Aries bronze and stainless

[Blackthorn]

Has anyone any experience of these wind vane steering mechanisms ? They are called the Aries no4 and were produced by Nick Franklin in the mid 70s. They are radically different to the Aries we know and love today. Built from bronze and stainless steel tubing, as far as I can see the only thing they had in common with the normal Aries is the vane holder and the pendulum rudder.

 

[DownWest]

They were the best of the day and still used by many people. A friend I sailed with fitted one and soloed to Rio and back on his 36 footer. I also fixed one after it got bashed in a gale, very solid bit of engineering.

 

[Blackthorn]

Great to hear from you Down West. The No4 I have seems to be complete . I have been gradually dismantling it and trying to work out how all the pieces fit back together. As you say very solidly made. As you have repaired one you will know all about the problems of obtaining BSF nuts and bolts . Marine grade stainless is out of the question unless I buy a tap and die set and make them myself.

 

[DownWest]

Just a thought, but you could go metric and the next size up to the imperial, unless there is threaded component other than a nut? Might take some of the wear out of bits
Just been futzing with a Trapper, all the stuff is imperial on that too. Even worse here in France trying find bits, so mostly make stuff or switch to metric.

 

[Blackthorn]

My boat is a Vindo. The Sweedish boat builders seem to have preferred UNF in the 70s. Anything new I have done I have tried to stick to metric . Your suggestion is a sound one. Most of the bolts for tightening the bronze castings onto the stainless steel tubing have a nut at each end, could easily be replaced by metric studs and nuts those which are tapped into the bronze itself could be replaced by studs with BSF at one end and metric on the outer end. That way, as fate generally has it ,when a nut falls in the water it can easily be replaced. For now my main concern is the bevel gears which look quite chewed up. Perhaps from inaccurate adjustment or from corrosion. These have been brazed onto their respective shafts. I have no way of knowing whether these are original gears or some earlier repair work. They are of mild steel which seems uncharacteristic for Aries.

 

[DownWest]

It was quite a while ago when I fixed that one. Result of anchor dragging in the big storm of '99/2000. The gears were bronze, so yours must be a bodge. Franklin's daughter used to sell spares and I sourced a few bits from her. What you need is a friend with machining skills, or a lot of patience I once sat down with a cast iron plumbing fitting and files, turned a blank on my old lathe (the easy bit) then filed all the teeth for an epicyclic gear on the starter motor for my truck. No parts available at the time, so no choice.
If yours still work, maybe clean them up and frequent greasing with something sticky? Possibly build up the teeth with braze and file back? There are only a few that engage.
(You can tell I hate scrapping old, good kit ;o)

Nice boat, BTW.

 

[Blackthorn]

Well nearly 50 years old, I suppose I have to expect some rushed repairs and modifications . The teeth on the bevel gears are quite fine and badly eaten away. I don't think they have ever meshed properly as the angle of the pinion and crown look different . Anyway I have shown them to a local guy who has the machinery to make a robust repair. Hasn't come back with a price yet. Farming communities like ours tend to have a few guys with the skills to tackle just about anything. Epicyclic gears sound like a lot of fun. Way above my skill level. You are right that only a 180 degree section of the radius of the crown gear is actually used but the pinion gear uses one full revolution for fully left to right on the vane. As I understand it bevel gears work best when they are properly matched so to make a decent job of it I would prefer to replace both gears at the same time. Hopefully then I don't have to look at them again for a while.