| Day 250 |
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Rudder heel cup.gif){kind=small} |
| Day 250 |
|
Rudder heel cup |
| The way water runs down the hull of a boat is interesting. It says something about the shape of it. Trying to stop water from running down the hull into the heel area where we need it to be dry turned out to be a challenge. Kind of like a puzzle of wait and see. | ||
| Eventually I
got the little rivers to stop running down, cleaned out
the heel with a vacuum and we were underway. During the week we made a little tent to work in ( that leaked ominously ) as the weather girl had predicted rain all weekend. She's always right when it comes to miserable weather! The cup box for the rudder shaft must be made so we can take it in to the machine shop during the week to have it re-bored out to size and a temporary bearing made for alignment next weekend. It's hard to believe 1/2" thick pipe this size would warp when being welded to plate, but welding always warps metal somewhat. |
 Makeshift tent to stop the rain |
 |
The plate on top of the
heel was also installed to create a bit more rigidity to
the structure (we hope! ) Lining up the position of the box fore and aft isn't a big concern as the hole through the hull is much smaller now than it will be once cut out. A plumb-bob sufficed. Yay gravity!! |
| The side plates of the
cup-box were lined up using the actual heel's side plate.
A level was crossed to make sure the tilt port to
starboard is even, then fore-aft. A level isn't the most
accurate way to do this so a piece of plastic pipe ( top
photo ) was used to make sure, well, with a level again,
but on a larger surface. I won't show the hole through the hull we fed it through hehe! |
 |
| It can only be
so accurate and the final test will be once the box is
being welded on permanently. We have been forewarned that
this is a frustrating process. We'll see! It's important that the bearings line up because, after all they are only plastic. Even though it's a high durability super plastic called Thordon. ( expensive! ) If there is any misalignment, they will wear quickly. Especially in a skeg scenario. I can imagine how quickly! I plan on polishing up the shaft carefully so it has a smooth surface near the bearings. Because of expansion/contraction the bearings must be frozen in a freezer before being inserted, and the clearances, in thousands, must be precise or the bearing would spin in the tube thus grinding it away. Not a pretty picture. I want to go on a sailing cruise, not a maintenance cruise. |
 Centering on the heel. Hope this works!! |
The finished rudder heel cup box!
Day 250:
8 hours - .Made rudder heel cup box
.gif){kind=small} To DAY 249 |
We've
remixed him, he's remixed us,
Now he has an awesome new
album!! |
To DAY 251+ |
