bertram31.com

Looking for some advice from some of the faithful.....yes, I know this is not a Bertam 31 question. (most of you guys know the unfortunate fate of mine....though it ended up in a new life as a "prom queen" now) Looking for the collective expertise on this site for a question on my new boat. Mounting a new swim platform that is massive compared to what I have. Modeled after this one I took a picture of. Does anyone have an idea what the spacer material might be between the mounting brackets and transom. Looks like a hard plastic, but not sure what it is. Thinking of Gtem, but I did not think you could get it in white. Any inputs welcome.

my guess is King Starboard.

Looks like Starboard to me

Starboard doesn't hold paint. Neither does Delrin or any of the acetal plastics.

You CAN paint polyethylene, polystyrene, and ABS (with some prep work). So it may be one of those.

Thanks guys, appreciate the inputs.

BR
Giff

mike ohlstein wrote:Starboard doesn't hold paint. Neither does Delrin or any of the acetal plastics.

You CAN paint polyethylene, polystyrene, and ABS (with some prep work). So it may be one of those.

I thought Starboard was HDPE

It is. That's why it comes in 8 different colors. You can paint some of the less dense PE plastics, provided you scuff it up pretty well (and sometimes heat or chemically soften) and use a paint that is very tough but also flexible. Sometimes you can dye HDPE, but you pretty much have to immerse it in boiling water with RIT or something in it. But HDPE is so dense that paint can't hold on to it. At least not for long. You can usually just rub it off with your fingers. And the Acetal plastics are even worse. They're basically self lubricating, they're so slippery. If you've seen my gin pole, you've seen the movable step. It sits on an 1/4" slice of Delrin, and in 13 years has never bound up.

I didn't know about the finishing of the plastics, I usually just machine and ship the stuff.

Delrin/Acetal is slick, but definitely not self lubricating trying spinning with a load.
Good for your application or to bush a worn rudder port...and as far as machining, by far one of the best.