Bronze hardware

[TheThunderbird]

Bronze:die cast
SS: forging, stamping, easier machine tooling
That's the 'professor's, quick and shiny


I hate shiny things onboard, except smiles

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by TheThunderbird

Bronze:die cast
SS: forging, stamping, easier machine tooling
That's the 'professor's, quick and shiny


I hate shiny things onboard, except smiles

Hmm... most of the bronze bits that I have seen were sand cast, not die cast. And as a result, there is a fair amount of hand grinding to get decent surfaces.

And both s/s and bronze can be difficult to machine, depending on specific alloy and any work hardening that may have occurred.

Both have their place on my boat.

Jim

[shadow]

I had an old 1939 classic and I loved all the bronze on it.. I do miss it though!

[KJB]

My stanchions, railing, standing rigging, and soft dodger frame are SS. Ports, dorades, cleats, shaft, prop and most hardware is bronze.

I love bronze and think it looks very traditional. I also like that it does not corrode like SS can.

As far as I am concerned they both have a place, but both beauty tradition goes to bronze!

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by roverhi

As others have said, it's cost that has lead to the decline in availability of bronze hardware and the ascendancy of SS. I love my old bronze but can't find much in bronze hardware any more except second hand. Unless ultimate strength is needed bronze is a way better material for oat use than SS. No problems with crevice corrosion, work hardening, etc that plague 300 series SS.

... or galling, which is why it is still common in turnbuckles.

[transmitterdan]

Bronze sea cocks are becoming rarer which I think is a dangerous trend. There is no other good alloy for sea cocks in my opinion.

[a64pilot]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Bronze sea cocks are becoming rarer which I think is a dangerous trend. There is no other good alloy for sea cocks in my opinion.

Titanium should be a good substitute if you want metal, and I’d expect to see plastics to become more mainstream, possible reinforced plastic of some sort?
Most of us float around in plastic boats after all.

[Orion Jim]

Originally Posted by transmitterdan

Bronze sea cocks are becoming rarer which I think is a dangerous trend. There is no other good alloy for sea cocks in my opinion.

[thinwater]

Originally Posted by Orion Jim

Money is more pleasantly spent on navigation suites and fly bridges. For most sailors, and for that factory, that is the correct answer. Cars last 10 years, so why do we expect a boat to last 50 years?

PS. Like most of you, I've never bought, and will never buy, a new boat, so your and my opinions don't count a nut.

[thinwater]

And why couldn't reinforced plastic seacocks be awesome, if they would just beef up the shaft. I could say the same about some bronze valves.

[transmitterdan]

Glass reinforced nylon could be a good choice. I wish they were more beefy in some ways. But I guess then they might lose their price advantage if they were made equally as strong as the bronze units.

Shafts have gotten weaker even in bronze especially on ball valve type units. I broke a shaft at the handle on one of mine. But there was never any danger of a leak as a result.

[jsc7]

Bronze is superior material because it will not fracture and corrode as much as stainless steel. It is not as strong, but that is usually not important. In fact, the greater malleability of bronze is an advantage.

Bronze is getting removed from the supply chain because it is more expensive. This is due to the cost of tin and cost of labor to make the castings. It is much more expensive for suppliers to maintain two different materials, therefore, they want to standardize on just one material. That used to be bronze, but now they are switching to stainless.

Another reason is that the mirror finish on stainless is thought to be more attractive than plain bronze, a purely cosmetic reason.

[Jim Cate]

One must remember that there are many alloys of bronze and of stainless as well. Some bronze alloys are quite strong and quite corrosion resistant... others not so much. And the same is true of s/s. If one gets away from the ubiquitous 300 series and goes to the duplex or super duplex grades, they are way stronger than any bronze in use for marine castings and are quite good in terms of crevice and stress crack corrosion. Weldable, too, where most bronzes are not... a damn good choice for many marine applications. Oh... no need for Brasso and elbow grease to keep it looking good!

Jim