stainless steel hardware for boats
Even though summer time is almost over, today we talk about stainless steel components and marine hardware for boats.
Even for the most luxurious, like yachts or super-yachts.
Why using stainless steel?
Stainless steel is widely used for the manufacture of boating parts and hardware. Starting from the production of boarding ladders, gangway and platforms, passing to handrail and bimini fittings ending with carabiners. The EN 1.4401 is the most common stainless steel for these components, it is also known as AISI 316/A4. Molybdenum is added to this type of material. This allows an additional corrosion resistance. For this reason it can also be used in environments with high humidity and salinity. So, it can be used in shipbuilding and manufacturing of marine hardware for boats.
What are the most used marine hardware for boats?
Let’s start with chains, always in stainless steel AISI 316. From the “calibrated” ones which are ideal for windlass, to those “genovese” type (also in AISI 304/A2). In addition to chains, the stainless steel D-shackles are often used. For example, the “flush pin D-shackles Allen key pins” are widely used to get the anchor into bow roller without jamming. There are also other types of D-shackels which can be used, such as ” bow shackles“. Also stainless steel chain emergency-link are used on boats, in particular for the chain joints or calibrated chains.
That’s not all! Here are some other accessory.
After talk about chains, D-shackles and chain emergency-links moving to the stainless steel swivels. Even here there is different types for the various possible applications. The most common are the swivels “eye/eye”, “eye/jaw” and “jaw/jaw”. The latter swives, for example, are suitable for buoys, halyards and anchor chains. Instead, mooring shock absorbers (often also in AISI 304) are fundamental for their own shock-absorbing capabilities during the mooring. Other necessary marine hardware for boats are stainless steel wire ropes. There are different types of wire ropes, such as:
- 19 wires
- 49 wires
- 133 wires.
It also used the white PVC coated stainless steel wire ropes. The wire rope 49 wires, for example, is ideal for the realisation of rails and handrails.
The stainless steel marine hardware for boats are not all here. Stay tuned! In the next post we’ll find out more.
Relevant questions
Is 304 stainless OK for boats?
304 grade stainless steel is more susceptible to corrosion than marine grade steel due to its lack of molybdenum. Marine grade stainless steel is also more resistant to solutions that contain sulfuric acids, fatty acids, and bromides at high temperatures, frequently finding use in chemical processing applications.