Conference unifix::sailing

    Best bet would be either the builder of your yacht or his agent.
    Failing that it is possible in a few hours to make your own, depending
    on the fitting and quality required........
    
    Pete

    What kind of a boat?  How large?  We had one made up out of aluminum
    pipe with a tang at the end in Somerville one morning before the
    Halifax race.  Over built but will not break!  Less than $100.
    
    Dave

    Get in touch with Scandia company in Fairhaven Mass (by New Bedford).
    They can wack out just about anything you need, fast.
    Don

    Re:1 
    1979 I think was the last year the manufacturer was in bussiness,so I
    don't even want to try totrack him down.
    Re:2
    The boat is a Downeaster 32 and it came without specks or emergency
    tiller or loran,but with propane with solenoid system,water heater and
    would you believe...3 electic fans.The guy was using it as a summer
    condo.The good thing about it is that the sails are in very good condi-
    tion since he probaubly hardly sailed.I am waiting for a quote from
    Boat US and I will give a call to Scandia.In the meantime I still look
    for suggestions.The funny thing is that no long time ago someplace I
    can't remember I saw plenty of tillers for sale unforcunatelly because
    of age I cant remember.Finally anybody who is interested in an electric
    fan let me know.They are nice to look at and they work.My friend tried
    them for 1 second before I threw him overboard.

    
    Have you checked down at the local Hardware store??  I read an article
    in C.W. a while back that indicated that these people have many
    varieties just laying around that they believe to be handles for all 
    kinds of strange things!!!!! 
    
    Hope that this is not to late for this note!  Trying to catch up
    again
    
    `Charlie'

    I already had one made (pipe place in Worcester) for $45.They just
    welded two steel pipes 1/8" wall thickness and made a slit(sp?) on 
    one end so It can slip on the pin in the rudder post.
    Crude thing to look at but I feel more secure now.
    

    Anyone know how to make a laminated wooden tiller with a reverse curve
    in it.  Something along the lines of the following but smoother:
    
                                ---------
                               /
                              /
                  -----------/
                  |
                  |
                  | <------ rudder post
    
    
    This would be with alternating laminations of light and dark wood.
    
    - gene

    Is it supposed to be rigid? Or is it supposed to be adjustable for the
    arm length and height of the pilot?
    
    Looks really straightforward to me, but all I do is think about such
    things before hiring somebody who knows more to do it. <grins>
    
    John H-C

I don't have any experience laminating things, but it should be easy to make
a jig to hold the shape you require:

                                 O
                        /------------
                       / O
                    O /
         ------------/
             O

Setup a piece of plywood with 1" holes at the locations described by the O's.
Use 1" dowel pegs set into the holes to keep the final shape. Test the jig
with the dry layup to see if the shape is right, and correct it as needed.

You will need to insert the pegs into the plywood one by one as you shape the
lamination. I.e. slather everything with glue, put two clamps at one end, lay it
in place between the first two pegs, bend it, insert next peg, bend again,
insert another peg, etc.  After the whole thing is in place, add clamps every
few inches along the entire length.

It will be easier to do the bending if the individual lamination layers are
thin. You can also make the process easier if you have extra holes for extra
pegs so that you can bend the lamination a few layers at a time, and hold in
place with a temporary peg. If you make the raw lamination considerably longer
than the final rudder, you will have more leverage to apply when making the
bends. 

You can test the entire process without glue, so that you will know whether
it will work before you commit to the big glue mess. 

--RS

Oh, and one more thing...

Marine Exchange in Peabody has a nice selection of already-laminated tillers...
I don't know if they have one in your particular shape and size.

--RS

re .7:

Yes, I've made a tiller. Making one is not particularly difficult, but 
it can be quite time consuming to make a one off. You'll need access to 
a number of power tools. 

The process is more or less as follows:

Buy rough stock (I bought wide mahogany and ash boards at Boulter
Plywood) and make tiller stock in several steps: 

  Rip the wide boards into narrow boards the width of the tiller on 
  a table saw.

  Resaw the narrow boards (originally 3/4" to 7/8" thick) into two or 
  three thinner boards with a good bandsaw. 

  Run these thin boards through a surface planer to get boards about 
  2" wide by 3/16" to 1/4" thick. 

Next make a strong form with the curve of the tiller (mine was two inch 
thick by 8 to 12 inches deep plywood -- particle board would be cheaper).

Next design and make a couple of dozen clamps to clamp the boards to the 
form. I used 1/4" threaded rod, 1" dowels, and plywood blocks. 

Next glue the boards into a tiller. I did this in two steps as
considerable pressure is needed to clamp the boards to the form. A clamp
is needed every couple of inches to ensure that the laminations are
firmly together. Thinner boards are easier to force into the curve. I
used West epoxy glue (I'd use System 3 today because that is what I have
in inventory). It has been argued that resorcinal glue would be better
for a tiller, but I don't like the dark glue lines. The curves of the
form should be a bit more than you want in the final tiller as there is
some springback when the tiller is removed from the form. 

