Building the
Rudder Cassettes For a "Kick-up System"
I had previously cut out the section
for the casstte and stowed it away while I built the surrounding
transom sections. The section cut out was composed only of the
floor and transom. I had shaped 9mm marine ply for the sides
of the cassettes and the voids sections and laminated them with
450 DB outside and 200 woven cloth inside. The front piece of
9mm ply I left unlaminated for now. The adjoining aft deck area
is covered in this page and is shown
in unfinished state in this photo. The deck section for the cassette
is shown at left with a couple sticks across it so I can set
the section even with the other portions of the aft deck. The
under side of the cassette is supported by a stand at the position
desired. Keeping in mind that a 10 mm or so gap on the sides
is needed to allow for further work and filler. I went my own
way on the dimensions of the cassettes. They are slightly wider
and tapered.
Here I have the deck section taped in
along with one side and the front piece of ply. I have used treated
pine for void connecters. They are screwed and glued here. Not
visible in the pic, I have laminated the inside surface of the
ply.
Now I have cut the holes for the composite
rudder tubes.
The rudder tubes were cut short so to
make them work I inserted my rudder stocks inside to align and
then extended with a piece of PVC pipe. Then wrap the whole thing
with many layers of 450 db tape and epoxy. Finger indicates the
joint.
I made the extensions overlength to
allow trimming to fit. I originally figured on leaving the extended
top to the front piece of ply provide for support for the pivot
braces (yet to come) but later realised it would make a fairing
nightmare and really unnecessary.
another view...
Now the tubes have been taped in with
the 750 gr tri-ax. Massive double layer and plenty of bog. The
treated pine has been taped in place leaving only the upper face
uncovered and ready for gluing to the remaining side panel. Also
an additional coat of resin to seal everything.
Here you can see the taping done to
the timber and the facing edge is coated with glue mix with a
little extra on the inside edge.
Now the sides are all in place and I
have fabricated the pivoting braces and set them in place. One
of the rudder stocks is trimmed to proper hieght. One of the
ply pieces had a little bend in it so use the metal bracing strap
to pull it back to straight.
sanding and prepping for taping all
around and the pivots. I have already taped the pivots on the
inside and cut away the excess ply.
I will used the heavy tape for securing
the pivots on the outisde. Instead of using tape on the ply,
I just cut a piece of 450 DB glass and covered the whole thing
and around the edges so using the bigger piece as laminate and
tape combined.
Filling the gaps forcefully, carefully...
Then using my palm to smooth over the
edge....
Then the spatula to clean off from the
flat surfaces... I like to do this because it helps to fair the
edge and prevent air from developing under a sharp corner. And
if there is a rough spot in the edge it fills it.
I cut a piece of 450DB tape for the
entire circumferance plus a bit... pre wet..
The little cotton threads can be a pain
in the ass.. rather pull them off on the table then on the work.
and lay it on...
all around, even it out...
Previously I had put a small cut in
the corners which was dumb. This stuff can contort to quite a
varierty of shapes and here I take advantage of that. working
in by hand and then..
Go over with a wet roller...
And consolidate. When the epoxy is firmng
up mix a bit of bog and spread over the new work. I chose not
to use peel ply for this because of all the busy corners. This
takes care of these items until further down the road when fitting
them to the aft sections will require fianl shaping. For now
they sit in the shed with the rudders.
