Swallow Boats Forum

Hoping someone can help me with ways of stopping my rudder blade from moving about in the stainless steel cheeks.  Has anyone fitted formica washers, or anything like that, beside the blade to fill in the space but without making it too stiff to raise and lower the blade easily?
Thanks,
John

John,
I glue thin strips of teakwood onto the surface of the rudderhead. I sand them down until they give a tight fit and then apply boat grease to reduce friction. Takes a bit of time, trial and error, but then it works fine.

John,
I forgot:
A single washer on the central bolt cannot solve your problem completely because the gap between rudderblade and stainless steel housing is not even, probably due to the welding process.
What you really want to eliminate is the play of the rudderblade while it is full down. So for that it is sufficient to have these cushioning strips, and in just the right places. Which you find easily when you have your boat out of the water and watch the rudderblade in its housing as you swing it manually between up and down.

I have just fitted large, thin PTFE washers (they are the same size as the rudder blade head), one either side of my blade head. They were quite a fiddle to get in as the gap is very tight but they seem to work well. Ideally I want two each side and I may have a go at fitting another pair, but as I said, the gap is tight. The blade raises and lowers more smoothly than ever.

I have just had a look at the rudder on my BayRaider and I think that I need to do something.  There is quite a lot of play and the steel frame is damaging the rudder when it is raised for towing.  I think that I will attempt a combination of wood strips and PTFE; but one question where does one get large pieces of PTFE from?

best wishes

Simon

I\\\'ve bought PTFE sheet from these people:

http://www.bearingboys.co.uk/Plastic_Sheets-2532-c

It is not cheap, though!

An alternative is to try ebay.  If you search ebay for \\\'PTFE sheet\\\' you will probably find a few sources.

You might want to look at using something like Tufnol instead of PTFE, as this can easily be sanded down to exactly the thickness you need.  It can also be bonded easily, and has pretty good wear properties.

Jeremy

It is not cheap, though!

Wow!  All of a sudden Claus\\\'s hardwood strips look attractive!

Thanks for the link/info

Simon

I dismantled my rudder and found two thin PTFE washers in place - about 16cm in diameter and 1mm thick, with a 15mm hole in the middle.  Using a single sheet of PTFE 300 x 300 x 2mm (£10.50 + VAT from Bearing Boys), I made two new 16cm washers (with a junior hacksaw and drill) and fitted them.  I originally tried to fit the new washers and old washers in together but that was a real fiddle (as Julian says) and I could not get it to work. Lining up two sets of washers in a very tight gap was beyond me.

I have now reassembled everything and nearly all the play in the rudder seems to have disappeared, while the blade raises and lowers as before - so overall a success. 3mm sheet might work even better.  PTFE is great stuff and very easy to work - it feels a bit like plasticised candle wax.  Thanks everyone for pointing me in this direction.

Graham

I never did fit a second layer of PTFE. The single layer seemed ot work fine all year and is still there. I did pull th epivot bolt most of the way out once as one of teh washers was not central. I cemtreded it and then just rammed the bolt through which as easy. All nice and smooth now.