Charlie Morgan wrote:

Done correctly, it makes a MUCH stronger tiller.

CWM

Charlie is right. Laminating is stronger, and for a particular reason:
by laminating, you make sure the grain of the wood is not continuous,
which can lead to internal stress, cracking, bending, all sorts of
problems with solid wood.

One suggestion I read here about making a tiller, drawing it to full
scale and laminating is good, but doesn't allow for "spring back".
When you remove the clamps, the wood wants to go back to its original
shape, so you have to over correct when laminating it.

For small boats, a solid tiller is probably fine, and damn fast and
easy to make. Small boats typically have small loads, and so you don't
need a tree trunk to do the job.

On 7 Nov 2006 10:19:00 -0800, in message
.com
"Luc" wrote:


Charlie Morgan wrote:

Done correctly, it makes a MUCH stronger tiller.

CWM

Charlie is right. Laminating is stronger, and for a particular reason:
by laminating, you make sure the grain of the wood is not continuous,
which can lead to internal stress, cracking, bending, all sorts of
problems with solid wood.

If you are looking for a short cut, you can laminate a few thicknesses
of plywood together with West System to make your blank, shape it with
a belt sander and power plane, then encapsulate it in epoxy and
varnish. The result is not as pretty as some laminated tillers, but it
worked for me when the guy I'd found to custom laminate a furniture
grade tiller just couldn't get around to it. It got the boat out on
the water promptly ;-)

Ryk