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And thus the work proceeds;
the two tackles hoisting and lowering simultaneously;
both whale and windlass heaving, the heavers singing,
the blubber-room gentlemen coiling, the mates scarfing,
the ship straining, and all hands swearing occasionally,
by way of assuaging the general friction. —Herman Melville

Ahoy,

This posting will not be all that interesting, unless, of course, you happen to like metalworking and such like. You may not even enjoy looking at the photos, but for those of us with boring lives, here is a brief narrative on how we designed, milled, and assembled the hardware for our rudder.

The shaft for our rudder is a hollow brass pipe. The rudder shaft will be enclosed in the rudder itself, allowing water flow to help turn the rudder while under sail. At least, that's our thinking, and such was the suggestion of Paul Riccelli. I believe Paul called the concept a balanced rudder.

Having said that, you can't really blame Paul for what follows here. All of this is largely our own invention, but I did happen to see something similar in a book by Larry Pardey. But what we have done here is not Larry's fault either. At any rate, we began our project with a bronze gudgeon and some brass stock—



Admittedly, this collection of this and that was not all that impressive or exciting. As I said before, however, this posting is restricted to those of us who have boring and quiet lives.

We needed a way to attach the rudder shaft to the gudgeon, but allow the shaft to turn freely. We thought about simply putting a pin on the gudgeon and then setting the hollow rudder shaft over the pin. This would work OK, but we wanted something a little more sophisticated, something that would allow us to remove the rudder if needed. We decided to mill a step bolt. Having a bolt would also allow us to keep the rudder from rising in the water, would keep the rudder in a fixed place rather than having the rudder float and strike the bottom hull.

Our first project was to mill the hexagon head of the bolt. Here, once more I got the chance to use Kenny Mann's milling machine. I was happy.




Once we had milled the hexagon head, we began turning the shaft on a lathe. There was considerable stock to remove, but gradually we approached the size we needed—



Not bad. We were approaching some semblance of a step bolt. Kenny inspected my meager effort and made several helpful suggestions. When Kenny speaks, I always try to listen and learn.




Suddenly, our brass stock had become a true step bolt, complete with threads. I was pleased, and so was Kenny—



Now, you may be wondering why all the excitement over a bolt. Let me explain if I can. The bolt had to be custom made. There was no other choice. As you can see from the next photo, the bolt would go through the gudgeon (which would be attached to the keel.) Yes, you are right— technically speaking, our gudgeon, I suppose, might not really be a gudgeon. Maybe we could just call our assembly a keel strap?—



Our next step would be to mill an insert or sleave to fit inside the hollow rudder shaft. This sleave would need to be threaded as well. Milling the sleave was a lot easier than milling the step bolt.



All that remained now was to sweat solder the sleave to the interior of the rudder shaft, and we were on our way. Here's what everything looked like when we finished.



Just for fun, and perhaps a better perspective, I set the rudder mechanism against a wall. So, here is the last picture of our project.



Now, if you think you've been had by reading this boring posting, please remember we tried to warn you. Maybe everything will make more sense once the rudder is in place. In the meantime, what you see is more of a nautical skeleton, I suppose.

It was a good day, though, and I enjoyed working in Kenny's shop in 112 degree heat. Fortunately, we could work in the shade.

:lol:

yer so much fun -- whar ya been!!!!

a.

Ahoy,

Seemingly only Adla was brash enough to respond to a posting advertising itself for the boring and the quiet. I'm not exactly sure what that says about Adla, but thanks for the kind bantering.

We made some more progress, boring progress, but progess nevertheless. Paul Riccelli had suggested a brass shoe to protect the bottom of the keel. He also mentioned that such a brass shoe would be salty and nautical. Completely convinced, we thought we would give it a try.

The shoe, of course, will run the entire length of the keel. Paul advised cutting the miters so that the water could escape when the boat was under sail. That sounded reasonable enough, so that's what we did—




The next step, of course, was to drill hole for screws and then, countersink. All that took us awhile. We wanted every screw to be centered in the brass stock. After all, you don't really relish some jellyfish laughing your boat to scorn because of shoddy craftsmanship.



Because the shoe is a half round, the countersink will turn out more oval than round. The shape of the stock, of course, determines the oval. Still, every oval was consistent, centered. and rather well behaved.



