pintles and gudgeons on Acorn dinghy

[Ed Armstrong]

I'm getting close to completing my Oughtred designed Acorn dinghy, and I'm looking at ordering pintles and gudgeons. I want to go all bronze on the few hardware pieces that the boat needs (oarlocks, half-round oval strip on keel, pintles & gudgeons). Mr. Oughtred calls for a kickup rudder, which seems very sensible; however, it requires very wide pintles and gudgeons (1-3/4", or perhaps 1-12" if I let them into the cheek blocks some), which seem to be pretty hard to find in bronze, and very expensive in the one source that I found. Compared to $22 for the complete set at Duckworks for 1-1/2" stainless has me reconsidering going with bronze. Does anyone have any alternatives? Maybe I can use a narrower pintle (3/4") and mount it on the inside of the cheek blocks? The rudder has two cheek blocks (don't know if this is the right term) of 1/2" and a kickup rudder of 12/16" (Ian actually calls for 13/16" on the plans, but I plan on laminating it out of 3 6mm pieces of marine ply. Since he calls for 5/8" in the instructions, I suspect that I'll be okay.)

TIA,

Ed

[KMacDonald]

Try www.classicmarine.co.uk (http://www.classicmarine.co.uk) They have a large selection of rudder hardware in bronze.

[Thorne]

Mounting the pintle straps inside the cheekpieces of the rudder should work fine. Does the Acorn really have that wide of a rudder? I'd think you'd use 1" thick wood with additional cheekpieces, allowing you to get 1" bronze pintles for about $20 each.

I've had very good luck finding bronze hardware on the Marine Flea Market circuit, but you'll also find used ones on eBay frequently - also search for "brass" in Marine Hardware as many sellers don't know what silicone bronze is.

www.Hamiltonmarine.com may have some of the best prices on bronze pintles and gudgeons -- try a web search and see.
http://store.hamiltonmarine.com/search.htm?step=2&viewfrom=1&numresults=10&searchterm=bronze+pintle&Submit=Go

[Woxbox]

Maybe I can use a narrower pintle (3/4") and mount it on the inside of the cheek blocks?


I've done that without any problems.

[landlocked sailor]

Here's mine
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid134/p41cc10eb9a248cbba60fc9d0633cc1b6/f77a6f6e.jpg
I got 'em from Jamestown. I mounted the pintles under the cheek pieces as you can just see in front of the trailer roller. Rick

[Ed Armstrong]

That Acorn looks great, Rick! I think I'll do as you and Woxbox suggest and mount them under the cheeks. Did you screw the pintles into the inside of the cheeks or did you mount a spacer under the cheeks at the pintle location? If the former, how did you countersink the screw holes in the pintles, since they are already countersinked from the other side?

Thorne, yes, the recommended widths for rudder (3/4") and cheeks (1/2" each) add up to 1-3/4". The pintles are shown mounted on the outside of the cheeks.

[Woxbox]

This was a project from a long time ago, but best I can remember, the rudder stock was as thick as the pintles were wide, so I mortised the pintles into the stock, and the cheeks fit flush over everything. Or something like that. I'd say get the parts, lay them all out on the workbench, and figure it out from there.

By the way, you'll want to cut the upper pintle a bit shorter than it comes -- much easier to get the rudder on and off like that -- especially if you find yourself doing it while hanging over the transom. If the bottom pintle is longer, you can fit that one first, and then get the top one lined up and in.

[landlocked sailor]

Yep, I did the same thing. Rick

[landlocked sailor]

Here are a couple more shot of my AUK
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid182/p0a18e6b0492e8ff717f7b5012ebc9081/f2c19513.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid134/pfc303d89c061fd334a25c8fe3ebc5524/f77a7172.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid134/pd8b6138aafd91dadc639040567757d72/f77a6ff5.jpg
Rick