Has anyone made a custom made lower part of the rudder? (floating part) I was thinking about making one with marine grade plywood sandwiched between two pieces of alluminum plate. I would seal the plywood with fiberglass resin. My original one has a lot of stress cracks on one side near the top. Im not sure how serious this is or if there is another solution other than buying one from hunter marine. I have more time than money.
Custom made rudder
- Thread starter Lee Y
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If I were to build one from plywood, I would forget the aluminum and resin. I would use epoxy to laminate the ply, shape it to what is needed, cover with epoxy resin and some fiberglass cloth, fair it, then give it several coats of epoxy with graphite mixed in for abrasion resistance. The aluminum would not be easy to shape and has a different thermal expansion rate than wood. The polyester or polyvinyl resins are not completely waterproof and would let the wood rot over time.
Hagar
Hagar
What about closed cell flotation foam sandwiched between aluminum sheets? The foam has high strength, won't absorb water, can be shaped, and the whole assembly would float just like the original rudder. I would use one layer of aluminum sheet, one sheet of foam, another sheet of aluminum, another sheet of foam and a last sheet of aluminum. The five layers could be held together with vinyl ester and stainless steel screws. Give me your opinion.
Thanks Lee
Thanks Lee
On my h23 shortly after I purchased it my rudder delaminated while sailing. It felt like severe weather helm. The whole front leading edge opened up more than an inch. I felt lucky to get back to my slip. I never found a rudder replacement so I purchased a new Ida Sailer rudder/ tiller. I have pictures of it on my boat in my personal profile. This is a high quality, very well made rudder/ tiller. The performance of it is amazing compared to the original.
Refurbishing delaminated my rudder was another of my still ongoing repair/restoration projects on my H-23. If you haven't the time or skills or just inclination to do it, go with Steve Dion and C Jones suggestions and buy a new one.
Otherwise, why not just start with what you have. I've learned by doing and unfortunately like everything I always wish I knew at the beginning what I learned later. It all turned out OK in the end though.
The rudder construction is gelcoat over thin fiberlass over a foam core. A poor design feature of the construction is that the glass and gellcoat shells from both sides do not join but meet in an unclosed seam with the foam exposed (think oreo cookie) so be careful if using a chemical stripper. If the cracks are only in the fiberglass and not the foam core, strip it to the glass, grind down the bad glass and wrap new glass around it all. You may have to first grind down and refair the leading and trailing edges but after you will have a completely sealed core. Be sure to finish with a barrier coat of your choice of Interprotect or Petitprotect.
Its got to beat the effort trying to get the right foil shape by starting from scratch.
Otherwise, why not just start with what you have. I've learned by doing and unfortunately like everything I always wish I knew at the beginning what I learned later. It all turned out OK in the end though.
The rudder construction is gelcoat over thin fiberlass over a foam core. A poor design feature of the construction is that the glass and gellcoat shells from both sides do not join but meet in an unclosed seam with the foam exposed (think oreo cookie) so be careful if using a chemical stripper. If the cracks are only in the fiberglass and not the foam core, strip it to the glass, grind down the bad glass and wrap new glass around it all. You may have to first grind down and refair the leading and trailing edges but after you will have a completely sealed core. Be sure to finish with a barrier coat of your choice of Interprotect or Petitprotect.
Its got to beat the effort trying to get the right foil shape by starting from scratch.
That should read "Refurbishing my delaminated rudder". I ground down the delaminated section instead of trying to glue it from beneath, faired it smooth with epoxy then covered the whole with several layeres of fiberglass cloth & resin
And as a PS if you arent worried about saving $$ buy the new one. If you want the original it can be fixed with a little time and effort
And as a PS if you arent worried about saving $$ buy the new one. If you want the original it can be fixed with a little time and effort
I'm so glad you said this here. I just purchased an H23 that has been abandoned for a couple of years and was very puzzled by the rudder. Looking at it I see just what you describe, there is a seam on the leading and trailing edge about 1/8" wide that I can see the foam inside. I am thinking the best course of action would be just what you indicate..... I plan to fill with thickened epoxy and fair both the leading and trailing edges. Any issues to look out for when doing this?
Also, it has to help the performance of the rudder simply by eliminating the turbulence that the seam must cause?
Hagar
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