Tug boat ‘Craig’ rudder

[Peter Smith 24Participant @petersmith24]

[Peter Smith 24Participant @petersmith24]

Working from the drawing it shows a 5/32" brass tube in two pieces. One through the rudder (glued in middle) the other shorter piece up through the boat.

Then, as I see it, A rod down through the tube from the top linkage to a bottom bearing on the skeg. This will give a superb hinge effect.

My problem is how does it turn the rudder, there is no mention on how to fix the rudder to the rod, then it will turn.

If I have this all wrong and the drawing is wrong please someone put me right. I am enjoying this new hobby but a bit more clarity would help this beginner.

Peter Smith

[Yabbie1Participant @yabbie1]

Mark the centreline of the rod on the outside of the rudder, then with the rod (rudder stock) inserted in the rudder, and the correct length protruding top and bottom drill right through (rod, tube and rudder) in two places (say 50mm apart) with a 1mm drill and insert two short lengths of 1mm brass rod. This will lock the rudder to turn with the rod but allow the pins to be driven out again should the rudder ever need to be removed. The pins can be retained with a tiny drop of epoxy on the outside if necessary, so they resemble rivet heads.

Alternatively the rudder can be glued to the rod, but then the keel extension needs to be made removable or some other arrangement made to allow removal of the rudder, which may be necessary to change the propeller if you can't withdraw the prop shaft inwards.

Yabbie1

[Colin BishopModerator @colinbishop34627]

Following on from Yabbie1's comments above I make the lower keel extension out of brass and bolt it to the main keel so that it can be removed to extract the runner and the propshaft if required. The following photo shows the general construction on a smaller model but the principles are exactly the same.

In this instance the propshaft can be withdrawn from the inside but the vertical support can also be made removable to suit the model using small brass bolts and nuts. In case you are wondering, the rudder post itself is a tube which allows the lower bolt to act as a pivot.

Obviously if there is no vertical support for the front of the the rudder then it becomes much simpler as only the lower keel extension is needed.

Colin

Edited By Colin Bishop, Website Editor on 14/11/2016 10:55:50

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