Straightening bent stanchions?

[Quandary]

I took the life lines off before the boat lift last year but left the stanchions in place, the front sling lean't on two of them, so they each have a slow bend about 5-6 ins. from the base. Replacements are a silly price, tapered polished stainless steel, so I have been trying to straighten them. I have a 3" bit of close fitting tube recovered from a broken stanchion base but I have not been able to find a way of restraining it and applying enough force low down to restore the shape, I have tried the vice but that did not work, I bored a hole to take the base tube in an immovable tree stump in my garden but could not apply enough force close to the bend and risked a kink where the holes for the middle wire are. I 'borrowed' one of those concrete bases with holes in that are used to support temporary site fencing, stood it on end against a wall but the grc stuff turned out to be quite soft. I asked a guy with a press but he thought it would just damage it. I suspect he was reluctant to bother taking the risk. Does it need heat and if so, can they be repolished? Someone suggested reversing them when the boat is slung again but I am not sure that the bases would take it again. I am surely not the first to try to solve this problem.
Any suggestions?

 

[DanTribe]

I made a former to stop damage by drilling a hole the same diameter as the stanchion along the grain of an oak block. Cut it lengthwise so that it would fit round the tube and then placed in a vice.
Then heated with a gas blowlamp and bent it straight using a larger tube over the end as a lever.
This made it slightly Z shaped. Had several attempt to get it as straight as possible, then spent several hours polishing.
All good learning experience.


Then threw it away and bought a new one.

Sorry!

 

[Quandary]

Confirms what I suspected. I have found some on the internet for about half the price I had seen elsewhere though the £25 surcharge for 'Highlands and Islands' delivery is discouraging.

 

[forelle541]

I straightened one and put a set in another with a hydraulic pipe bender, I did not have the right size shoes but it worked, no heat.

 

[pvb]

Take them to a S/S fabricator - they'll soon tell you whether they can straighten them for a sensible price. It's not a DIY job!

 

[duncan99210]

Take them to a S/S fabricator - they'll soon tell you whether they can straighten them for a sensible price. It's not a DIY job!

+1 I had a couple done last winter for about €15 IIRC.

 

[Thistle]

Get the yard who did the damage to do the fixing. Also get them to use spreaders next time they lift your boat so that this kind of damage doesn't happen again.

 

[garvellachs]

I have straightened then using tubes that fit on the outside or inside to generate enough leverage; blocks under the ends of the tubes and gently stand on the stanchion etc. Gently does it, a degree or two at a time and they will improve. You won't get them quite like new though - but most boats that are used will have a slight bend or two in the stanchions because people insist on using them as handles?

 

[Deleted member 36384]

….. a slight bend or two in the stanchions because people insist on using them as handles?

If stanchions on boats above, say +25 LOA, cannot withstand being used as handhold they are not fit for purpose. For years I have instructed people who are comming on board via the guardrail gate (pontoon, dinghy or ladders in yard) to hold onto the top of the stanchions and none have bent as a result of this. I do understand that some stanchions on smaller boats may have weak mounts or be thin walled, however, stanchions machined from solid alloy (or thick walled) do not bend. On my own boat they are 1" OD and about 1mm wall thickness, they are not bent either despite years of my +13 stone hauling myself onboard holding onto the top of them. At the end of the day stanchions are safety items, the purpose of which is to prevent someone from falling overboard. I have followed this since the early 1980s on many different styles of yacht.

 

[garvellachs]

If stanchions on boats above, say +25 LOA, cannot withstand being used as handhold they are not fit for purpose. For years I have instructed people who are comming on board via the guardrail gate (pontoon, dinghy or ladders in yard) to hold onto the top of the stanchions and none have bent as a result of this. I do understand that some stanchions on smaller boats may have weak mounts or be thin walled, however, stanchions machined from solid alloy (or thick walled) do not bend. On my own boat they are 1" OD and about 1mm wall thickness, they are not bent either despite years of my +13 stone hauling myself onboard holding onto the top of them. At the end of the day stanchions are safety items, the purpose of which is to prevent someone from falling overboard. I have followed this since the early 1980s on many different styles of yacht.

