8.28.2011

Kick up rudders....at long last.


Stainless pivot tubes

Tubes glassed in place showing stainless steel removable pivot pin

trial fitting of the port side rudder box

installing the shear tubes 

filleting the tubes prior to glassing them in place

close up of stainless shear pin tubes.  I've used a couple of pieces of synthetic roofing material, some sheet foam and a little peel ply to help mold the epoxy/micro mixture in place. When cured, I'll remove the sheet material, rip off the peel ply and give it a final shaping before glassing the tubes in place. 

 When complete, cedar dowels will be inserted so that if the rudders should happen to strike something, the dowels will shear, allowing the rudder boxes to kick up instead of bending or breaking the rudder shaft. 

The finished rudder installation


1 comments:

Martin said...

Hi Allen

We have recently purchased a boat with kick-up rudders and I don't think the dowel has been done as well as yours as they keep coming out as have simply been drilled through the side of the last step with nothing to retain it. Just wondering how you keep the dowels locked in but still have so you can remove if beaching. Also, how did you know how thick to make the dowel to know the break will occur after max flotation pressure of the box but before structural rudder damage?

Cheers
Martin

PS - Looks like you have spent some time in Western Australia which is where we are from :-)