got my plans in the post last night, watched the first dvd and read the book. now i need another cup of tea and a quick sleep ;D so after asking Denis about where to start i have decided to follow everyone else and are now cutting / fabricating the wheel. so now the dream takes shape. well that's all for now as i hear my bandsaw calling me.
Welcome to the brotherhood.. I myself went with a tiller and so that was the 1st piece of hardware I aquired.  Next was the radio cause you can't be out on the water without tunes ha ha...
Ah - the wheel. Â Man's greatest achievement after rum and the source of much controversy here.
One thing I did differently (you'll hear that a lot from me) was to use galvanized fittings instead of wood for the steering shaft. Â I attached it to the wheel using a standard floor flange.
Under "normal" circumstances the wheel as designed by the Stevensons is lots strong but I've heard stories of people having problems if they fall against it. Â Using galvanized pipe and a floor flange is a system that I lifted from another Stevenson project - a pedal car.
great photo's of the steering shaft. i will be following your example as and when i get to the stage of fitting to the boat. as for now i'll have to sit in the livingroom on a box with wheel in one hand and a drink in the other and dream of what to come. lots and lots of hamster bedding ( sawdust )
 may i ask why the duck tape on the pipe fitting.
I drilled through the pipe at each joint and put a nail in it to keep it from coming apart. The duct tape was to cover the nail so that when I was reaching into the lazrette blindly I wouldn't injure myself.
I "could" have used the same sized pipe for the whole shaft and avoided that, but I wanted the shaft to be slightly larger where the steering rope went around it to make the wheel more responsive. Probably un-necessary over-thinking, but that describes a lot of my boatÂ
Andrew's steering shaft modifications are a very good idea and do address some minor strength issues that could crop up, especially if you're a falling down drunk in the cockpit, like a number of our members. :o
Making the shaft larger is a bit like adding power steering and not a bad idea either (two in a row Andrew, it must have been lucky that day). He used pipe and a nail keeper, which is an interesting crossover kind of thing, that I suspect Sigmund Freud might have some fun with. I'd recommend making the diameter difference even bigger with wooden strips screwed to the pipe. They wouldn't have to have perfect fits and it would be better if they didn't as the slight gaps would create friction.
The best advise anyone could offer you is to not over think the problems or issue you encounter and to make the boat as light as possible. The biggest mistake the novice builder makes is thinking they can make it stronger with a bit more dimension here and there to the pieces they're installing. This is a false belief and part of engineering 101. Most often what happens when a slightly bigger deck beam (just for example) is employed isn't a stronger deck, but a weaker one because point loading, weight per span length, fastener mitigation and a host of other technical issues crop up, all combining to make the area weaker globally, even though locally it might be slightly stiffer. Lastly, use epoxy as the adhesive for everything you can. If you have to economize with adhesives, use the others in areas that will never contact water. I'd recommend TiteBond III for the "other glue".
For the steering shaft I used a metal table leg bought in "do it yourself" store. I is cheap, light and on one end has already a sort of flange for the wheel.
Gianluigi