Just for fun, we decided to place one of the brass bars on the keel. We wanted to see how our brass shoe might look to fish, friend, or foe. (The shiny areas you see are the areas free of dust. The dull areas are dust. We'll swab the bottom hull later.) Even so, here is what we saw—



"But what about that other hardware— the rudder strap?" you ask. Well, just for fun we decided to see what it might look like as well. Here, then are a couple of photos, illustrating what we are trying to do—



Because our rudder will be underneath the bottom hull, the brass bolt we made should keep the rudder from banging into the boat. Paul Riccelli has designed a rudder for us. As I understand it, the tolerance between the bottom hull and rudder should be about 1/16 of an inch. The brass bolt will allow us to keep within that tolerance, or so we hope.



That's all for today. Next week we plan to flip the boat and see how everything might look. It's been a long time, and we are ready.

Quote:Seemingly only Adla was brash enough to respond to a posting advertising itself for the boring and the quiet

i'm brash alright - and down right forward at times --- presumptious even.

I LoOok foRward to the flip...i sTiLl have images of the interior UPsidE doWn in my head and with gravity and such --- the interior will work better for you when the boat is turned the other WAy.

ByE -- fer now...going to YUBa tomorrow with my junkyard boat....

a. :lol:

Looking at the width of that keel strip makes me think that you're a more careful sailor than me. I put a steel strip (boy was it a pain to counter-sink the holes) that almost completely covers mine so that WHEN I run into the rocks that I'm protected.



And yes - the boat is square - the ground and the photographer weren't

Looking Good Jim, as Usual your craftsman"Ship" is outstanding.

I am with Andrew on the keel strap. You must be a careful sailor. I used a 2" wide strip of Aluminum on each of my mini cat hulls and I still beat up the out side edges. Then again, I am not careful in the least. I don't just beach my boat, I storm the beach. :lol:

The grounding shoe Andrew has is classic workboat style. A big basher to squish any fin adorned beastie that may get in the way. I've seen them done a lot of different ways. The most effective one I've seen was a full width bronze shoe, that was the full length of the keel and was mounted to a 1/4" thick piece of hard rubber, which was mounted to the traditional hardwood shoe. This was all bedded and screwed to the keel. The metal and hardwood provided some heft to the relatively soft deadwood assembly and the rubber offers some cushion (usually shearing some screws in the process, according to the owner) during a grounding. This one had seen some hard hits, showing dents in the metal and re-bedded areas, but looked to be a clever use of materials.

On that type of hole, use oval head screws. I use ovals on all exposed screw heads, they look better, they match the roundness of the half round (sort of) and still have the leverage advantage of a countersunk head.

As usual Jim has stepped up and preformed a fine job of the work necessary. It's amazing how perseverance and fore thought has brought his boat into the work of art category. I'm going to offer his wife's name for sainthood when he's launched the boat.

Ahoy,

Thanks for the helpful comments. The full width shoe on Andrew's boat looks very practical. What a nice boat! Apparently, from what everyone is saying, a hardwood runner underneath the brass would be prudent. I guess we could do something like that.

One point that Paul Riccelli shared with me in a personal e-mail is be sure and use relatively short screws. The grounding shoe eventually will need to be replaced, and of course, you want to be able to check for possible rot beneath the shoe. Let's see what we can do, then.

In the meantime, we thought we might share with you a photo of the nautical engineer who has helped us with the boat. Quite anxious she is to go sailing, and in fact, she did indeed sail on John Teetsel's worthy vessel. She even wet on his boat. "Use this sponge, use this sponge," John said hurridly. We did, and all was well.

Here, then is a photo of our nautical engineer and first mate— well first mate, after Miss Pat—



All this talk about a grounding shoe caused me to overlook the shoulder or step bolt in the rudder mechanism. "What keeps the bolt in place" is the question. Could the bolt back out?

Of course, anything we build can come loose and fall apart. In this case, though, we milled the bolt to exact tolerances, tolerances far more exacting that what you might find in a standard bolt readidly available from a hardware store.

The result was a precision fit. The bolt simply cannot be turned by hand. A hefty wrench is needed. We thought about backing our system up with an accompaning set-screw, but such does not seem necessary, at least for now.

We also milled the shoulder so that the gudgeon sheave and bolt would have an appropriate tolerance. Here, we needed a much looser fit, but only by a few thousands. We wanted to avoid metal grinding against metal. Hopefully, our tolerance range will prevent that from happening.

Ahoy,

Our plan was to turn the boat over this past week, but our plans had other plans. Maybe this week we will be able to take the big turn. In the meantime, we worked some more on the keel and bottom hull.


Don't Step on My Blue Suede Shoes
We completed our brass grounding shoe. Well, at least, we have everything aligned. We'll need to bed later, and maybe even add a hardwood shoe as well, but for now, here is a look at the keel and its new shoe.



The grounding shoe, of course, is not one single piece of brass. The brass had to be shipped in segments, and so we installed the shoe in segments as well, cutting the miter joint so that the water could flow out of the joint when the boat is under sail—



Paul Riccelli made the suggestion, and I suppose if left to my own devices, I would have overlooked the placement of the cut. I'm glad Paul mentioned the miter angle and placement. He also suggested oval headed bronze screws.

You might be able to make out some of the copper pigment in the keel as well. Sea critters and fungi are sworn enemies of wooden boats, attempting to destroy and feast on any boat that might come their way.

The bow looks rather striking with its new grounding shoe. Here is a close-up. The shadow you see on the left is really a part of the bow (or stem), and not some painted stripe.





Let Me Take You on a Sea Cruise

We often overlook it, but water in the wrong places is something none of us want for our boats. Fresh water may be good for drinking, but rain and moisture in the wrong places can result in fungal decay or dry rot. Conditions have to be right, but saturated wood above 30 per cent and your boat becomes a petri dish for fungi. Ventilation— you can never have too much ventilation. Rain water can ruin a boat. The deck needs to be sealed at every joint.

Salt water has its problems, too. In some part of the world, flying termites can wreck a boat before you know it. Preserve your boat with preservative solutions, paint and varnish. Marine borers or ship worms such as the ill-famed teredo and the much feared bankia can turn a hull into Swiss cheese. The hole can be up to 1/2 inch in diameter. Some of the marine worms can reach lengths up to 6 feet. The marine worms do not like copper. I, on the other hand, adore copper, relish bronze, and simply and absolutely cherish brass.


There's a Hole in My Boat

The ill-famed teredo did not bore its way through our hull, but a barnacle named Jim did. Bored a hole clean through the bottom hull, he did. Claimed the hole was for a pump. Here, is a photo of a bronze fitting with an actual plug taken from the bottom hull. As you can see, the bottom hull is nearly 7/8 inch thick.



Drilling a hole in the bottom of your boat is almost enough to make a grown man cry. It is enough to make any of us nervous. The bronze fitting will be part of a pumping system. Just for fun, here is a look at the pump and filter.



The pump, of course, will be in the interior of the boat and will allow us to spray down our boat, making everything a bit cooler and perhaps a bit cleaner. The pump will also allow us to wash ourselves down as well, to take a shower. At least, that's our thinking for now—



I'm not sure if I have the screen facing the right direction. Perhaps someone like either Paul Riccelli or Barry Pyeatt will see this posting and make a suggestion. We will bed the bronze fitting later.



Well, that should just about do it. Now we need to concentrate on turning the boat over and taking a long look at the deck and interior. Our dog, Sheba-girl, seems rather eager to go sailing. We are just as anxious to take her.



One thing is for sure, our dog will enjoy the shower facilities whether we do or not. Here's another idea— maybe we could turn the pump on and really blast some unsuspecting BYYB skipper as he passes by with his boat. This could be war, you know.

That's a raw water inlet strainer, typically used for cooling engines, but could work for a wash down system. Turning the strainer so the vents face aft will result in slightly less drag (not much) and more importantly, will keep it from scooping up debris while underway. Also make sure you install a sea cock of equal quality on the inside of your strainer. I always hang a tapered wooden dowel near by, that will fit the barbed end of the strainer, just in case the sea cock hose fails. You can cut the hose away and pound the tapered plug in the strainer to stop a leak. You could have used a less expensive thru hull fitting (without the blistered vent area) for the wash down inlet, which has much less drag related to it, but that one will work fine.

Copper needs to be available to the little beasties, for it to be effective as an anti fouling agent. Suspended in a cured polyurethane matrix will limit this to a degree, especially if clear coated. When the paint is scratched (it will be) you may gain some benefit with the copper being there.

An old trick to defeat the little wood boring/eating beasts is to nail a chunk (4"x4"x 12") of balsa to the transom, just at the waterline. This is common with older moored craft and with old timers that remember this old school trick. The idea is to supply a nice tasty piece of easily eaten lumber, sort of a sacrificial anode for the wood. The bastards eat the balsa first, then it gets changed out when obvious signs of break down are present. This fresh "meat" approach works and many older cruisers swear by it. It generally isn't necessary on trailered boats, but for an extended stay on the water, this is cheap insurance.