Snapdragon rudder - spare parts

[Kyle2]

Now that my Snapdragon 747 is out of the water, I can see that there is a nylon washer between the lower steel support (which is bolted to the bottom of the skeg) and the bottom of the rudder - presumably to stop the rudder wearing away on the metal as the rudder is turned. The nylon washer has almost completely worn away. Does anyone know where I could get a replacement washer?

 

[l'escargot]

Do you mean this bit?:

 

[Stemar]

A steel support isn't original. If it looks like the picture, it's because the original bearing has been replaced. It's quite possible that the replacement is a plastic skin fitting.

 

[hollandd]

i replaced the rudder bearings on my 747 after i saw a mod in the snapdragon owners mag i have the same fitting on the skeg but the top bearing is supported by a 6mm bar through the rudder stock with a nyloc nut on each end and resting on a 8mm washer so that the load is spread over the wooden piece in the cockpit and no weight on the bottom bearing hope this helps

 

[l'escargot]

Mine doesn't have the bar through but also "hangs" from the top bearing on a couple of nylon spacers so that there is no downward pressure on the bottom bearing.

 

[Kyle2]

Yes, the construction of my rudder is similar to that in your picture. The metal fitting on the bottom of the skeg is a different shape, but the same principle. I think that supporting the rudder from above looks a good idea - at least to stop the bottom of the rudder wearing away at the bearing. Thanks all, for the suggestions.

 

[l'escargot]

The bottom bearing of mine is a nylon bush I had turned up to fit in a boatbuilders (the light blue bit). In some modifications the metal tube part that holds this is a smaller diameter and simply has a skin fitting through it to act as the bearing and can be replaced with a standard size fitting from the chandlers. This is the set up that Stemar refers to.

The other two bearings, through the cockpit sole and through the hull are most likely standard skin fittings too.