Brass 'sliders'

[frahkn]

My back hatch moves on brass sliders. These have become buckled by rust on the steel below.

 

I don't particularly want to remove, straighten and replace them after treating the rust.

 

Some years ago there was a topic on here about replacing the brass with polymer sliders (or some such) but I can't find it now.

 

What are peoples thoughts about replacement sliders, their sourcing, advantages, disadvantages etc?

 

 

[pearley]

HDPE. I found a company online who would cut a small sheet into strips. Then drilled and countersunk with holes tapped into the steel underneath with some Sticks Like S*** for good measure.

[MtB]

What's the weird-looking stick for??!!

 

 

[max's son]

3 minutes ago, MtB said:

What's the weird-looking stick for??!!

 

 

A good measure

[ditchcrawler]

40 minutes ago, pearley said:

HDPE. I found a company online who would cut a small sheet into strips. Then drilled and countersunk with holes tapped into the steel underneath with some Sticks Like S*** for good measure.

I have that on the underside of the hatch that runs on the brass

[IanD]

15 minutes ago, ditchcrawler said:

I have that on the underside of the hatch that runs on the brass

Me too, except the fixed slide is stainless steel not brass...

 

[BilgePump]

Tufnol is a resin composite thing and seems to work well. Low friction, long lasting. Seems to have an indefinite lifespan as a bonus. Have washboards and pulley blocks made out of it and they're 40 odd years old.

[pearley]

19 minutes ago, IanD said:

Me too, except the fixed slide is stainless steel not brass...

 

Mine were stainless steel runners with steel hatch. Changed the runners with the HDPE and had a new hatch made from aluminium. Now opens with one finger.

[Hudds Lad]

1 hour ago, MtB said:

What's the weird-looking stick for??!!

 

 

One of those batons they like to twirl down London way?

[IanD]

1 hour ago, BilgePump said:

Tufnol is a resin composite thing and seems to work well. Low friction, long lasting. Seems to have an indefinite lifespan as a bonus. Have washboards and pulley blocks made out of it and they're 40 odd years old.

Tufnol isn't as slippery as HDPE, which in turn isn't as slippery as PTFE -- but which is a lot more expensive and a bit of a pig to work with...

 

(I think mine are HDPE but I suppose they could be white PTFE)

Edited April 26 by IanD

[ditchcrawler]

25 minutes ago, IanD said:

 (I think mine are HDPE but I suppose they could be white PTFE)

I was told mine was PTFE, we had a lump left over at work and I thought that will be handy one day and it was.

[pearley]

1 hour ago, Hudds Lad said:

One of those batons they like to twirl down London way?

 

2 hours ago, max's son said:

A good measure

 

[Jen-in-Wellies]

I did it the other way round. Kept the brass runners and replaced the brass sliders on the hatch with HDPE versions. No help for the OP, but it is an option. A friend had access to a machine shop at the time and copied the brass ones using HDPE rod. HDPE has almost as good friction characteristics and is safer to machine than PTFE, while being cheaper to buy.

[philjw]

I had some form of plastic runners on a previous boat and although they  were slippery the buckled badly in warm weather.

[IanD]

5 minutes ago, philjw said:

I had some form of plastic runners on a previous boat and although they  were slippery the buckled badly in warm weather.

That may be why on mine the long fixed sliders on the roof are stainless steel, and the plastic ones are strips under the hatch where they can't move or buckle because they're confined...

[frahkn]

First, thanks for all the help.

A follow-up question - I have only the brass runners, the steel hatch slides directly on the brass. Would I be better to fit (say) HDPE to both surfaces? Does anyone know of a source of HDPE strips?

[GUMPY]

15 minutes ago, frahkn said:

Does anyone know of a source of HDPE strips

eBay

 

[BEngo]

Steel  on HDPE or PTFE ( or vice versa) will slide fine.  Given that your steel is rusty , and this probably pitted steel sliding on HDPE fixed over the pits is probably easiest.

 

N

[IanD]

4 hours ago, frahkn said:

First, thanks for all the help.

A follow-up question - I have only the brass runners, the steel hatch slides directly on the brass. Would I be better to fit (say) HDPE to both surfaces? Does anyone know of a source of HDPE strips?

Fix the HDPE under the hatch to cover the steel (like the photo I showed), a thin strip will be fine, and you could use a suitable glue rather than screws. This will have less friction and means the HDPE is hidden away so less subject to damage. Don't use HDPE on both surfaces, on a sliding surface you want one side to be hard and one soft.

Edited April 27 by IanD

[koukouvagia]

As a purely temporary measure I stuck some of these furniture glide strips to the underside of my slide.  Six years on they still work perfectly.  The simplest solution is often the best.

 

 MUNSKT 20 Pieces Self-Adhesive Furniture Glides Teflon Rectangle circular Self-Adhesive Furniture Slides PTFE Self Adhesive Furniture Moving Slider for Carpet Hard Floor Wood Floors Furniture

 (Amazon)

 

Edited April 27 by koukouvagia

[MtB]

10 minutes ago, koukouvagia said:

As a purely temporary measure I stuck some of these furniture glide strips to the underside of my slide.  Six years on they still work perfectly.  The simplest solution is often the best.

 

 MUNSKT 20 Pieces Self-Adhesive Furniture Glides Teflon Rectangle circular Self-Adhesive Furniture Slides PTFE Self Adhesive Furniture Moving Slider for Carpet Hard Floor Wood Floors Furniture

 (Amazon)

 

 

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/MUNSKT-Self-Adhesive-Furniture-Rectangle-circular/dp/B0CMHB5RDG/ref=sr_1_2?

 

Edited April 27 by MtB
Truncate the stupidly long URL

[IanD]

These are a better size for a hatch -- 8 self-adhesive 100mm x 25mm PTFE sliders for a tenner...

 

https://www.amazon.co.uk/METALLIXITY-Furniture-Rectangle-Self-adhesive-Protector/dp/B0BB6X66KZ/

[David Mack]

The ones in MtB's link seem rather confused about their sizes: