Rudder Repaired Per DP's Rec. But 1 More Question!

[Brendan O'Malley]

Hi All,

A while back I reached out to this group in regards to acquiring a new rudder for my p26. Well, that was before I found Dan Pfeiffer's P26 blog. My uncle and I used his fix to repair the worn away shaft on my rudder. It was beyond helpful and so thankful for the detail he went into!

We followed it essentially to the letter of the law, but as my Uncle is a mechanical engineer with access to a machine shop he fashioned a piece of stainless steel to act as a casing where we could inject the epoxy and have it gather at the base of the shaft and harden to the appropriate diameter (photos/videos of process linked here). It worked pretty much as described but West Systems now recommends using GFlex for the epoxy so we used that. 

My only issue is there is now a small clearance gap still where the rudder hangs a bit below the post with a bit of movement that I can pick up and down (see video here sorry for the geese!!). My only question is do you all think this clearance is acceptable? Or should we fill it with sealant or something to keep potential water out? And then grease it up once we put it back in there? Thanks!

Big thanks to Dan-- his writing was incredibly helpful!

[Peter Ogilvie]

If you are talking vertical movement because of af a gap between hull and rudder with the rudder installed, would make up a shim, a large washer, out of plastic bearing material to take up the slack.  If the rudder is not buoyant could possibly get by doing nothing.  

Sent from my iPhone

On Aug 10, 2020, at 11:57, Brendan O'Malley <brendan....@gmail.com> wrote:



--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "pearson-boats" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to pearson-boat...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pearson-boats/49a3bec9-b7e0-4882-87e8-f49321befd6bo%40googlegroups.com.

[Dan Pfeiffer]

Excellent.   You need a thrust bushing/washer to install up top under the retaining rig to take up that slack.  




If I recall those were made of delrin like the rudder bushing.   You could also make one from a piece of extruded fiberglass from McMster Carr.   Just make one to the needed thickness.    Looks like you need something on the order of 3/8"?  The fiberglass is stronger but harder to work with.   The delrin is probably more than strong enough. 

I would probably use this fiberglass:
https://www.mcmaster.com/plastics/material~fiberglass/arc-resistant-gpo3-fiberglass-sheets-and-strips/

Or this delrin:
https://www.mcmaster.com/plastics/material~plastic/material~acetal-plastic/wear-resistant-easy-to-machine-acetal-sheets-and-bars/

Dan Pfeiffer

[George DuBose]

I would just mention the idea of sleeving the hole in the top of the
aluminum rudder post with a stainless steel tube or even bronze. A
5/16" stainless steel bolt can get quite frozen in the aluminum.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure...

George

On Mon, 10 Aug 2020 14:18:47 -0500, Dan Pfeiffer wrote:
> Excellent. You need a thrust bushing/washer to install up top under
> the retaining rig to take up that slack.
>
>
>
>

https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pearson-boats/093427394163c7fe7fac9b945b2add19%40pfeiffer.net.
--
George DuBose
Wiedstrasse 16
D-50859 Köln
Germany
Mobile: +49.160.481.1234
Skype: georgedubose or call +1.347.284.6443

Video interview on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcOxW65Xe10&feature=youtu.be

Personal website:
http://www.george-dubose.com

Galleries:
https://www.rockpaperphoto.com/catalogsearch/result/?q=George+DuBose
http://www.modernrocksgallery.com/george-dubose-photographer
http://www.houseofroulx.com/collections/george-dubose
https://classicrockphotography.jp/?s=George+DuBose
https://www.globalgalleries.org/
https://www.Winterstiftung.org
http://www.artforum-culture-foundation.org/

Short video of Skylark's vacation:
https://vimeo.com/133183259
Password: SkylarkNY

S/V Skylark
Compagnieshaven
Enkhuizen, NL

[Dan Pfeiffer]

At the very least I would slather the retaining bolt with something like TefGel.   Also I would make sure that the bolt has a plain shank all the way through the collar so that the load is carried on that plain shank rather than a threaded portion.  This is a detail that is often missed and it can be a bit of trial and error to get the right length bolt.   McMaster has specs on the threaded length of the bolts but it's always a range and they can't go check them for you.   I would want the plain portion to be maybe 1/8 longer than the diameter of the retaining collar and then I would add a washer on each side to take up the extra.    Then you need to cut off the threaded part so it is just long enough to go through the nut (nylock) and no more or you will have a problem with snagging on things on the cockpit floor (like your ankles).

Also, if you're going to go to the trouble of sleeving the hole I would drill it out to up that bolt to from 5/16 to 3/8. 

 

Dan Pfeiffer