Well, pulling on a stanchion benefits from having the life-lines to support it which, if they are tight enough, may prevent damage; similarly, falling against a stanchion. But to push on one from outside the boat is to lever at the base mounting with a two foot lever and with no support from the wires. To move a boat away or fend it off like this is going to damage something often I reckon. Do you welcome people pushing your boat away using the top of the stanchions?

 

[doris]

If stanchions on boats above, say +25 LOA, cannot withstand being used as handhold they are not fit for purpose. For years I have instructed people who are comming on board via the guardrail gate (pontoon, dinghy or ladders in yard) to hold onto the top of the stanchions and none have bent as a result of this. I do understand that some stanchions on smaller boats may have weak mounts or be thin walled, however, stanchions machined from solid alloy (or thick walled) do not bend. On my own boat they are 1" OD and about 1mm wall thickness, they are not bent either despite years of my +13 stone hauling myself onboard holding onto the top of them. At the end of the day stanchions are safety items, the purpose of which is to prevent someone from falling overboard. I have followed this since the early 1980s on many different styles of yacht.

Bloody daft comment. Having assorted fat lumps, 13 stone or otherwise swinging on your guard rails/stanchions will eventually compromise the stanchion mounting and probably result in a toe rail leak. You are quite correct when you point out that guard rails are a safety feature. They are not ladders, trapezes, hoists or anything similar. Protect them properly and they will do the same for you.

Any content SS fabrication technician can fix bent stanchions for a ridiculously small fee. I have had some straightened several times. If anyone wants a contact in the Gosport area ask me.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

…… Do you welcome people pushing your boat away using the top of the stanchions?

I never willingly allow anyone to push my boat away if making an approach, I would rather an insurance claim than crushed fingers or hands. However, I have pushed off and walked my 10 tonne, Rival out her berth by hauling on the stanchions. I understand the point you make about the guard rail wires but the angle between the wire and the guard rail is not at such an angle to provide significant additional support when comparing loading the stanchion from inside or outside. I have also stood on a Sigma 41 guardwire either side of the stanchion while threading a 3rd reef. I managed a fleet of charter yachts for a few years and stanchions on a whole were never damaged except when the yacht was involved in a collision. I just do not accept that they are damaged by being used as a handhold in my experience. As I said, I do understand that there are weak stanchions and stanchion base mounts e.g. on some wooden yachts with bases screwed to the deck with wood screws. If an owner or skipper asked me not to use the stanchions as handholds, I would respect that, but I am comfortable moving about yachts in a variety of conditions.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

….. compromise the stanchion mounting and probably result in a toe rail leak. ……

Is this the same toe rails that have spinnaker guys/sheets pulling on them, that fasten through the deck to hull join and flex with strain of the rigging? I don't believe you know what you are talking about.

 

[doris]

Is this the same toe rails that have spinnaker guys/sheets pulling on them, that fasten through the deck to hull join and flex with strain of the rigging? I don't believe you know what you are talking about.

My spinnaker blocks are thou bolted and the strain taken from top of the bolt, pretty much the norm I would say. When you apply a three foot lever to something, such as a toe rail, not designed for it things change. If you cannot see that, I'll borrow your white stick when I get a bit reumy.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

My spinnaker blocks are thou bolted and the strain taken from top of the bolt, pretty much the norm I would say. When you apply a three foot lever to something, such as a toe rail, not designed for it things change. If you cannot see that, I'll borrow your white stick when I get a bit reumy.

doris, many yachts have blocks mounted on aluminium toe rails, take a look around a marina, it's not that uncommon. The moment about a stanchion base, applied by a man climbing onboard is probably no more than 45 degrees from the vertical and the load would be significantly less than the 13 stone. Nevertheless, if stanchions are being bent by man handling then they are not fit for purpose e.g. screwed int a cored deck on a GRP yacht. Back to the toe rail - I did have a yacht where an outward bent stanchion buckled the upright of the toe rail. Inspection later showed that the toe rail flange on the deck was slightly raised at the stanchion base. The stanchion got caught under a horizontal member of a wooden pier and was bent outwards. I doubt a human could have bent the stanchion using their weight alone. Perhaps I am too focused on thick aluminium stanchions where the base is part of the toe rail. Then again, my own Rival has the triangular base mounted on a GRP pad, directly to the deck; the bases are not loose and leaking at the gate. Anyway, I am sure that there are plenty examples of people damaging stanchions by climbing aboard but its not something I am familiar with. Levers, I am.