Material selection.

[Triton 185]

This post is, in my mind, completely esoteric......what I mean is - it is a question that is perhaps based on ones preference.

I am going to replace my Tritons cleats and chocks, but I have been going in circles with whether they should be polished bronze, stainless, or chromed bronze.

What do most people do with restoring/re-building a classic sailboat? It?s kinda like splitting hairs for me, but when it comes to deciding.....idontknow!!

Therefore, this post is open to all thoughts.

Thanks,

Stephen

[Tim]

This is really a matter of personal choice.

However:

1. Polished bronze will not remain polished bronze in all likelihood. It will weather and turn colors unless polishing the metal daily is one of your "Zen" things. Therefore, you can also consider plain cast (unpolished) bronze, which has a rougher initial finish.

2. Stainless and chromed bronze look pretty much the same to the uninitiated. The chromed bronze castings are often heavier and more sturdy than some stainless pieces, but I wouldn't see any problem mixing and matching stainless and chromed bronze in the same area, since the look is so similar. Often, certain items seem to be more readily available in one material or another, which may aid in your decisions.

If you're not replacing everything on the boat, then I'd try and stick with the same material for the new pieces so that the overall scheme is homogeneous. Personally, I like bronze castings when I can get them, but highly polished, chromed pieces (or stainless) can be a nice look as well.

[Rachel]

I love bronze, so that's what I would always choose.

One thing to consider is that if you're ever planning to go to the tropics (or perhaps even someplace like Florida or Texas), you'll end up doing a lot of polishing to keep stainless looking good (and when it rusts you'll get streaky stains), whereas bronze will just get its lovely green patina and live happily in harmony with nature. (As Tim mentions, if you're going for "bright" bronze it's another matter.)

That's biased, but you were looking for opinions.

Rachel

[Tim]

That's a good point that Rachel made. Most SS hardware is 304 series (18-8) and tends to get little rust spots. They're easy to polish off, but still...

Chrome plated bronze does not have this issue. Use 316SS fasteners and the rust bleeding ought not to be a problem.

(I'd say use bronze fasteners, but they wouldn't match the chrome plating. For plain bronze hardware, use bronze fasteners.)

[Ceasar Choppy]

Chrome plated bronze does not have this issue.

At least not until the chrome comes off, and then it just looks ugly. :)

What Tim says about the materials though I think is right on. Pick one and stick with it for everything

I've gone all 316 on my boat, mainly because of how I'm trying to "tart it up," but I have to say that not all 316 is created equal and some of the 316 hardware I've gotten rusts-- usually the cheap Chinese stuff from my experience-- which is getting harder and harder to avoid.