[Public-List] Tiller Head - I'm stuck!

[Gordon Laco]

I deal with old fastenings like this:

First one must "Address the bolt" and apply various techniques involving
cursing the bolt, one's tools, the whole boat, etc.   Second  one must "Get
the bolt's attention" which involves hitting it smartly on the head with a
hammer.   If one does this before the first wrench is applied, the bolt will
know that this is a battle to the death that it cannot win.

Success in the whole procedure hinges upon not losing the moral high ground
and letting the bolt dictate what your next action will be and how the job
was going to go.  You must keep the initiative.

Applying all one's available resources at the first go is a mistake, because
if the attack fails, clearly the bolt now has the upper hand knowing you've
already played your best cards.  The bolt will face your next attempt secure
in the knowledge that it has soundly beaten you once, and it may beat you
again.

Better to use gradually increasing levels of force.  This keeps the upper
hand in your court, because the bolt soon must know that if it has resisted
the most recent assault, that victory is hollow and means nothing, because
recent history would indicate that you will be back and with more force, in
only a moment.  You keep your morale high, you may even laugh, while the
bolt's morale simply must get lower and lower until it knows when it is
exhausted, it ultimately must give up.

Courage, intellect and steadfast resolve will win - you have to believe
that, or at least you must act in the face of your foe as if you believe it.
In the Navy they teach you that in combat situations when things seem
unbearably tough, one should keep in mind that things are probably at least
as tough for the other side. So hold your head up, think tactically, seize
opportunities and exploit them, lead your people resolutely, press on, press
on.

Gord #426 Surprise


On 31/03/12 7:40 PM, "Glennb" <brooks.glenn at comcast.net> wrote:

> Jeff,
> Forgot to mention... Maybe wrap some reflective sheet metal, even an old tin
> foil pie pan or cookie sheet against the hull, behind the shaft, to prevent
> residual flame from scorching/burning the surrounding fiberglass!
> 
> Gpb  
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> On Mar 31, 2012, at 4:03 PM, Jeffrey <alberg30nh at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Thanks Glen. I will try adding heat tomorrow.
>> On Mar 31, 2012 7:00 PM, "Glennb" <brooks.glenn at comcast.net> wrote:
>> 
>>> 
>>> Jeff,
>>> 
>>> I ve always had good success putting some heat on frozen bolts with a
>>> small torch.  once red hot, squirt some cutting oil, or penetrating oil on
>>> the bolt. The heat will swell the material,   the oil will quench the bolt-
>>> rapidly shrink it- causing the threads to loosen up.  also the heat will
>>> draw the oil into the threads  and allow you to back it out of the shaft
>>> easier.
>>> 
>>> (cut the nasty old deck away from around the shaft son you can get your
>>> hands into the work area). I replaced my cockpit floor last summer, makes
>>> life a lot easier when you cab get at the shaft, etc!
>>> 
>>> Cheers,
>>> Glenn P.
>>> dolce 318
>>> Sent from my iPad
>>> 
>>> On Mar 31, 2012, at 12:36 PM, Jeffrey <alberg30nh at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I'm about to embark on a cockpit floor re-core, but I've hit a roadblock
>>>> getting the tiller head off.
>>>> 
>>>> In front of the tiller head is a big (5/8 If I remember) bolt head.  This
>>>> bolt..no way is that sucker moving.  So far a couple of days dribbling in
>>>> some PB Blaster and still nothing. The bolt looks like steel.
>>>> 
>>>> What exactly is this bolt? Does the bolt go through the rudder shaft? I
>>> can
>>>> just almost barely see the back side, and it looks like there *may* be a
>>>> hole. Is this common to all boats?
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Jeff
>>>> 
>>>> Jeff Fongemie
>>>> #116 Seagrass
>>>> 
>>>> http://picasaweb.google.com/fongemie
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