Fine-angle wedges, cylindrical partners

The partners on my boats have mostly been made from metal, steel or aluminium, and they have been cylindrical with a rod welded to it along the upper edge. This means that the wedges get a little dented, but after gently hammering them down after a few trips, they stay put.
On Ingeborg I made the wedges with very fine angles. The fine-adjustment of the mast rake (plumb) was actually done by shifting the mast step a bit back and forth. This let me make the partners with only 20mm clearance for the mast, and all wedges could be made next to identical.
At the mast step, the fit is so good that I have only added a couple of thin wedges there. This may not be good enough for offshore work, though, but the mast has at least been secured from jumping out of the step...

Arne

No, Paul, apparently conical partners are supposed to reduce wedge creep.  I confess, this was one of the attractions of a mast in a tabernacle - no leaks or creaks (although in fact the mast does still creak!).  On Fantail, I put a little PVA glue between the wedges as I drove them in and this seemed to work pretty well.  My wedges were very amateurish compared with yours, so this idea should work even better for you.  As far as I can tell, what happens is that one wedge works out and after that it all goes to pieces.  Gluing them together stops this from happening.  And you can put one of Arne's hose clamps onto a narrow strip of rubber, directly about the wedges to discourage them from trying to move up en masse.

Paul, could it be possible that your mast collar isn't stiff enough, and a little flexibility here allows the wedges to move ?

I have a Benford 34 with tapered metal unstayed masts, and partners that look similar to those on Paul Schnabel's vessel.  My masts were installed by a California boatyard - before I owned the boat - using Spartite, a two part epoxy-like substance that cures rock hard.  No creeping here!  However, the boatyard failed to use any release agent on the mast surface, and the boatyard that installed the masts gave up on removing them so I could have the boat trucked up to California.  I sailed her to Mexico instead.  I have a really good seal between mast and deck!  A boatbuilder friend told me that there is a release agent that the boatyard should have applied to the mast before pouring in the Spartite.  So, Paul Schnabel,  I would be very interested in what you use in lieu of wandering wedges and how well it works for you.

Paul Sommers, Etoile du Sud

No, I haven't. It was still quite waxy.

However, this last day of sailing really shifted the wedges considerably upwards again. I can tell from looking at the lower ends below deck. So, more wax would maybe reduce noise, but not movement of the wedges.