Play in Tiller

[ebb]

Hey there Tim.
I guess all my verbiage is to hopefully get some interest going about redoing the fitting. It's a pretty conservative lot we got going around here! Must be something metal and alloys and fire and brimstone. And it probably would be better if an actual Westlawn grad would draw the better one.

The imposing part in this is that we have deferred to the designer and engineer on the tiller/rudderhead fitting. I think that some bad compromises were made designing the one we have. And we're brainwashed into accepting it. I'll bet that Alberg had nothing to do with it. I believe that well enginnered fittings look right, have some beauty about them. That thing we got in the cockpit is heavy and clunky and ugly. This is not to say that it doesn't have some good things. The rudderhead part is pretty sophisticated - it's the tillerhead part that never was finished by Pearson.


Awhile back I got a chromed bronze Edson tiller/rudder fitting for a backup. It's a lot prettier and sexy to look at than ours - which looks like it was recycled off Capt Nemo's Nautilus. Trouble is the keyway is in the front rather than the back.
My attempts at making a new rudder now has two keyways on the top of the shaft 180 degrees apart. Actually that may be a good thing since keyways get screwed up a lot.


There may be an impediment going off to the foundry with your own design, but, hell, if you had one chock or cleat of a certain pattern and you had to have two, it isn't a big deal to take it to a foundry and ask them to cast another. Or, as I saw for ten years of weekends being around a great yacht being built, you make up wood models from the yacht designer's specs - or scale up a fitting you like - or fix a design that's OK but missed it. It's a mystery, but it ain't no big mystery.

Getting the tillerhead recast is something you'd go to the foundry and talk about. No different than going to a machine shop, or a highly skilled welder. And find out if something can or can''t be done. Just costs time and money.

[Tim D.]

Undoubtedly when I get the boat up here and apart that will be one of my options (since there are very few others )

[Bill]

Before casting your own tiller fitting, get an original from:

Historical Arts & Casting, Inc.
5580 West Bagley Park Road
West Jordan, UT 84088
TEL: 801-280-2400
FAX: 801-280-2493
www.historicalarts.com

They acquired the original patterns for early Pearson yachts.

For more information check out post #25 in this thread:

http://www.pearsonariel.org/discussi...istorical+Arts

[Tim D.]

Thanks Bill, I had not completely forgotten, but did get misplaced in the shuffle.
Tim

[bill@ariel231]

Tim

Just a quick note on this subject:

Historic Arts has a lot of good stuff but they didn't get the pattern for the ariel/commander tiller castings. They have the 1.5 inch casting (for the vanguard and alberg35) they also have the 1.25 inch casting for the pearson 26 (designed for a vertical shaft))

Folks who have the right part in production are zeke durka at ensign spars (same part as the ensign) and bristol bronze, bristol's tiller head casting is through drilled for the shaft, having seen both parts, i lean towards the ensign spars part for originality)

Cheers
Bill@ariel231

[Tim D.]

I think this is why I was confused reading previous threads, I am into functionality, which replacement would give me the strongest for the buck?

[bill@ariel231]

Both the ensign spars and bristol bronze parts appear to be equally strong. The cross-sections and alloy choices appear similar. The failure modes for my tiller were dissimilar metals (prior owner installed an aluminum tiller in the bronze casting... Not good) and wear on the bolt holes in the tiller head casting. If you have the original and the holes a just a bit oblong, you might want to talk to a welder experienced in repairing bronze (a propeller shop can fill the holes back in and re-machine the part)

I'm not concerned the original part is "under-sized" 40+ years of service is a lot to ask. My project this year is to replace my tiller head casting with an original pattern part. The rough casting is on the workbench awaiting a keyway and some time in the drill press.