Aluminum Mast Ripples

[Brion Toss]

Hi again,
Bill Hanna, our go-to guy at Forespar, had this to say about your ripples:

I had a look at the photo images. They show typical heat distortion from welding the tapers. Spar builders use a variety of techniques to minimize this, and some don't bother at all. It is not a structural problem, but a cosmetic one. They do not indicate too much heat, but rather*not having two perfectly matched edges to weld. If there is any variation in the joint before it is welded, this will be the result to a greater or lesser extent depending how imperfect the joint is.

Hope that helps.
Fair leads,
Brion Toss