So I’m finally taking the plunge and having my mast pulled during my next haul-out. I want to repaint the mast and rerun the wires for the masthead light and the VHF and will probably add some masthead wind instruments (still not cheaper than a new set of foulies, but I was amazed at how much the price to value ratio has improved in the last decade [built-in GPS and multi-function displays for the win]).
I also want to service the bearings that allow the mast to rotate. I’ve already obtained the conical bearing and race for the base of the mast. I just need to obtain the material for the upper bearing. I did a dive on the available archives here and have seen a few different thicknesses called out for the Teflon 2" strip that fits into the groove of the mast support tube.
hxschiller has recommended 1/10" and about 1/8" thickness in the past, while peaceandfreedom stated “not more than 1/16 inch thick” and called out McMaster-Carr 8711K13 a chemically etched Teflon with a bondable surface.
In the old forum it was suggested that the natural spring of bending a properly scarfed flat strip into a circle would keep the Teflon strip in the built in groove.
So two questions to anyone who has replace the Teflon strip upper mast bearing: What thickness did you use? Did you need to use an adhesive/bonding-agent when installing the Teflon strip.
Thanks
Side note: copy/paste is disabled when creating a post. I guess it’s an anti-spam measure, but it makes posting links a pain, so I didn’t include any.