Thanks Sam ! Yeah I was going to wait until I got everything in but the build has been going so well I just got excited to post were I am so far. In answer to your questions
Ive had problems with using certian types of aluminium when making supports for my race motorcycles, they were all casted then machined so there maleability was high. Now maybe the stuff you could get would be stronger but then I see problems with using them in the applications I used CF,
1. weight the railing an rod I used was billed as half the weight of alum. An its always been my approach to make things lighter is to make them faster!
2. Bonding the CF seem to bond more permantely to the fiberglass in the hull. With alumn. (in the past w/bikes) when enough force was used the bonding agent (resin/epoxy) would pull apart instead of transferring the stress onto the whole contact patch
3. Price (at least to me) it cost $8 US ( about 4 for you proper english gentelmen
) for 8' of rod/rail
I am by no means an expert as I constantly refer to the shared knowledge on this site but these have been my findings in years of fabrication in other industries. In regards to polishing I plan on polishing the strut, rudder, an any other hardware that will be exposed to the water then I will lightly sand the pieces to give just enough surface to allow the water to blend around than to slide over a perfectly polishe surface. I just ordered the hardware an should recieve next week so I'll have plenty more pictures. It helps that Im a professional photographer in the evenings to be able to post so many shots an trust me, Sam, I'll have PLENTY more.
AS ALWAYS I WELCOME AN THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR COMMENTS, INSIGHT, KNOWLEDGE AN QUESTIONS ANY OF YOU MIGHT HAVE!!!! HAPPY BOATING
-Wayne