Stainless vs. bronze slider for external main track.

I have an old external track on our Cal 2-30 and I am looking at replacing the old ones that came with the boat (I believe they are bronze?), with the stainless steel ones that Bainbridge sells. In addition to the SS ones having a better gap for the external track to slide through, I would imagine they have less friction as well. Anyone have experience with these? Before anyone suggests: A: Clean and lube the external track (done that). B: Add a "Strong Track" sail track. I have looked at those and they are a bit of overkill for my purposes. I am almost there with how I want the mainsail & just getting a little less friction is my goal. Besides, a strong track will be in the $700 dollar range vs. $150 in new sliders. Thanks in advance - Dyer Honu, 1969 Cal 2-30 #87 SF Bay.

I think you are talking about using stainless steel slides on the sail. It is a little hard to tell from your description. Don't do it. When I bought my new sails, we were careful to strip the bronze slides off the old sails and use them on the new sails. Bronze is a nice low friction material and is used for bearings when ball bearings cannot carry the load. Go to your local Ace hardware and look at the bronze bushings they sell. While you are there, buy some Super Lube Dry lube. Allen On Wed, Aug 7, 2013 at 1:45 PM, Dylan Crouch <dy… [at] yahoo.com> wrote: > ** > > > I have an old external track on our Cal 2-30 and I am looking at replacing > the old ones that came with the boat (I believe they are bronze?), with > the stainless steel ones that Bainbridge sells. > > In addition to the SS ones having a better gap for the external track to > slide through, I would imagine they have less friction as well. > > Anyone have experience with these? > > Before anyone suggests: > A: Clean and lube the external track (done that). > B: Add a "Strong Track" sail track. I have looked at those and they are a > bit of overkill for my purposes. I am almost there with how I want the > mainsail & just getting a little less friction is my goal. Besides, a > strong track will be in the $700 dollar range vs. $150 in new sliders. > > Thanks in advance - > Dyer > Honu, 1969 Cal 2-30 #87 > SF Bay. > > > >

Hi Allen, Think your are not quite right about bronze as a bearing material. The bronse used for bearings is sintered, oil impregnated bronse. Tiny spheres of bronze are sintered into a solid, porus material and oil is then forced into the spaces. The coefficient of dry bronze and steel on cast iron are virtually identical (0.23 vs 0.22), on aluminum they are also nearly identical. Ted Cal 33 Celebration Newport, RI _____ From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Allen Edwards Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2013 10:45 AM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Stainless vs. bronze slider for external main track. I think you are talking about using stainless steel slides on the sail. It is a little hard to tell from your description. Don't do it. When I bought my new sails, we were careful to strip the bronze slides off the old sails and use them on the new sails. Bronze is a nice low friction material and is used for bearings when ball bearings cannot carry the load. Go to your local Ace hardware and look at the bronze bushings they sell. While you are there, buy some Super Lube Dry lube. Allen On Wed, Aug 7, 2013 at 1:45 PM, Dylan Crouch <dy… [at] yahoo.com> wrote: I have an old external track on our Cal 2-30 and I am looking at replacing the old ones that came with the boat (I believe they are bronze?), with the stainless steel ones that Bainbridge sells. In addition to the SS ones having a better gap for the external track to slide through, I would imagine they have less friction as well. Anyone have experience with these? Before anyone suggests: A: Clean and lube the external track (done that). B: Add a "Strong Track" sail track. I have looked at those and they are a bit of overkill for my purposes. I am almost there with how I want the mainsail & just getting a little less friction is my goal. Besides, a strong track will be in the $700 dollar range vs. $150 in new sliders. Thanks in advance - Dyer Honu, 1969 Cal 2-30 #87 SF Bay. _____ No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1432 / Virus Database: 3209/6059 - Release Date: 08/08/13

I had my old bronze slides moved to my new Pentex main on my Cal25. I felt it was an immediate improvement. No binding! As of late, I have noticed the sailmakers now use a Nylon slider instead of the stainless. I asked about the Bronze slider and I recall them being not available, or out of price range. George Macon To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com From: tw… [at] tacticaltech.com Date: Thu, 8 Aug 2013 11:55:58 -0400 Subject: RE: [Cal_Boats] Stainless vs. bronze slider for external main track. Hi Allen, Think your are not quite right about bronze as a bearing material. The bronse used for bearings is sintered, oil impregnated bronse. Tiny spheres of bronze are sintered into a solid, porus material and oil is then forced into the spaces. The coefficient of dry bronze and steel on cast iron are virtually identical (0.23 vs 0.22), on aluminum they are also nearly identical. Ted Cal 33 Celebration Newport, RI From: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com [mailto:Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Allen Edwards Sent: Thursday, August 08, 2013 10:45 AM To: Ca… [at] yahoogroups.com Subject: Re: [Cal_Boats] Stainless vs. bronze slider for external main track. I think you are talking about using stainless steel slides on the sail. It is a little hard to tell from your description. Don't do it. When I bought my new sails, we were careful to strip the bronze slides off the old sails and use them on the new sails. Bronze is a nice low friction material and is used for bearings when ball bearings cannot carry the load. Go to your local Ace hardware and look at the bronze bushings they sell. While you are there, buy some Super Lube Dry lube. Allen On Wed, Aug 7, 2013 at 1:45 PM, Dylan Crouch <dy… [at] yahoo.com> wrote: I have an old external track on our Cal 2-30 and I am looking at replacing the old ones that came with the boat (I believe they are bronze?), with the stainless steel ones that Bainbridge sells. In addition to the SS ones having a better gap for the external track to slide through, I would imagine they have less friction as well. Anyone have experience with these? Before anyone suggests: A: Clean and lube the external track (done that). B: Add a "Strong Track" sail track. I have looked at those and they are a bit of overkill for my purposes. I am almost there with how I want the mainsail & just getting a little less friction is my goal. Besides, a strong track will be in the $700 dollar range vs. $150 in new sliders. Thanks in advance - Dyer Honu, 1969 Cal 2-30 #87 SF Bay. No virus found in this message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 10.0.1432 / Virus Database: 3209/6059 - Release Date: 08/08/13