[Public-List] Alberg 35 Rudder Rebuild

[Jeffrey]

Len,

Good write up. I'm looking forward to your photos.

Thanks!

Jeff Fongemie
#116 Seagrass

http://picasaweb.google.com/fongemie







On Sat, Jan 7, 2012 at 12:51 AM, George Dinwiddie
<gdinwiddie at alberg30.org>wrote:

> Len,
>
> I'd be happy to post your pictures, and accompany them with your
> description of the job.
>
>  - George
>
>
> On 1/7/12 12:31 AM, Len Payne wrote:
>
>> Good Evening, All,
>>
>> Well, the rudder rebuild did not go exactly as planned - but, what ever
>> does.
>>
>> I decided against using the "U"-straps and re-used the existing bolts.
>>
>> After the two sections of plank were epoxied together, I laid out the
>> rudder dimensions and trimmed it to rough shape.
>> Then I drilled for the drift pins ... the first hole went fine, a 3/8"
>> blind hole bored 16" deep into a plank 1- 3/4" thick - not much room for
>> error. I had made a jig that was supposed to keep the 3/8" ship's auger
>> lined up. The second hole .... can we say "plunge"? The last 2 inches of
>> the hole broke through the side of the rudder plank. So, I made a dowel out
>> of some of the off-cut and epoxied that into the hole and sanded flush to
>> the rudder face. Then I re-bored the hole 90* to the bad bore, that hole
>> went fine, as did the third hole. To set the brass drift pins, I poured
>> epoxy into the holes and drive the drift pins in then finished plugging the
>> holes with more homemade mahogany dowels - that part was done!
>> Since I had had a fair bit of success drilling blind 16" deep holes for
>> the drift pins, I decided to go ahead with the original bolts. The deepest
>> bolt hole was only going to be 12". A couple of those holes did plunge a
>> little but none of the nut pockets that I routed into the rudder broke out
>> the other side. I cleaned the old bolts and chased the threads, made new
>> 1/2" thick nuts out of 5/8" hex stock and 1/8" thick 'washers' out of 3/4"
>> hex stock. Speaking of the "stock". A well-driller friend of mine and I
>> decided to straighten the existing stock and re-bend it in the proper
>> orientation - all said and done the upper two bolts were aligned perfectly
>> and the two bolts in the prop aperture were only 3-5 degrees off. The holes
>> were drilled, reamed, and swabbed with epoxy on a .40cal swab and the nut
>> pockets were also swabbed with epoxy. Then the upper stock was mounted by
>> tapping the lower two bolts just a bit to get them into their respective
>> holes. Then the washers and nut
>>
> s
>
>>  were mounted and tightened - these were retightened a couple of times
>> with a couple day relaxation in between.
>> While the bolts were being tightened, I started shaping with a power hand
>> planer - wonderful tool - if you are careful. The rudder was fully shaped
>> and sanded, the rudder stock bolts were fully tightened and the rudder was
>> hung from the roof supports in the shop. Then, I started coating with epoxy
>> that had been thinned 50% with acetone. Two coats were applied then I
>> waited about an hour and applied two more coats - currently waiting for
>> that all to set. Then it will be sanded back down and a slightly thinned
>> coat of epoxy will be applied, finish sanded, then, the rudder will have a
>> number of varnish coats applied. I am going to make a canvas cover for the
>> rudder to keep the sun off it when she is hauled for winter. If the rudder
>> starts to look bad I can always sand it down a bit and apply a few coats of
>> good bottom paint. Do you have any idea how hard it is to keep the garage
>> warm when it's 20 degrees out and you are using acetone thinned epoxy .....
>> and the only heat avail
>>
> ab
>
>>  le is a gas heater or a wood stove?????
>> Anyway, Guess I ran-on a bit. If anyone is interested, I'll see if George
>> would put up some pictures and text for the rudder rebuild. Even though she
>> is a 35, just about everything still applies to a 30 with mahogany rudder.
>> Thanks for listening.
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>>
> --
>  ------------------------------**------------------------------**
> ----------
>  When I remember bygone days                         George Dinwiddie
>  I think how evening follows morn;            gdinwiddie at alberg30.org
>  So many I loved were not yet dead,           http://www.Alberg30.org
>  So many I love were not yet born.                          also see:
>               'The Middle' by Ogden Nash     http://idiacomputing.com
>  ------------------------------**------------------------------**
> ----------
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________**_________________
> These businesses support your Association:
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> Please support them.
> ______________________________**_________________
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-- 
Jeffrey Fongemie

 1325939552.0