Scott,
Thanks for the reply and the info. Quite interesting. My 23 has 3/16ths
wire on the upper shrouds and forestay. The lowers and the backstay are
5/32 but I am upgrading them to 3/16ths as well. I might take another look
at the Hi Mod fittings also.
Jeff
1982 M-23 'Clarity'
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Saturday, February 16, 2008 8:37 AM
Subject: Re: M_Boats: wire rope for rigging
In a message dated 2/15/08 12:55:56 PM,
[EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
Message: 6
Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 09:37:13 -0800
From: "Chris and Jeff Packer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: M_Boats: wire rope for rigging
To: <[email protected]>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Any thoughts about the quality of US manufactured SS 1x19 wire rope vs
Korean manufactured wire rope. All I know is that there is a big
difference in
price. I can buy 3/16" SS 304 1x19 Loos wire rope from West Marine for
about
$2.00 per foot, or the same wire rope manufactured in Korea at Fisheries
Supply in Seattle for about $.70 per foot. Big difference in price!
Looking to
buy for new standing rigging for my M-23.
Any riggers out there with experience and recommendations?
Jeff
Jeff,
The message below is a post I sent to the Flicka list regarding a similar
query. I think you will be surprised to learn that the Korean wire is
generally
thought to be superior. I thought I would include the entire post as there
is also the consideration of type 316 vs. 304. As far as I know, the
information herein is still correct.
Scott G.
1991 M15 'bebe'
1990 Pacific Seacraft Flicka
Jamie,
Your assertion that 316 wire is a little weaker than 304 is perhaps only
partially correct.
While the general trend is certainly true between 316 and 304 materials of
similar quality,
there are some pronounced variances between manufacturers that complicate
this.
West Marine, in their 2006 catalog publishes breaking strength values for
the
Loos brand
(domestic) wire they sell as follows:
3/16" type 302/304: 4700 lb.
3/16" type 316: 4000 lb.
From this, you would assume a general strength penalty of something like
15%.
If you look at the wire that Rigging Only (www.riggingonly.com) sells, the
plot
thickens.
They sell a 3/16" type 316 wire with a "lowest published breaking strength"
of
4316 lb. I
called Rigging Only for further explanation, and was told that each spool of
their wire
comes with full testing results and Mil. Spec. data for that specific spool.
Indeed, most
spools come in substantially higher than the 4316 lb. number.
In the same' boat' as you, I am trying to ascertain whether to go up to
7/32"
wire for some
or all of my new standing rigging if I use type 316. It would help to know
that
specification of the original wire, but that does not seem readily
available.
To this end, I
also queried several other prominent rigging lofts about their wire, and
whether
I needed
to go with a size up. I learned a couple of interesting things:
1) All of the lofts I spoke with (you would likely know some of the names)
were
buying the
same kind of wire, and it was *not* from the good old US of A. Indeed, every
single loft
said the same thing--that the best wire was coming out of Korea. All said
that
the quality
of this wire was amazing--the polish, lack of flaws, and the individual
testing
of each
spool put domestic wire to shame. Most of these riggers complained of the
truly
abysmal
quality of the domestic wire in recent years, and have stopped selling it
completely. I can
neither corroborate or deny their claims, but I fully intend to use the
Korean
wire when I
re-rig this year.
2) Several of the riggers suggested that blanket statements as to strength
requirements
are generally bogus, and that each rig (boat type/layout) should be
evaluated
on
a case-
by-case basis (including intended use and cruising area). One prominent
rigger
suggested
that some stays could be smaller than others if I really wanted to save
weight
aloft.
At present, I am considering either all Korean 3/16" type 316 of high
strength
rating, or
possibly 7/32" in some or all locations. The argument for having all of the
same size is
that I would like to carry extra wire and mechanical fittings while
cruising,
and it would be
nice to limit the sizes needed to one.
Bert Felton recently did his entire Flicka rig with the high quality 3/16"
type
316 Korean
wire, and the quality is outstanding. He used the Hayn Hi-Mod fittings, and
I
intend to do
the same, as I have had quite enough of swaged fittings. Norseman and
Sta-Lok
fittings
are great too, but once I did a Hi-Mod fitting, I was a full convert.
Anyway, check out the various numbers and see what your rigger thinks. I
would
frankly
trust a real good rigger more than the boat manufacturer anyway. I don't
think
Bruce
Bingham is readily available for questions, and I suspect he would refer you
to
a rigger
anyway.
Best,
Scott
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