Tiller v1.0 on ST. JACQUES has broken several times where it necks down to fit inside the yoke. I chose to make it out of solid cypress vs laminate it or pick a harder wood. The cypress I selected was also pretty grainy on the business end. We tried grafting in a teak end and the teak held up, but the cypress fractured the next time just ahead of the teak splice.
So we regrouped and decided to make the end of the tiller as wide as the yoke, and we will use Sunfish tiller straps to attach it. We will also laminate a strip of marine grade oak plywood between outer layers of cypress.
Skipper wants the tiller to be a little straighter up forward and sit a little higher, but the original tiller still gives us the basic shape.
Fastened the boards with TotalBoat THIXO, brushed onto both faces.
Clamped the boards, light clamping just until the epoxy started to squeeze out.
Sorry for the fuzzy photo, but we are shooting for a tiller along the lines of Culler's 16 foot Biloxi catboat, designed for Hagan.
Mock up to get the angles off of the tiller yoke and set the tiller height above the seat, Skipper wants it about 16 inches off of the deck.
Used the old tiller for a few of the lines then straightened out the forward end.
Cut out the tiller with a jigsaw, then ripped off the sides on a table saw to get it to the proper width.
Rounded the edges with a 3/4 inch roundover bit on a compact trim router, then did some shaping with the Stanley #51 spokeshave, belt sander and random orbital sander.
Shaped the tiller some more, decided against the goose egg knob.
Attached tiller with Sunfish tiller straps, machine screws, washers and nylon stop nuts. We will be looking for some bronze hardware long term, if this v3.0 works.
Set the tiller to 16 inches above the aft deck.
A little camouflage until we find bronze hardware.
Log of ST. JACQUES.
24 Aug 18:
Tape is off, ready for Sea Trials!
Stay tuned.
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