Wooden Rudder Repair - Cracked

[Mala Z11]

Hello!

I'll share with you what I did to repair my wooden rudder using fiber glass.
It had a crack line by the metal pin that rotates the rudder (photo below).

1) Removed the varnish;
2) Sanded along the crack to make the depth to fit the fiber glass;
3) Cutted the crack way to clean the damaged wood and create a way to the epoxy go in;
4) Fiber glass + epoxy in the sanded part;
5) Sanded the entire rudder for smooth homogeneus pre-varnishing;
6) First varnish layer, dissolved 60/40 (current stage);
7) +5 pure varnish layers (always sanding before painting).

Probably the fiber glass cloth would be better, but I used what I had at home.
I hope I can help someone!

 

[Mala Z11]

 

[tag]

That is beautiful water to sail in!

 

[L&VW]

It's been awhile since we'd heard from you.

Of my five remaining Sunfish, there are at least three rudders that need attention. Among the ways to split a rudder, I suspect "backing" into shallow water is the worst offender.

My plan is to wait until one breaks altogether, then epoxy the whole length. (Then cross my fingers, because I don't "do" biscuits).

 

[danpal]

Biscuits are easy with a biscuit saw! A tool every woodworker should have!

 

[tag]

When I did my rudder and daggerboard repairs, I drilled a long hole through the wood and epoxied in a threaded rod to strengthen the cracked areas.

sunfish rudder and daggerboard repair – progress

a long while back I posted about refinishing my Sunfish and Super Porpoise rudders and daggerboards. I proceeded to sand down a bit of the finish on the Super Porpoise parts, but sailing seasons g…

my2fish.wordpress.com

Pic is of my Super Porpoise rudder, but the same concept applies.