Curved wooden tiller

It is quite easy to do. Just make up a basic form out of blocks, slabber some epoxy onto thin veneers, slap them together and clamp to the form. Make sure and put a bit more bend in than you need as there will be some spring-back. Use a draw knife to shape and then sand and varnish. Will be much nicer for having your own input.
 
Quiddle said:
But how big is your bank? I spent 3 figures having a straight teak tiller made . But then I'm hopeless at woodwork.
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To a large extent it doesn't require carpentry skills: it's a long way from cabinet-making. The only part which demands a degree of dexterity is the final shaping, which I suppose could be farmed out to someone with the necessary skills. Most of the work is fairly repetitive, the technique easily understood and quite straightforward. (Although testing your approach on a simple job first would be wise.) Obviously much will also depend on the size and degree of curve(s) on the finished item: it's probably prudent not to start with a big pilot cutter.

These were my first wood laminating jobs, and I'm a far from being a chippie:
WTFII_01 lo-res.jpg
 
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I made one for a dinghy years ago. ISTR the main thing is to make a decent jig to stop the thing twisting.
I used wood from scrap furniture, the stripey look is not compulsory.
These days, I'd probably use carbon fibre.
 
laminated isn't necessary. i got a local carpenter to make a tiller that matched the curves of my trapper 500 laminated tiller which was delaminating. he used a large piece of mahogany he had lying around. he made sure the grain was the right way to give strength (don't ask me it all looks the same) but lamination is a way of creating strength that sometimes simple bits of wood don't have.
 
Mine is long and thin (no sniggering at the back) and laminated out of two different woods, which give a nice contrast. Ripped the stock down to 6mm and glued it up on a simple mould, with lots of clamps. But, it was not on it's own, as the whole boat is an époxy composite, so just a small part in the general build. A one off might be more daunting..
 
To build with a single piece of wood is much more tricky. You either need to find a bit that has grown in exactly the right curve so the grain doesn’t run out or you need to steam bend a straight bit which is tricky for something as hefty as a filler. Laminated, whether aesthetically desired or not, is the way to go. You can make it solid looking anyway
 
pmagowan said:
To build with a single piece of wood is much more tricky. You either need to find a bit that has grown in exactly the right curve so the grain doesn’t run out or you need to steam bend a straight bit which is tricky for something as hefty as a filler. Laminated, whether aesthetically desired or not, is the way to go. You can make it solid looking anyway
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+1 for steaming. It's easy to make a steamer from a section of sewerage pipe and a steam cleaner or wallpaper remover. The pipe needs to be insulated with old sacking or similar.
You need to make a jig as you would for laminating and when the piece of timber is flexible enough, get it into the jig and clamped down as swiftly as possible, as the effect of the steam wears off very quickly.
 
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