I am replacing the original stainless steel chain plates with ones made out of silicon bronze plate by Rockport Marine in Maine. I have been given an estimate of $1,875.00 for the six side chain plates as well as the two stern chain plates for the boomkin, if anyone else is interested in a set let me know or else contact Rockport Marine. They will be starting my set around mid February; they would prefer to do several sets at once if there is the interest. I decided that silicon bronze plate would give me the greatest strength and corrosion resistance combination. My SS chain plates are about 29 years old, I just don’t trust SS after that much time.
Jonathan Fulford BCC# 36 Dawn B.
Jonathan,
Did you check with Port Townsend Foundary for pricing? I was quoted under $900 for six chainplates, two boomkin tangs, and two bowsprit tangs, all out of silicon bronze. $1875 seems awfully high for what you are getting.
Cheers!
Aaron N.
Good point Aaron – does sound high – however, I know bronze is very expensive. I had Mystic Valley Foundry in Boston cast me a few thing this summer… great to work with and pretty cheap.
I bought chain plates from Todd at CGMW which were made by Port Townsend, for a fair bit less than that, as I remember about $600.
I priced out cast bronze from PT Foundry; they came in at $1,304.00 plus shipping this fall. They strongly encouraged me to go with manganese bronze for its greater strength, I don’t know the price that they would have charged for silicon bronze, and they felt that it would need to be a thicker casting. Based on my reading and talking to people around here I felt that rolled plate would be less brittle and avoid any chance of a casting flaw, I also wanted the extra corrosion resistance provided by the silicon bronze. I looked at McMaster Carr but the pieces they sold didn’t match out well, Rockport Marine has the plate in stock. PT Foundry has a good reputation but I decided to go this route instead. I just heard from Rockport Marine that they will start my chain plates next week, if anyone is also interested to piggy back on my order let me know. I will be keeping my old chain plates in my shop so if someone wanted to have them make a set later I’d be happy to loan my old ones to Rockport Marine to use as patterns again.
Hi All , just for your information , the Pardey’s used, Aluminum - Nickel cast bronze for their chainplates. They chose this well.
I did purchase Pete Langly’s (P T Foundry) Manganese cast, chainplates, for my BCC.
Pete is a great foundry man, because he and his family were sailors long before he changed occupations to being a foundry man.
He knows first hand what it is like to be at sea, under reefed sail during a storm, and how much we all depend on our gear and equipment to hold-up and not fail.
If I had to place the order for new bronze chainplates for a BCC again, I would specify Aluminum Nickel Bronze instead, too .
I would even go so far as, just to purchase Aluminum Nickel Bronze plate of the appropriate thickness, and cut out and bend the chainplates, to save the cost ,time and effort of casting them.
The question is how long do you want your chainplates to last, SS is usually good for 10 years, (as the surveyors, say) , the bronzes could last the lifetime of your boat.
Douglas