I finally received the rudder hardware that had been on back order. I felt that It would be smart to fit it all up now while the transom is still easily manipulated.
I decided to use pintles, so I made the transom slot larger than spec to accommodate lifting the assembly out of the gudgeons.
But, I based my measurements on the published dimensions for the hardware rather than having the pieces in hand. Unfortunately, I needed a bit more space to clear the longer of the two pintles. I made it work by lowering its gudgeon a tad, meaning the upper pintle/gudgeon is taking all the weight load. I think it will be fine; were not talking tons here...
The entire tiller/rudder box assembly is still in two halves to allow for work within the box area. For instance, I ran mounting bolts from the inside outward and countersunk the interior face to fit.
Unfortunately, I will also have to spend some time re-applying epoxy to the interior face of one half. I kept these parts nearby during other epoxy jobs and coated them with the excess to reduce waste. Well, some waste has occurred after all. I guess I didn't sand the surface that had cured before adding the final coat and it has begun flaking off.
It all peeled off quite easily, like a week-old sunburn.
With all these new holes, I can set about applying the final sealing coats of epoxy and get the holes involved too. All that is standing between me and going 3D is scarfing together the gunwales that I have ripped to size. I even have a little tool to mark the correct line on the hull sides.
Stay tuned...
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