Tiller Handle to Rudder attachment

[D Gobby]

This maybe a simple question but I can not seem to get the work around search thingy to work. I'm making the rudder straps for a 15' plywood daysailor. Designed by Al Mason. The straps are 1 1/2" wide,3/16" thick approximately 14" long sil bronze. Both the rudder and the tiller handle are wood. I think the best way to attach the straps to the rudder is to thru bolt. What say the good folks here, about the handle to strap attachment.

(1) Thru bolt using sil bronze round head machine screws with an acorn nut on one side.
(2) Thru bolt using sil bronze flat head machine screws counter sunk into the straps with an acorn nut on one side.
(3) Thru bolt with above flat head machine screws and tap the other side to except the macine screws without the nut.

The same question applies to both the rudder attachment as well as the handle.

I'm open to suggestions.

Darrel

[Stiletto]

Throughbolting sounds good to me, the options really come down to your own sense of aesthetics, acorn nuts might stick out a bit far for the size of things. Setting it up so the tiller can be lifted/ pivoted up with the throughbolt as a fulcrum can be helpful if cockpit space is tight.

[Billy Bones]

One can also use a piece of bronze rod as a rivet and peen over the ends and file flush for a really clean look. The rods can be drilled a bit and driven out should it ever be necessary to do so.

[Ian McColgin]

I agree with Billy for the attachment to the tiller. I usually put a little countersink into the straps such that once I've peened I can file to perfectly flush. In time the attachment becomes invisible. It's especially nice to let the straps into the tiller's wood just a little and relieve the exposed edged and corners before final attachment.

For the rudder-tiller pivot, however, you may want the extra beef of a bolt and nut to absorb a few years of wear and constant motion and you'll also want some ease in taking it off for annual varnishing or painting.

G'luck

[Brian Palmer]

I hope I can explain this, but if you have the bolt (or pin) that goes through the tiller straps fit into a notch on the aft face of the rudder, rather than though a closed hole in the rudder, you can lift the tiller up to nearly vertical and then remove if from the rudder for easier storage.

I did this on a 15 ft sharpie and it worked well. You also have beeter acess to all surfaces of the rudder for painting, etc., and you can use a rivet instead of a bolt.

--Brian

[Mrleft8]

I used a through bolt. I also put a bronze bushing in the hole in the rudderthat was just proud of the rudder faces. This keeps the straps from scuffing the nicely varnished rudder. The fact that the rudder gets dinged and scratched by other things is another story....