What is Boat Anchor?
A boat anchor is a device, normally made of cast 316 stainless steel, used to connect a ship or boat by a cable or chain and lowered to the seabed to hold the vessel in a particular place by means of a fluke or pointed projection that digs into the sea bottom.
Boat anchors are a must-have piece of equipment on all boats. Anchor setups do not have to be complicated or expensive but do have to be sized appropriately. The length of rope, length of chain, and size of anchor all must be taken into account for the anchor to properly hold the boat in place. Anchor retrieval methods and anchor storage locations are also important things to think about when buying a boat anchor.
There are several types of boat anchors, typically are bruce/claw anchor, CQR/plow anchor, delta/wing anchor, danforth/fluke anchor, etc. The selection of boat anchors mainly depend on the size of the boat, the bottom structure, and depth of water. A Bruce anchor, also called a claw anchor, is one of the most popular investment cast stainless steel anchors for fishing boats and recreational boats in CFS Foundry.
Manufacturing Process: 316 Stainless Steel Investment Casting
Stainless steel casting in CFS is the precision investment casting process that can creat bruce or claw boat anchors in different sizes. Stainles steel casting manufacturing process uses a disposable wax pattern for each cast bruce or claw anchor part. The wax is injected directly into a mold, removed, then coated with refractory material and a binding agent, usually in several stages to build up a thick shell. Multiple patterns are assembled onto common sprues. Once the shells have hardened, the patterns are inverted and heated in ovens to remove the wax. Molten metal is then poured into the remaining shells where it hardens into the shape of the wax patterns. The refractory shell is broken away to reveal the completed casting. Besides bruce/claw boat anchor, stainless steel investment casting can also be used to manufacture other marine parts and stainless steel parts for other industries.
The material to cast bruce or claw boat anchor is 316 stainless steel. Investment casting of 316 stainless steel can give the advantages as below:
- Good corrision resistance in sea water environment
- Superior surface finish
- Closer to finished part designs
- Tighter tolerances
- Affordable tooling cost
- Capable of different sizes
- Less casting defect
Surface Finish: Mirror Polishing
Same as most other marine boat parts, the bruce boat anchor is always mirror polished. Mirror polishing can help to achieve a shinning and very smooth surface finish like a mirror. As mirror polishing is a hand polished process, the surface finish cost is a bit higher than other methods, but the effect is the most ideal. In CFS Foundry, we can provide both stainless steel investment casting and mirror polishing services to deliver finished parts to our customers with a competitive price.
CFS Foundry can cast bruce/claw boat anchors in any dimensions, if you have any interest in our stainless steel investment casting process, pls contact us to discuss in detail!
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