Yeah...Recalling the member who showed pics of an ugly salt-corroded casting.If you are looking for used rudder heads, try to find the Aluminum ones, they are pretty much indestructible.
The splash rail is structural as it keeps the hull from flexing. That said printing one in sections might not stay together long. It also has to have the stiffness of the original fiberglass. I would say, drain plug and rudder cheeks for sure, splash rail not so much.
You’d need to consider all the properties of nylon before going all-in on it as the right rudder cheek material. There are a number of articles about it. Here is one: Everything you need to know about Nylon 3D printing | MakerBotHave you considered printing with nylon? It has almost
double the tensile strength of ABS. I'm pretty sure it
would make cracking almost impossible.
Do you happen to know where to get the CAD files for 3D printing a DePersia bailer? Or the drawing for one with dimensions? A friend lost one and I trying to help her out.An attempt at 3-D printing of the DePersia drain plug screw-in caps is worth a shot. The original part ranks high on the list of most often lost Sunfish parts and I saw one sell on E-bay once for $50. Keep us poisted. You may be on to something of benefit to the legions of metal bailer fans out there.
Alan Glos
Cazenovia, NY
The really important pic will be that of what it looks like after its first day of sailing in 20 knots!will post pics when done printing.