Aluminum Mast Ripples
 

Ahoy , upon close inspection of my aluminum Forespar tapered mast, I noticed distinct ripples on the surface, above the upper spreader bases, and going up each side of the mast. These ripples were on the welded line of the mast taper.
Could these ripples be puckering from the welding heat, and are they a common occurence to be expected ?

Almost certainly fine
 

Hello,
We just took out an Isomat mast today, and they didn't even try to hide those "ripples", which are the welds themselves. Forespar, on the other hand, welds as smooth as they can, grinds and fills even smoother, and then has to endure people saying, hey, what are these ripples, while you could use Isomat's welds as a washboard and nobody says a word.
On the other hand, if the mast itself is rippled, something else is happening. Got any pictures?
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

Mast Ripples Revisited
 

Ahoy All, T Y , Brian for your reply. Yes, I have photos of the ripples on Calliste's damaged mast, and photos of another new mast with the tapered area welded with ripples on it too. I don't know how to post these photos on the forum, so will send them to you by email attachment.
My many tries to get a replacement mast failed for one reason or another, especially shipped to Singapore. My wife found an aluminum extruder locally, who will extrude a new mast for my boat, but I haven't found an anodizer who has a tank long enough to anodize it, drats.
Douglas , S/V Calliste

An option
 

Hi again,
What is the maximum length that you can anodize over there? It might be worth making the mast in two sections, and sleeving it. Pretty straightforward, actually.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss

Word from Forespar
 

Hi again,
Bill Hanna, our go-to guy at Forespar, had this to say about your ripples:

I had a look at the photo images. They show typical heat distortion from welding the tapers. Spar builders use a variety of techniques to minimize this, and some don't bother at all. It is not a structural problem, but a cosmetic one. They do not indicate too much heat, but rather*not having two perfectly matched edges to weld. If there is any variation in the joint before it is welded, this will be the result to a greater or lesser extent depending how imperfect the joint is.

Hope that helps.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss