Fitting an autohelm tiller pin

Porthandbuoy

Porthandbuoy

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www.backbearing.com
I'm looking for ideas for a good tiler pin installation.

Do I simply drill an interference fit hole and drive the pin in with some varnish, and rely on varnish to seal the pin/timber join?

or

Drill oversize and fit the pin with some epoxy?

Any other suggestions?
 
pvb said:
Follow the installation instructions. Raymarine, for example, state that the pin must be epoxied in place.
Click to expand...

+1

that is how mine was done *.......... over 30 years ago ... still there still solid as a rock.

* with Araldite
 
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Epoxy. And give the pin a go with sandpaper (120 grit) to make the epoxy adhere better than on the smooth stainless steel surface.

www.teamswashbuckler.com
 
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When I needed a pin for a spare tiller, I think they wanted something like £7 ... and that was 20yrs ago! I turned one from a 6mm s/s bolt (not a set-screw). The screwed part then provided a perfect key when epoxied into a slightly interference fit hole.
 
I took my pin out a while back to varnish the tiller and it was screwed in and i think there was some sort of glue on the threads.
 
On mine the pin is on a substantial metal bracket screwed underneath the tiller rather than on to the tiller itself. The bracket is a gentle 'S' shape, one end screwd to the underside of the tiller and the pin is on the upper surface of the other end.
 
PeteCooper said:
On mine the pin is on a substantial metal bracket screwed underneath the tiller rather than on to the tiller itself. The bracket is a gentle 'S' shape, one end screwd to the underside of the tiller and the pin is on the upper surface of the other end.
Click to expand...

Mine was like that, but the screws kept pulling loose. I have now through-bolted it and hope this will not be a weak point in the tiller. The bolts (well, set-screws really) are well bedded in Sikaflex 291 which should prevent crevice corrosion and provide some degree of resilience against shock loads.
 
alan_d said:
Mine was like that, but the screws kept pulling loose. I have now through-bolted it and hope this will not be a weak point in the tiller. The bolts (well, set-screws really) are well bedded in Sikaflex 291 which should prevent crevice corrosion and provide some degree of resilience against shock loads.
Click to expand...

Impatient and wanting to get sailing and the job done, when I replaced the tiller. I did not have any epoxy to hand or a drill big enough and TBH it was a bit cold for epoxying anyway.

I did on the other hand have a drill slightly to small and a hammer, so my new teak tiller has the pin tapped into place by a interference fit...

Not had chance enough to give it enough abuse yet to move it :o
 
The hole will weaken a tiller VERY little.
Picture the tiller as a tube fixed solidly at one end. As you push it sideways like a tiller, one side of the tube tries to stretch, the other tries to compress. Halfway between the two sides it is neither stretching ir compressing and is known as the 'neutral access' with no load on it. So it doesnt need to be there and you can drill a hole in it!
The tiller is just like the tube but the tube is easier to picture. A tiller going sideways has a verical pin on the neutral axis so does not weaken it.
You are then filling the hole with an epoxied in pin, helping to restore the weakness that isn't there!
The above does rely on the hole being small in comparison to the tiller width!
 
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