Rudder I.D.

P

po-man sailor

Active Member
I took sunfish hardware off the rudder on left and took to wood with dagger and made my tiller. I found this rudder with the pile when I picked boat my 76 sunfish. Any ideas of vessel or approximate year?
 

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Dang auto correct. I should have proof read it before posting. I can't even tell what the heck I was saying.

Bottom line...can anyone tell if the rudder on the right is off a sunfish? Which model or year?
 
It looks like it may have the correct holes for a Sunfish or other AMF boat with the same rudder fittings (Puffer, Force 5, etc.) But that blade is not the correct shape for any of those boats. My theory is that the blade was home made for one of those boats.
 
That rudder is ACTUALLY a well-disguised & complex command module for controlling the universe... unfortunately, the last skipper to ship that rudder ran hard aground, lost the rudder in the ensuing nautical chaos, and now the universe is in a world of $h!t, LOL. :eek:

Starting with this F/U planet... ;)

So GET YER DRANK ON early tonight, the world may suddenly END without ANY prior notice, AYE??? Damn, I HATE it when that happens... :rolleyes:
 
Are rudders suosed to be mahogany like the dagger board. I varnished the dagger and it has that awesome deep vintage look but the rudder is light honey color not even close. Thinking about staining it and the tiller to match closer to the dagger board.
 
The rudders we have seen are mahogany, though I have read that oak was used when mahogany was not available. There are a lot of ash tillers out there also.
 
Applying varnish will darken it up a bit... close enough for gubmint work, I'd say, unless ya just GOTTA have everything the same color. :rolleyes:

Ugh, hung over today, but I gotta run pick up some free boxes for packing up my stuff. I'm committed to relocation, hardest part will be rehoming my cats, but I'm gonna run free ads in our local rag and try to get the cats onto some ranch or horse properties. :)

Once that's done, I can simply pack up, throw my stuff in storage, flip the home, and take a long vacation on the coast... see my friends & family before I come back to AZ and try again. Might also go further east, though I'm trying to avoid all that humidity, I hate that slop... :confused:

Uh-oh, SC has posted something here... nothing wrong with ash, it's plenty strong, they make baseball bats out of it (if I remember correctly). ;)

P.S. Might also bite the bullet, buy a boat and head out... it's very tempting, though my future would be uncertain, as far as finances go. :eek:
 
Ash is light and strong, with a little bend.

If you decide to stain, I'd suggest varnish after that. Stain and epoxy have some compatibility issues.
 
My five Sunfish all have mahogany daggerboards and rudders.

When cleaned, sanded, and finished with varnish, they exhibit a shimmering, 3-D, finish. Mahogany is a strong and beautiful wood. :cool:

Oak is OK, but given the choice...;)
 
Mahogany is a good hardwood, very durable for the purpose... a little heavy, but not too bad. :rolleyes:

I once made a replacement rudder out of mahogany, and it turned out well... the old rudder was cracked & totally thrashed. ;)

Come to think of it, mahogany is probably the first hardwood I ever worked with, making skateboard decks out of it back when dinosaurs roamed the earth. :eek:
 
The mahogany is a hardwood and does not flex. Definitely durable.

You have to keep an eye on mahogany, sometimes Skipper steals blank pieces and has table leaves made out of it to go with her round pine table.

ST JACQUES Transom on table.jpg
 
L&VW said:
Oak is OK, but given the choice...;)
Click to expand...

Hey, oak was good enough for the Royal Navy, back when England was "terrible at sea..." :eek:

Meaning they were bad@$$, not that they were p!ss-poor sailors, lol... :rolleyes:

Of course, oak was used in the frames and planking of the hulls, I think most of the spars were made of fir or spruce... :D

I'm pretty sure the USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") had an oaken hull... and her sides could take a beating, lol. :cool:
 
In my original post the picture is of my mahogany dagger, my oak tiller (only wood i had, I picked very tight grain) and the rudder that looks light colored. My intention has always been to go w spar varnish multiple deep coats. I love the classic look. However on my test spot of the rudder it was substantialy lighter than the dagger and almost the same as the oak tiller both with just varnish. That is when I decided to try and mix some stain to get closer to the mahogany dagger. After stain my intention is to go muti deep coats of varnish just like the dagger. Its just a pita the rudder isn't dark like the dagger. Oh well...SQUIRREL!!!
 
Ships'
Cactus Cowboy said:
Of course, oak was used in the frames and planking of the hulls, I think most of the spars were made of fir or spruce... :D

I'm pretty sure the USS Constitution ("Old Ironsides") had an oaken hull... and her sides could take a beating, lol. :cool:
Click to expand...
The new U.S. Navy had ships' carpenters selecting branches of Live Oak trees in Georgia and South Carolina. Those went into building the USS Constitution.

When Britain ran out of Oak, they used Teak from India.

Vikings' Longships used Oak exclusively.
 
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