Sta-Lok disassemble?

[JPA Cate]

@mikebikeboy,

If you run into a problem getting the foil apart, we have a friend who had that problem, and solved it by hiring a friendly rigger to come do it for him. A rigger with experience with Harken foils could save you a lot of work and frustration.

Ann

[mikebikeboy]

Jim, if the top forestay terminal is swaged, is there a reason why I must get swaged with the new wire? I was thinking I could save a few shekels by making the top a sta-lok as well. For my rigging I think a sta-lok fitting is only about $40.

[Sailmonkey]

Originally Posted by mikebikeboy

Jim, if the top forestay terminal is swaged, is there a reason why I must get swaged with the new wire? I was thinking I could save a few shekels by making the top a sta-lok as well. For my rigging I think a sta-lok fitting is only about $40.

No need to keep the swage there. Sta-lock or similar mechanical fitting is perfect.

[mikebikeboy]

Sail Monkey,

Thanks for the info---this is great news because I am not wealthy.

[Nicholson58]

Mine were assembled with 3M 5200. You need to heat to about 450 F to break the bonds. I was able to neatly disassemble them and not damage even the cones.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by mikebikeboy

Jim, if the top forestay terminal is swaged, is there a reason why I must get swaged with the new wire? I was thinking I could save a few shekels by making the top a sta-lok as well. For my rigging I think a sta-lok fitting is only about $40.

MB, you certainly can use a Sta Lok there if you wish. However, you may well find that it is cheaper to have one swaged on... it's usually cheaper for a one time event. If you expect to keep the boat long enough to need to replace the wire again, that's when the economy of mechanical terminals comes into play. So, get a quite from whomever supplies the wire for you. Use of swages at the top of stays is less of a worry than at the bottom due to the smaller salt exposure up there, and having gravity drain any water away from the join.

Jim

[mikebikeboy]

I went up to the boat and cut off the sta-lok fitting, and was able to remove the wire from the foils. Also, the foils all disassembled easily by simply removing the screws, then they slid apart.

The upper end of the forestay is indeed a swage fitting.

I'm going to get the top swaged (cheaper) and reuse the sta-lok fitting, which following the directions to hammer out the center wires with a punch, worked very well and was not difficult.

New question regarding the foils---a couple of them are warped from sitting wiggly for a few years. Anyone have a method to straighten the aluminum foils without damaging them?

[mikebikeboy]

I'll end this thread here, since originally it was about the Sta-Lok. Thanks for everyone for helping out!

The directions to place the fitting into a vice, and hammer the center wires out using a punch, worked great. At first I used a small punch but that ended up going between the wires. Then I used a larger punch (you could use a small rod too) which covered more wires, and they all started sliding out without much banging at all.

[smacksman]

I had a demo in the Sta-Loc factory here in the UK. What stuck in my mind was how little force was needed tightening up the assembly. Just two spanners, hand held. The rigger said people often used much more force than was needed.

[CarinaPDX]

These are way too harsh solutions. Just cut the wire 1/4" above the fitting, loosen the fitting by about the same 1/4", then put in vise and squeeze the wire back into the fitting to loosen. This works even with 5200 or Sikaflex in the cone area.

Greg

[Icarus]

Originally Posted by mikebikeboy

I'm fixing up a furling jib and need to replace a few parts, and clean because the rigging was stored outside and there was a flood, so all the rigging is caked in mud.

I got the furler taken apart except now I'm stuck trying to take apart the sta-lok fitting. I've tried hammering the nut back off the wedge but it won't budge. Any ideas how to get these things apart without damaging it?

Help greatly appreciated! I already searched the internet for this and can't seem to find any instructions on how to take these apart!

A good vice and a good spanner should do the trick.

Usually the nut is secured with Lock-tight or a similar thread locking compound.
A bit of heat might help