Tiller to rudder stock joint - ideas?

[andrewbodenham]

My clinker halfdecker has a transom-hung rudder with a wooden stock and lifting steel blade. The oak tiller sockets into the rudder stock - the tiller is tapered in both height and width, giving a firm(ish) location. The tiller extends through the rudder stock and is secured by a tapered fid.

The whole setup is a bit wobbly, and subject to being slack or tight depending on the prevailing weather conditions. There's also a lot of corners for the mainsheet to snag on - fun when gybing! I intend to make a new rudder, so this is an opportunity to devise a more businesslike solution.

What setups do other people have, and does anybody have what they consider to be the definitive solution? The rudder and tiller need to be unshipped to save wear on the pintles whilst she's on the mooring, so it's got to be an 'undo-able' joint. Suggestions? Pictures please?

 

[oldfrank]

Find an old wooden batten and glue it to the side of your tiller. Plane to a perfect fit. Varnishing is reccomended to stop bare wood swelling and the tiller jambing in position. Cut off the outer end of your tiller flush with the aft end of your rudder. Drill a hole through the rudder head into the tiller to take a metal split pin - and allow it to go far enough into the tiller so that what's left sticking out, doesn't catch the mainsheet. Attach a thin line through the hole at the end of the split pin and permanently fix the other end to the rudder - so you can't lose the pin. Easy! Old Frank

 

[Roach1948]

As for not loosing the pin, another way is to router a recess a channel on the top of the tiller deep enough to take some the brass pin and attaching cord. The cord is tied to a bronze lashing saddle atop the tiller and when connecting the tiller to the rudder lay the cord and pin along the recess. When the tiller is through the rudder aperture, the pin can be dropped out of the channel placed through the hole. I prefer a hole in the afteredge of the tiller that does not go through the rudder stock, but instead wedges the tiller against the rudder stock. Less holes in the rudder for water ingress, easier to fit and remove (no alignment) and neater IMO.