Sandblasting centreplate prior to galvanising?

[Daniel]

I am getting the centreplate made up. I remember someone suggesting getting it sandblasted prior to galvanising. Is this worthwhile?

[Dudley Dix]

Blasting should not be necessary before galvanizing. The preparation process at the galvanizing plant includes acid baths etc that remove millscale and contaminants. You can read the process at https://galvanizeit.org/knowledgebase/article/surface-preparation-prior-to-galvanizing.

DD

[Bama5150]

I'm about to start sourcing steel for my centerplate.  

Did you  cut it yourself? wat kind of price can one expect? what length did you have to buy, etc?

[Daniel]

Dudley’s plans call for 25mm mild steel which is then galvanised. Ron from Stainless Boatworks, the Australian agent for Dudley Dix Designs, put me on to Total Steel in Western Australia. They gave a good quote for the steel and cutting to the shape on Dudley’s plans, including the holes. It was $600 Australian dollars including GST. Shaping the leading and trailing edge was a different matter. The cheapest quote was $1800 and that did not include rounding the edges and blending the shaped sections with the unshaped sections. So I decided that I would do this part of the job myself with a 9 inch angle grinder and then finish it off with a flap disk. Luckily I can do it at work because it is extremely noisy and takes ages. If you did it in a suburban back shed your neighbours would hate you forever. I still haven’t got quotes for galvanising. I will leave that until I have finished grinding.
Daniel