Rudder modification

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brigadoon
Posts: 171
Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:58 pm

Rudder modification

Post by brigadoon »

#2 picture shows the rudder with the wts in place before sealing with epoxy and glassinf with cloth. There was also some leading edge damage that some PO had repaired with bondo. The stock rudder is fiberglass over foam. Except for the small bit of damage at the tip this rudder was in good condition and the foil shape looked OK. I used a 3" hole saw drill to cut through one side of the rudder and dug out the foam to create the void. Prior to cutting the holes I had floated the rudder in a hot tub and added wt untill the rudder floated with the top out of the water at about the pivot bolt hole, that turned out to be about 11#. The two cuts in the blade worked out just right in wt. I poured molten lead into the voids and filed them flush with the rest of the blade then sealed with epoxy and glassed over.
The finished repair is fair and is not evident. The lead did not seem to migrate past the areas where the foam was not removed , it just seemed to melt to a solid line around the lead, in fact when the lead cooled it was loose in the socket untill glassed in.

In reading the past posts it seems that a lot of skipers have had the same problem with regards to the rudders floating. I believe this fix will work well. It was relativly easy to accomplish. Pulling the rudder up should not be difficult especially if the boat has any way on it. getting the rudder locked down will be easy especilly if the boat is stopped. I hav'nt been able to try it yet but spring is comming. :D
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