Andre, When installing reefing hardware on my mast and boom I called Dwyer and asked the screws vs. rivets question (I was mainly concerned with the boom since it is made of thinner material). Dwyer said that either fastener would be plenty strong. I chose to uses #10-24 machine screws and loc-tite. Drilling and tapping for the screws is ridiculously easy (and kinda fun). Jim M-17 "Spirit" On Jun 3, 2010, at 8:18 AM, Andrei Caldararu wrote:
Hi fellow Monty sailors,
I need to attach two cam cleats on the mast of my M-17 for the halyards. It is an arrangement I had on a previous Compac 16 and I liked it a lot -- it consists of two integrated block+cam cleat attached to the mast, and to raise the sail you just pull on the halyard, no need to cleat it off, the cam holds it there.
In any case, my question is what do people use to attach stuff to the mast; I have heard of stainless steel screws+loctite+some compound (don't remember the name) to prevent corrosion; or aluminum rivets. Are the rivets holding up as well as the screws? They sound easier to put in than screws, no corrosion issues, etc., but I am worried about their holding strength.
A second question is related to the sheaves at the top of the mast. At the moment I have wire-to-rope halyards, but I am going to install new all-rope halyards. Do I need to replace the sheaves with ones with a more rounded groove? Where does one buy new ones if I do need to replace them?
Thanks for all opinions.
Andrei.
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