking quite bare! The anodizing has almost completely gone on the side exposed to the prevailing wind and is looking poor on the other side. I am thinking of painting it with a gold paint. The problem is what to use and how to prepare the mast. I have experience with spray painting and have my own compressor but not sure if spray is the right way to go. Has anyone got any experience of refinishing an aluminium mast?
Click to expand...

Yes. I successfully painted my black anodised mast but its an exercise I would not want to repeat:

1/ since I was paintng the mast white ( coloured masts are so last century - like wearing flares) and the risk was paint chips showing through, the first job was to remove the anodising and the dye they use to colour it. I did this by washing the mast with hot strong caustic soda solution and ( I think) scotchbrite pads. I was well protected with mask and gloves and hat and old waterproofs. Hot caustic will literally dissolve skin.
2/ I then washed the mast and keyed it with an Epiphanes wash primer
3/ spray painted an undercoat of epoxy using industrial epoxy not expensive yacht stuff
4/ sprayed with 2 coats of twin pack commercial poly in white.
5/ the resultant coating was as tough as old boots and did not chip or fade in the 7 years I had that boat.

End result was very good though I say it myself. Bit of overspray on the clubhouse windows but only the commodore's wife was bothered.
 
To add to my post above. If faced with the same situation again, I'd buy a new tube and transfer all of the fittings. Much more economic and a better solution.
 
npf1 said:
To add to my post above. If faced with the same situation again, I'd buy a new tube and transfer all of the fittings. Much more economic and a better solution.
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If you paid £7000 I will agree with you . If you dont undertake most of the work yourself you might as well have a new mast or put up with what youve got ,after all it is mainly cosmetic.
 
parbuckle said:
If you paid £7000 I will agree with you . If you dont undertake most of the work yourself you might as well have a new mast or put up with what youve got ,after all it is mainly cosmetic.
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Sure but could you tolerate a faded 70s black anodised mast and boom?:eek:
 
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