Wooden Dagger & rudder repair

pez

Member
Ok... My project this week is to re-finish the wooden daggerboard and rudder to the laser... I'm pretty sure they are mahogany or teak... but I only know a few kindsa wood...

Anyway, the rudder has a ding on the trailing edge... at the very bottom, a chunk about 10 mm wide and about 25mm tall... I'm really not sure how to repair it... I may just fair it up so that it's not so jagged and call it good... my guess is that the rudder will no longer be legal after that because the net effect will make it 2.5 sq. cm smaller...

I'm also going to make a new tiller... after a close look at the thing, it's a straight piece... my originaly wooden tiller is cracked in the back and isnt held very well by the... the... thing that holds the tiller... Anyway, it rubs on the fiberglass in the back and has an annoying amount of play.

I'm also going to get a thick hardwood dowel to make a new tiller extension
 
You can repair the rudder the same way you repair the current blades - fill the missing area with thickened epoxy - search the forum here for how to's (it's mahogany)

Heres one to get you started
http://laserforum.org/showthread.php?t=2053


You may be able talk someone out of their old teak tiller. Many have replaced them with aluminum or carbon tillers... To reduce the play between the tiller and rudder head you can start by squeezing the rudder head. Another method that works is to shim the end of the tiller.

FWIW, even the early Lasers had aluminum tiller extensions.
 
hey, thanks for the info... will check into the marine Tex stuff...

Mine is among the early lasers that have aluminum tiller extensions, and perhaps that's the way to go for me also... the only problem with my tiller extension is that it's only 27" long, and it makes it difficult to hike out and still have good control of the tiller... add the play of the tiller and it's just not a great situation.
 
For tiller extensions - discarded golf club shafts, 1/2" or 3/4" PVC pipe works too. If you have cat sailors around, check with them, their broken extensions are useless to them, but a Laser sailor's treasure.

(check the inside dia to make sure the universal fits)

You can also extend your 27" extension with the PVC pipe and a couple of rivets to attach. The thicker PVC is a little easier to steer with as well for most people...
 
In Australia u used to be able to buy $20 garden leaf rakes (Cyclone brand) with a plastic head and an aluminium (aluminum) handle of the same diameter and wall thickness and finish the Laser alum Tiller (Just rivet a flat bar of alum to it or buy a Laser nylon head fitting and u have a tiller. Same diameter was good for extension and could get ronstan tendon joint to fit - but needed tape or golf grip for grip
 

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