laminated tiller

[jerry_jones]

Any suggestions about which woods to use for light and dark layers when I make a new laminated tiller?

 

[johnlilley]

iroko and ash, mahogany and ash, mahogany and clean pine (free from knots). Alternatively you could use dry oak in place of ash. Teak does not glue that easily, ash and oak bend easily, iroko is a bit stiff in large thicknesses and mahogany is reasonable to bend cold. Ensure you use straight grained timber. A good timber glue such as polyurethane or cascamite etc will be as good if not better than some epoxy in my opinion. Use plenty of clamps. Good luck.
John Lilley

John Lilley, John Lilley & Associates, Web site www.seasurveys.co.uk for osmosis /timber problems

 

[JOHNBOY]

I used oak/mahogany. Looks great varished.
The most important thig is to bond it with a good epoxy I used, West.
Good Luck JB

 

[Joe_Cole]

Go for ash for the lighter wood. It's very pale and a great wood to work with. More importantly it's very tough and resilient which is why it's used (I believe) for the chassis in the old Morgan car. It also used to be the traditional wood for the shafts on horse drawn vehicles.

Personally I'ld go for Mahagony for the darker colour, partly for cosmetic reasons but also because it's usually good to work with.

If you go to all that effort to make the tiller it's worth protecting it with a simple cover when you are not on board. It saves a lot of revarnishing. Epoxy is very strong and good for waterproofing but it is not wonderful under UV degradation.

Good luck


Joe Cole

 

[jerry_jones]

Many thanks to those who made suggestions - together with replies to my posting in uk.rec.sailing I feel a lot more confident. Looks like I shall end up using 5mm Ash and Mahogany, bonded with Cascamite or Balcotan rather than epoxy, seal the surface with epoxy followed by varnish for UV protection and use a fabric cover for protection when not in uise, as well as take it home for the winter layup.

 

[staffmrm]

I need to make a swan neck shape from the cockpit sole. What thickness and how easy is it to bend ash
Martyn

 

[Joe_Cole]

Laminated or a single piece?

If you are laminating say 3 or 4 mm will be fine. It could be thicker if the curve is gentle as it probably would be for this application.

If you are making a single piece then it will bend very well but will need to be steamed. Ash is excellent for this. It will also be very strong.

Joe

 

[JimMcMillan]

Ash from 1/8 to 1/2 inch will bend easily if you wrap a cloth round it and pour boiling water over,leave for 2mins and bend.