Glandular seals

[UAE JohnnyParticipant @uaejohnny]

Water in the boat is bad. Real boats use a gland seal on the propeller shaft to prevent this. I looked up glandular seals on Google and learned loads about how they work. That’s all well and good for real ships. How do we do it in our little ships?

Can we buy off the shelf seals? Is there a simple way to make them ourselves with dental floss, bee’s wax and a stick of chewing gum?

Any drawings/detailed photographs out there from guys who do them regularly?

Thanks in advance,

UAE Johnny 

[UAE JohnnyParticipant @uaejohnny]

How do we do them on little boats?

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

 

This works for my large scale models, the tube is brass or copper that I cut a thread into for the cap nut and the shaft is threaded rod.

If you cant find any phos/bronze for the bearing then use a short piece of close fitting brass tube.

 

Paul

[Bob Abell 2Participant @bobabell2]

This is my solution………………You can tighten the nut as much as you like, but as soon as you rotate the shaft, the so called locking effect is instantly released!

[Barry FooteParticipant @barryfoote68385]

Would good old PTFE tape, (plumbers tape), not do the job??

[Paul TParticipant @pault84577]

PTFE tape is a thread seal and not suitable for a gland seal as the tape will wrap up tight against the shaft during rotation however a block or plug of PTFE would make an excellent bearing in a small dia tube and a washer made from PTFE would make a seal in the same way as my neoprene washer or Bobs greased string.

 

Paul

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