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Sliding hatch cover

Sandra F

By Sandra F
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Sandra F Contributor

Sandra F

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Our recently acquired boat, a Liverpool Boat, has what I assume is a perfectly standard sliding steel hatch, which scrapes on top of steel channels. Which are exposed to the weather, and, of course, when scraped, the paint is removed, and it rusts in full view - there has to be a better way by providing a non-rusting running strip.

 

Who has done what, please ?

 

Barry F

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OldGoldy Rising Star

OldGoldy

Posted
Posted
Our recently acquired boat, a Liverpool Boat, has what I assume is a perfectly standard sliding steel hatch, which scrapes on top of steel channels. Which are exposed to the weather, and, of course, when scraped, the paint is removed, and it rusts in full view - there has to be a better way by providing a non-rusting running strip.

 

Who has done what, please ?

 

Barry F

 

Brass?

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David Schweizer Veteran II

David Schweizer

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Posted (edited)
I've never seen them made of anything else. Certainly never painted steel!

 

Gibbo

The slide runners on our boat were indeed painted steel when we bought it, and the 4ft slide was very difficult to move when everything was wet. One of the first jobs I did was to screw brass strips onto the painted steel and build a new slide with Rosewood blocks fitted to the underside. The immediate improvement in operation was very noticeable.

Edited by David Schweizer
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furnessvale Influencer

furnessvale

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I've never seen them made of anything else. Certainly never painted steel!

 

Gibbo

 

The restaurant boat I steer has strips of plastic, or possibly PTFE which are nice and slidey. Unfortunately in very hot weather the differential expansion makes them buckle like a ploughed field!

 

George ex nb Alton retired

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

Posted
Posted
Our recently acquired boat, a Liverpool Boat, has what I assume is a perfectly standard sliding steel hatch, which scrapes on top of steel channels. Which are exposed to the weather, and, of course, when scraped, the paint is removed, and it rusts in full view - there has to be a better way by providing a non-rusting running strip.

 

Who has done what, please ?

 

Barry F

 

The sliding hatch on my Liverpool Boat runs on brass strips. They should be fairly easy to fit. Just make sure you're buying solid brass strip, not plated.

Once you've got rid of the rust and primed the surface, you can get away with just bedding the strips down with Marineflex. Just key the underside of the brass with some abrasive paper and degrease with a cloth dampened with white spirit. Once the Marineflex has gone off you won't move the strips so you don't need countersunk brass screws and you can save yourself some work there.

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Smelly Veteran

Smelly

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I've been trying to find the PTFE ones for a while to no avail. A friend with a Barry Hawkins boat had them and I was impressed, however by the time i asked Barry had gone out of business so there was no asking. The PTFE ones are very smooth, even compared to brass and they'll have my vote if i can find them...

 

I looked at the brass runners at MC in Braunston last week but they seemed a tad expensive. For 47 quid I'd at least expect them to be drilled and countersunk (and they were about half again as long as I needed).

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Timleech Veteran II

Timleech

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Tufnol is good. It stays straight, unlike HDPE which is often used. It's much more expensive though, and will absorb some moisture and therefore swell a little so 'engineering' clearances might be a bit too tight.

Having said that, I have used HDPE (polyethylene) successfully in the past.

Brass is OK, but it will encourage corrosion of the steel.

 

Tim

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blackrose Veteran II

blackrose

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Posted (edited)
Tufnol is good. It stays straight, unlike HDPE which is often used. It's much more expensive though, and will absorb some moisture and therefore swell a little so 'engineering' clearances might be a bit too tight.

Having said that, I have used HDPE (polyethylene) successfully in the past.

Brass is OK, but it will encourage corrosion of the steel.

 

Tim

 

If it were underwater perhaps.

 

I've found that the the avoidance of dissimilar metals in contact above the waterline is really worrying too much. The steel beneath my runners is in the same condition as when the boat was new 4 years ago and it's been exposed to the weather all that time. Have a look at most boats and you can see loads of examples of disimilar metals in proximity: aluminium windows, brass skin-fittings, etc, etc. In any case, if you bed the brass strips (or other fittings) with Marineflex then they're not really in contact.

Edited by blackrose
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Chris Lingwood Collaborator

Chris Lingwood

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I've been meaning to sort out my runners for ages. I've got little nylon wheels though because I've got MASSIVE hatches. They stick sometimes though and take the paint off underneath them.

 

These people have more different types of plastics than I've ever heard of. So many I've not actually managed to buy any yet!

http://www.directplasticsonline.co.uk/

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Sandra F Contributor

Sandra F

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I've been meaning to sort out my runners for ages. I've got little nylon wheels though because I've got MASSIVE hatches. They stick sometimes though and take the paint off underneath them.

 

These people have more different types of plastics than I've ever heard of. So many I've not actually managed to buy any yet!

http://www.directplasticsonline.co.uk/

 

Thanks Chris (and everybody for their suggestions). The Direct Plastics Online people offer PTFE, Tufnol and HDPE, all of which seem to work as well as brass or stainless steel, but appear to be cheaper.

 

I'm thinking of going for the Tufnol, partly because it had already been recommended to me by a retired boat builder (but I couldn't find on Google because he spelt it incorrectly for me, but I do have loads of useless information on Phil Tufnell, the cricketer if wanted!), and partly because their blurb says "Whale Tufnol Sheet is perfect for wear resistant componants such as bearings, bushes, gears, washers, slideways and above waterline marine use.Tufnol Whale Sheet is dimensionally very stable, and can be either run dry or lubricated with water, oils or grease".

 

I reckon enough 3mm (quessing that thickness) + cutting charges + postage will be about £20; PTFE maybe £40, and HDPE about £15.

 

Hopefully all the information provided is of use to others.

 

Barry F

Edited by Sandra F
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DHutch Veteran II

DHutchDonate to Canal World

Posted
Posted
The sliding hatch on my Liverpool Boat runs on brass strips. They should be fairly easy to fit. Just make sure you're buying solid brass strip, not plated.

Once you've got rid of the rust and primed the surface, you can get away with just bedding the strips down with Marineflex. Just key the underside of the brass with some abrasive paper and degrease with a cloth dampened with white spirit. Once the Marineflex has gone off you won't move the strips so you don't need countersunk brass screws and you can save yourself some work there.

Sounds good to me.

- If the hatch is a large one and heavy i would consider having it remade of aluminum as i know a few who have.

- Eather way, i would say brass with wood blocks is best. Although currently out front hatch is brass to unpainted steel.

 

 

Daniel

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Batavia Proficient

BataviaDonate to Canal World

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I have used this stuff for many years, attached to the underside of the hatch lining using double-sided tape, and running on brass strips on one boat and stainless steel ones on another - it is a cheap and durable material - you can get enough for 2 hatches out of one 100 mm wide piece!

http://www.axminster.co.uk/product-Axminst...erial-21305.htm

 

A friend has also used the self-adhesive version with great success.

 

Chris G

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