What is a suitable clear finish for wooden masts when mast hoops are used. The mast is solid spruce, 6 inch diam by 30 ft.
What is a suitable clear finish for wooden masts when mast hoops are used. The mast is solid spruce, 6 inch diam by 30 ft.
Retro Member #1235
Consolation's masts were varnished and we never had a problem that I can recollect.
Senior Member
Alberta's mast is finished with Sikkens Cetol 7 on top of gallons of raw linseed + cuprinol preservative mixture. The Cetol is soft but easy to re-coat.
Other smack masts are just linseed oil and soon go black [not a problem], others are varnished [a tough finish if left for 2 months to harden before using].
The mast hoops don't normally rub hard on the mast as long as the luff of the main is tight and the gometry of the gaff jaws is correct. The top hoop seems to be the one to take most force.
Several smacks have leathered the mast in way of the boom jaws which stops a lot of mast damage - seems to work better than leathering just the boom jaws.
If your mast is a 'tree' and not made up of seperate staves glued up, then you will get cracking between wet/dry seasons. So any mast finish needs to cope with that which is why linseed is popular.
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