Next make a taper jig to hold the tiller while using a router with a
planer bit to narrow the tiller athwartships. 

Now use a band saw to narrow the tiller in the vertical dimension at
the outer end. 

Almost finally use various hand tools (eg, spokeshave, wood rasps) 
to finish shaping the tiller. 

And finally, at long last, sand the tiller and apply several coats of
varnish. 

I don't recall how long it took me to make my tiller -- probably several 
full days. I immodestly think that my tiller is nicer than any 
store-bought mass production tillers I've seen. 

Have fun.

Alan

    Gene,
    
    This is how I make tillers. It's worked perfectly for me every time.
    
    1. Call Charlie Laroue (508) 678-0212
    
    2. Describe the dimensions of the tiller you want.
    
    3. Wait.
    
    4. Go pick it up and pay him. I paid $45 for a beautiful J/24 tiller.
    
    Anyone with reasonable skill can master this technique.
    
    Paul
       

    I'm in the process of making a laminated tiller right now for a small
    boat.  I didn't have any easy way to resaw anything so I bought some
    1/2" x 2" rectangular molding, which is somewhat flexible, and
    laminated it out of that - no sawing involved.  I'm not sure if the
    1/2" molding was actually that thick, it might have been a nominal
    dimension.

    I don't know if this would work for you, I think I would prefer
    something a little thinner to laminate from, especially for the extra
    curves you need.

    Mark Finlayson
    

    I am about to mount a forespar tiller extension to my wood tiller. It
    was sitting in the boat with no instructions, so I need an answer or
    two.
    
    1. Most bigger boats I have seen have the socket mounted behind the
       hand. Is this correct, or is it suppose to be near the end? 
    
    2. For the socket, do you drill all the way through, or only deep
       enough for the socket. I am thinking of going all the way so as not 
       build a "bucket" for rain way to hang around.
    
    3. Do you use wood screws or through bolt the socket?. The holds are
       tiny (a#6 screw).
    
       THANKS
    
    
       john

    
    	my 2�:
    
    	1: Where do you sit; where does your arm end up? I'd put it more or
    less on a staight line of your arm pointing athwarts... also, while
    close to the end gives more leverage, too far out may make a weak spot.
    
    	2: I went with your thinking, and overdrilled a little and
    waterproofed with some West, then drilled that to a very snug fit.
    
    	3: The fit was so snug, the wood screws are mostly for looks!
    
    	Scott_who_prefers_tillers

I have a tiller extension on my 14' O'day.

The tiller attachment is mounted aft of the hand, so you can use the tiller
convenintly without the extension, i.e. with the extension lashed to the top of
the tiller. My tiller has a piece of bungee cord attached near where the end
of the extension lays on the tiller. You just slip it over the extension and
it keeps it in place while you're not using it.

You can drill all the way through or only part way. You could make a small
weep hole if you prefer not to drill the big hole all the way through.

Use long (1"?) #6 screws to hold it on. If you through-bolt it you'll have
unsightly nuts on the bottom, and they'll scrape up your hands or your knees or
anything else they drag across. If the hole for the fitting is snug, the screws
won't see much of a load. If there are two screws, I'd orient them fore and aft,
not side-to-side.

--RS

How about fitting the extension _underneath_ the tiller? My last dayboat was
fitted like that. Looks tidier, and when the extension is clipped along the
tiller, it is less likely to snag lines or sheets. Don't need a through hole
that way, either! I would think that wood screws should be fine.

- Brian

    
    
    	Depends on the size of boat, and are you sitting higher than the
    tiller. The lower the angle of hiking stick to sole, the better. Unless
    the tiller is rigid in the vertical plane... or it's a Hobie with a 12'
    hiking stick...
    	Scott (able to hike while sitting on his butt)

    re .17 Great Idea , glad I didn't drill it yet.
    
    re .18 True, I will check this Saturday.  As for the 12' hiking stick,
        Got one (hobie 18 sx with 3 foot extended wings). B*tch to 
        flip across in a tack, and a nightmare to keep away from other
        boats at the leeward mark. But you can get your weight where you 
        want. I have photos from another noter the day before Bob hit. I
        was out flying hulls with an 8 foot extention (about 2.5 feet too short for
        the winds which were already blowing like stink). If you look up
        "out_of_control" in a glossary, they use one of them as an example.
    
    john

Re: .18, .19

As ever, "Your nautical mileage may differ"!

My boat (sold last weekend, thankfully - I never _wanted_ to be a "three-boat"
family!) was a heavy traditional dayboat with a 4' or so tiller. Not fixed in
the vertical plane (could lift, although dropped down to a fixed stop) but the
layout of the boat was such that it never needed to be lifted for tacking. In
practice, I hardly ever used the tiller extension myself, but it was useful for
my 9-year-old daughter, as the swing of the tiller was so great that she could
not reach it when she put the helm over!

- Brian (who these days only sails boats which keep his backside dry :-))