Sticky Centerboard

[imported_Glenn]

My centerboard made with white oak boards that are splined together with bronze rods and with a small piece of lead cast in to the board will not go down. The board is painted with bottom-coat paint.

It stuck last year at the end of the season with the boat being trailered (in and out of the water). I did a repair this year when I took it out to plane it down. It has a brass nipple at the pivot point which was taken out and cut to a length that is the same as the new board thickness. The trunk is 1 1/4" wide and the board is 11/16". Should be enough room but after being in the water for just 3 days, it is now stuck again. I can force the board down using a 3/8" threaded rod through the top of the centerboard trunk but this is only a work-around to use the boat before another repair.

Should I remove it, plane it down even more and then coat it with epoxy to keep the water from swelling it up? The other thought is that my mahogany trunk might be cupped, but I don't think so. I know the board is flat (at least it was flat when I put it back in). Any ideas??

[Wild Dingo]

Bump :cool:

[Don Maurer]

9/16" seems like an awful lot of clearance for an 11/16" thich board. 3/4" oak should not swell more than 1/8" or so. Either the board or the centercase is drastically cupped, which ought to be evident, or perhaps the board is pushed over against one side of the case causing friction. You mentioned you trimmed the bushing to the board thickness, which would allow the board to move to the side of the case. You might try putting some washers on the pivot pin to maintain clearance on both sides. You may also need some sort of spacers attached to the top of the board to keep it from twisting in the case.

[Alan D. Hyde]

Wax it with Butcher Wax.

Put graphite on the pin.

It shouldn't, of course, be an interference fit with the case.

Alan