1) These pintles are not deck hardware that is polished to present a beautiful shine to guests onboard. Someone wearing a welding visor that they can’t see out of fabricates these pintles on a metal bench. Welding spatter makes it very difficult to make the weld of the pintles to the brackets look clean. Every set of pintles will have scratches and imperfections that, due to its nature and the fact this will only be used when raising and lowering the mast, and sometimes while trailering, cosmetic scratches, dings and abrasions are not considered defects.

2) The pinch bolts are stainless steel. The threads must be lubricated with turnbuckle lubricant or similar. As with any stainless steel thread, failure to lubricate the threads before first use and periodically thereafter may result in galling and seizing. See "May we also suggest" below for an example of a suitable lubricant we offer. Once the thread seizes, further torque applied to the hex head will cause the bolt to shear off. Replacement of the pintles because of a seized or sheared-off bolt is not covered under warranty.