Refurbish winch drum?

[Cory B]

Our boat has a set of old Barient 27 primaries (self-tailing, about 48x power). The mechanicals in them are fine, but the drum is just too smooth to really grab the line. It takes at least 4 wraps for the self-tailer to work properly in any real wind. Well, the problem with the 4 wraps is that overrides start getting pretty common. On our old boat we put on a pair of Andersen 40's, which were wonderful, but we just don't have the budget to buy new appropriate sized winches for this boat right now.

So, has anyone gone through the process of refurbishing their winch drums to give them more grip? Is this even doable?

Thanks,
Cory Bolton

 

[NateHanson]

Are they chromed or bronze?

If bronze you could perhaps get a shop to mask off the top and bottom and blast the waist with a hard media to give it some texture. Maybe you'd need to burnish it a bit afterwards to ensure there are no sharp edges.

I'm just thinking out loud though. Not really sure how this would be done.

If they're chromed it could probably still be done, but then you'd need to have them replated afterwards.

 

[Cory B]

Anodized

I think they are anodized aluminum (grey). I'm comfortable finding someone local (Portland, OR) to re-anodize them, they could use it anyway. I just don't know who to talk to, or where to start, or what words to use to find someone who could "roughen" up the surface.

Could it really be as simple as masking off the smooth parts, and just hitting it with a sand blaster or similar?

I have to admit, part of me just wants to find a decent aluminum welder and just attach vertical strakes like the Andersens have. That way there's nothing to really ever wear down again.

- Cory

 

[Guy Stevens]

Fair Leads

If four wraps are causing overrides I would look at the leads to the winches not the winches causing the overrides. The Barients are about 300x better than anything produced today as far as function and mechanicals are concerned. I have one that is worn smooth by a poorly spliced halyard, such that it has bare aluminum throughout the drum, still does fine on line gripping.

If they are indeed warn smooth, (Which I have seen) then you can have them bead blasted and reanodized. Anodizing will cost about $200 for the minimum charge for hard coat anodizing around here, and bead blasting less than a hundred for both wenches.

Guy

 

[JMS]

Winch refurbing

There was a long and quite detailed discussion on this very subject a few weeks ago on Sailing Anarchy.

http://www.sailinganarchy.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=41454&hl=knurling

 

[Cory B]

Sailing Anarchy Thread

JMS,
Thanks! There was a lot of good info in that thread, and I think I now know my options.
-Cory