The Rudder - May 13th

Ships, need something so they can be steered.

Tonight I start repair of The Rudder. A couple weeks ago I started sanding the old paint off, in the garage, and my, what an unholy mess that was. Fine, grungie, copper oxide and epoxy dust -all- over the place.

Tonight, the Bright Bulb that I claim to be, I set up a table outside and let the wind carry it off.

 

Yes, cars moved, a nice breeze and a scrub table I do not care of. Btw, I have three of them and really handy to have in the garage when projects come up.

Family things? Cover with Kraft Paper and put some flowers on top and all is well.

 

Tonight's tools of torture. Rock hard paint, an orbital sander, 80 grit paper and lotsa work ahead.

The Bottom paint is made of a water thin vehicle and alot of fine copper. When it hardens, it is rock hard indeed.

 

The other side. Here we go.

 

Lots of sandpaper but I did not abuse the priviledge.

 

All done. Time to blow my nose and wash my hands.

 

The bottom had hit something and broke open the skin. I will route this out of there and fill it Iike a dentist and a cavity.

 

The damage.

 

The new instrument of torture. A router bit, a 30,000rpm Dremel tool and lotsa high pitched racket.

 

All cleaned out. I kept going at it until it felt like solid fill to either side. I only went about 5/8" deep. Tomorrow I may go deeper.

 

The tip of the rudder.

 

Now to relieve the top of the rudder and get rid of the loose skin up there. The larger grinder is actually a variable speed buffer that I will use on the hull gelcoat, the smaller is the handiest grinder a man could want. Light and easily held in one hand.

 

The smaller one did the job. By appearances, the inside of the core is damp. The material used seems to be sand and some form of binder. Possibly a very thin resin or epoxy.

But, make no mistake, this rudder is really, really heavy.

 

All ground back to solid material.

 

New instruments of torture. This time, sticky stuff that tastes awful.

I use disposable brushes that are really cheap. Works great they do.

 

I wanted to wrap a layer right against the shaft. After grinding it a bit rough, then resin, then four layers of glas.

Just butting the layers of glas up to the shaft would not result in a great seal. This will help the cause as, it will be less prone to separate and leak. Then, the new layers can be wrapped up against this and that bond should be really secure.

Later ...