Where to get aluminium plate in London...

Last edited:
Sorry for being unclear. I'm looking to get a roughly two foot sleeve made-up to strengthen a section of my boom, which I will epoxy/rivet into place.
Thanks for the help!
 
Surely it will cost you a fortune to get a commercial metal worker to fabricate one (regardless of size)?

It is very hard to reply to your post as you haven't given any details. What size is your boom, do you have a photo?
If the yacht is 20ft you'd have a chance of fabricating a sleeve but on the other hand if your yacht is 40ft you'd have yours, mine and Buckley's chance of fabricating one.

If the yacht is small cant you make up a timber former (or pattern) and work it around that using a bench vice
 
If you know who made the boom and the manufacturer still exists they may sell exactly what you want. It might be that the next size up of boom will fit, slide, exactly over your, smaller boom - you then simply need whatever length - and rivet the 2 together. Or you find a damaged boom cut a length out, slit the section so that you can open it out and slide on. Its a common technique for masts.

Jonathan
 
Not in London but not that far down the A2, I used to use these guys to get steel plate laser cut - Aluminium Sheet- Parker Steel
Some Ali showing up but not sure what grade would be suitable, they're helpful on the phone
Send them an autocad drawing holes and all. They usually send a flatbed truck up to London so can deliver at not horrendous price from memory
 
Most masts are made from one of the six series aluminiums. These all begin with the number 6.

6061 is the most common, easy to obtain grade and this will be fine in your application even if the mast is slightly different grade such as 6063. The five series would also be fine, but this is harder to find. The five series aluminiums are actually significantly more corrosion resistant than the six series, but this grade of aluminium cannot be extruded, so is not used for mast construction.

Be careful with purchasing aluminium without knowing the grade. Aluminium has very different properties depending on composition and only a few types are sultable for marine use. Masts are not immersed in salt water, but do receive salt spray.

Finding an old bent boom and cutting out a suitable section would be good solution. This ensures the aluminium is a sutable grade and with a bit of ingenuity you should be able to bend a cut section to increase or decrease the radius to suit. Aluminium does not glue well unless you use very specilised glues and preparation techniques, so try and use mainly machanical fastenings rather than relying on expoxy for much strength.
 
Last edited:
GHA said:
Not in London but not that far down the A2, I used to use these guys to get steel plate laser cut - Aluminium Sheet- Parker Steel
Some Ali showing up but not sure what grade would be suitable, they're helpful on the phone
Send them an autocad drawing holes and all. They usually send a flatbed truck up to London so can deliver at not horrendous price from memory
Click to expand...
We too have found Parker Steel to be unbelievably helpful and inexpensive, fabricating a new round plate for our BBQ but in that instance we were able to give them the old plate as a pattern. Who ever you use I think you need to create a pattern.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top