MFG 19 Tiller/Rudder

I'm repairing my tiller/rudder.

First the tiller. It was a mess. Three layers of mahogany laminated together to make a nice curved shape. The layers had separated. There were screws that someone put in as an attempt to hold the layers together. It was holding three pieces together, but that was all that was holding them together. The glue was long gone, the pieces had separated, and the wood was starting to rot. One piece had broken in half. I took out the screws, sanded the layers, and have re-glued them with good waterproof wood glue. They are now solid again into a single piece. I need to sand the whole assembly and fill the gaps with wood filler. Some of the wood is still a bit spongy, so I am going to try Minwax Wood Hardener. Has anyone ever tried that stuff?

Do you have screws in your tiller? I'm thinking of filling the screw holes with wood filler and not putting screws back in.

Now the rudder. It is two pieces. I can see someone tried to reinforce it with glue along the joint, sort of a patch job. Well, the reinforcement was starting to fail. I dug out some of the glue, laid the rudder against a 2x4 on one side, took a second 2x4 along the joint and gave a few sharp whacks with a hammer. The joint separated. There are four or five dowels that align the two haves and hold it together. I think those were original from the factory. I've used a scraper to remove all the glue from the joint (whoever tried to repair it did a poor job - it looks like they tried to squirt glue into the joint, and on the outside of the joint, in order to fix it). I now have two clean matching surfaces. I will get new dowels and use the same good wood glue to re-glue this joint as well. Then some sanding.

I'll either use varnish or polyurethane to finish the rudder and tiller. Any thoughts as to which would be better?

Paul
Webmaster: sailmfg.com

Paul:
Let me throw in my 2 cents since I refurbished my rudder several years ago. I used West System epoxy to refinish the rudder after I had taken out the warp and filled the cracks with waterproof wood filler. The epoxy is not inexpensive (about $55 per quart) but does a great job. I put on 3 coats with a 24 hour wait between coats. The West System can be purchased at most marinas or through Defender or West Marine. I was checking out my rudder over the weekend and was very pleased at how it has held up over the last few years since I worked on it. As for your tiller, unless you want to purchase a new tiller I would suggest that you drill out the sections and glue in wooden dowels then varnish with a good quality spar varnish (minimum of 3 coats). The dowels will add a little extra strength and aren't as likely give under the stress of a strong wind. I hope this is of some help. Also, my cabin door is a two-part door with the hasp on the top section. I drilled the screws in to the wood only and secured the screws with 3M5200 sealer/adhesive.

Good Sailing!

Dick

Only advice to add is that you can do better with your repair of the spongy wood by applying the thin penetrating type of epoxy. Some folks help it out by drilling tiny holes to help the epoxy sink in. I am sure the dowel system would help too, but I think the epoxy only solution is probably easier. I have used Wood Hardener and it is fine but I wouldn't trust it on anything load bearing. Good luck.

I agree with Theakboy. I have used the wood hardener and it helps stiffen the wood for carving or sanding, but it does not replace the structural intergrity. Epoxy would.

No screws in my tiller... but there are wood dowels that go through the sections.

Sounds like you are doing well... I look forward to seeing the pictures.

I'm wondering if I put my ruder together correctly. Does the sharp or rounded edge go forward (towards the bow)?

Paul
Webmaster: sailmfg.com

Paul:
The rounded side faces the transom and the thin edge faces outward. Be careful on launching to wait until the boat is in the water before putting the rudder on. Since the rudder and keel extend the same length in the water, the rudder will scrape the launching ramp if put on before launching. I launched last week and have spent the past three days on the boat - good to be back on the water .
Dick

Thanks, Dick. My rudder is assembled correctly. I notice there is some kind of adjustment line. It does not budge, so I will eventually take the rudder apart and put in a smaller line. Any idea what this is for?

I wanted to launch a week ago, but the boat was just not ready. Too optimisic on my part. I wanted to launch this past weekend, but the weather here was awful. I'm now hoping for one day this week, weather permitting.

Paul
Webmaster: sailmfg.com

Paul:
I have no idea what the adjustment line is. Perhaps you could post a picture so we all can chime in. The weather in Ohio has been most favorable the last few weeks - temps in the mid 70's and sunny with 5-12 mph winds. The Memorial Day weekend was ideal to get back on the water and sail as long as you wanted. The boat responded well and I'm feeling very comfortable with her now after 6 years. Hope you have the same experience.

Dick

Paul,

I believe that the adjustment line you are talking about is to hold the rudder down when you get into deeper water. Where I dock my 19 the water is real shallow, I release the line from the cleat when coming to dock and the rudder swings up. My rudder swings freely on the pivot bolt.
Hope this helps.

Harvey

Paul:
Harvey is correct about the adjustment line being for the swing-up rudder. My rudder, however, is fixed and will not swing up. It could probably be reworked, but the previous owner preferred it in a locked position since he sailed on Lake Erie. As I've said before, each 19 is different depending on the likes and dislikes of each owner.
Dick

Dick and Harvey are correct about this line on the rudder. My rudder doesn't have this feature, so I need to be very aware of where the shallow water is. When encountering shallow water, (i.e., when I've run aground, I can allow the rudder to kick up by pulling the lower of the two pins which extend through the metal frame of the rudder. This allows the rudder to kick up so that I can sail to deeper water, push the rudder back to its vertical position and reinsert the pin.

A bit more tedious than pulling the string on other models, but it always works.

Ken

Ken