I have asked a few questions recently about replacing my rudder and tiller
on my Potter 15.
For the moment I have found a piece of oak where the grain has the same
curves as the old laminated/delaminated tiller. Used it today; worked fine
and looks good to me. If it doesn't warp I am all set; if it does, I will
try my hand at laminating.
I made a rudder cheek out of marine fir with spar varnish to replace the one
that has delaminated. It is just to get me through the season; over the
winter I will make something more permanent.

Is there anything inherently wrong with making a solid rudder, possibly
covered with fiberglass? I keep my boat moored in deep water and never sail
in shallow water. I have never actually had a reason to bent it, and don't
expect to. It seems to me that a solid rudder will be alot more durable
than anything that can be made that bends (except for the plastic/aluminum
ones they have now; but I can't make one of those...).

Am I overlooking something?

No,
Back when wood was what most boats were made from, rudders that were nao
a single piece were too be to be made from a single piece.
Matt Colie

Toller wrote:
I have asked a few questions recently about replacing my rudder and tiller
on my Potter 15.
For the moment I have found a piece of oak where the grain has the same
curves as the old laminated/delaminated tiller. Used it today; worked fine
and looks good to me. If it doesn't warp I am all set; if it does, I will
try my hand at laminating.
I made a rudder cheek out of marine fir with spar varnish to replace the one
that has delaminated. It is just to get me through the season; over the
winter I will make something more permanent.

Is there anything inherently wrong with making a solid rudder, possibly
covered with fiberglass? I keep my boat moored in deep water and never sail
in shallow water. I have never actually had a reason to bent it, and don't
expect to. It seems to me that a solid rudder will be alot more durable
than anything that can be made that bends (except for the plastic/aluminum
ones they have now; but I can't make one of those...).

Am I overlooking something?

Toller wrote:

Is there anything inherently wrong with making a solid rudder, possibly
covered with fiberglass?

Well, we are considering replacing the rudder on our ship, and will
certainly go for solid wood (no glass, no plastic). The ship is from 1897,
and as far as I know, most of the rudder is from around the same time.
There has been a few repairs over the years, of course, and it is about
time to replace it all, but anyway, it has stood the test of time. I expect
the new one will be good for at least the next 30 years...

-H

"Toller" wrote ...
SNIP
Is there anything inherently wrong with making a solid rudder, possibly
covered with fiberglass? . . .

Toller,
If we are talking about the two 'outside' pieces that hold the lower 'blade'
to the upper 'stock' . . . mine are made COMPLETELY of 'fiberglass'.

MY P19 is a 1989 'vintage'. While I have heard of 'aluminum' side plates,
I've never seen any, or know when they were 'current'. I have accidentally
'grounded' a few times, and had the rudder shoved upward, out of it's
gudgeons, a couple of times. Once I've even been shoved by a current
BACKWARD into a mud-bank and had the rudder blade jammed in and taking all
the force. I was 'pinned' in place and had to struggle to pull the entire
rudder out of the gudgeons to get free. With all these 'events' . . . the
'cheeks' look brand new.

They are only about 1/4 to 3/8 inch thick. Their strength is partially due
to the 'shape' molded in to them. A 'half-circle' ridge is molded in, about
a half-inch in from the edge. Each 'cheek' is approximately square, with
rounded corners. The edge is unfinished. The outer surface is heavily 'gel
coated', the inner is not.

If it were up to me, and I HAD to do it {because of extreme expense, or
non-availability}, I would duplicate this structure. Make a mould out of
wood {router and a round-nose bit should do nicely}. Slather it with wax as
a 'release agent', let dry, then buff. Now slather on a layer of 'gelcoat'
{available in half-pint cans - should be more then enough} and let cure. Now
simply build up your own 'fiberglass substrate'. For this I wouldn't use any
'roving' or 'mat'. Just layers & layers of 6 to 10 oz. cloth - well
impregnated with EPOXY and well squeezed together. Let the whole mess cure -
well. Pop it out of the mold, trim & file the edges, mark the holes {using
the original as a template}, and drill. For the sake of paranoia, give the
holes & raw edges a coating of epoxy and let cure.

And 'Bob's your Uncle' !!

IF you have the epoxy and cloth available, or can get it at a REASONABLE
price, the cost factor is low. It's mostly a case of TIME and PATIENCE.

Regards & Good Luck,
Ron Magen
Backyard Boatshop

On Sep 21, 2:13 pm, "Toller" wrote:

...

Is there anything inherently wrong with making a solid rudder, possibly
covered with fiberglass? I keep my boat moored in deep water and never sail
in shallow water. I have never actually had a reason to bent it, and don't
expect to. It seems to me that a solid rudder will be alot more durable
than anything that can be made that bends (except for the plastic/aluminum
ones they have now; but I can't make one of those...).

Am I overlooking something?

There is nothing wrong with a solid wood rudder if you keep a good
waterproof finish on it. I've seen many an oak rudder, centreboard,
and daggerboard. The wood has to be straight grained and free of knots
and warping. Good wood is getting hard to find. Often the wood is sawn
into 5-6 pieces lengthwise and glued back together with the wood grain
alternating for added strength and resistance to warping. It's not
necessary to cover with any synthetic resin if it's painted of
varnished and the paint or varnish is touched up annually. Often on a
kick up rudder the pivot bolt is set into a metal tube to protect the
wood from wear. Having written all that, I use plywood with the edges
sealed with polyester resin, not glass cloth. Round the leading edge
and taper the trailing edge down to 1/8". Plywood rudders,
centreboards, and daggerboards lack the airfoil cross possible of
solid wood, unless they are built up, shaped, and sealed all over with
glass reinfroced resin. However, the airfoil shape may be overrated
since I owned a saiboat with a 75 pound sheet steel centerboard which
was the fastest boat of it's length in the sailing club.

You have a few workable options which would be fine on a small
cruising sailboat.

PS have you read "Frugal Sailing" (I think that's teh title) written
by a Potter 15 owner? Look for it at the public library. The Ottawa
library had a copy.

On Sep 24, 10:48 am, Wm Watt wrote:

PS have you read "Frugal Sailing" (I think that's teh title) written
by a Potter 15 owner? Look for it at the public library. The Ottawa
library had a copy.

That should have been "Frugal Yachting"