Another rudder shaft question

[Richincident]

Some of you may remember that last year I removed the Edson Steering wheel and some of its equipment from my Soverel 28. There is a very nice teak tiller that I have been using ever since. Things were going just fine until Saturday, when we came in while fleeing a squall.

Overall the boat did great, flying along at a sustained 5 knots in a very strong breeze. However the tiller and rudder wound up slightly out of alignment. There is a stainless bolt going through a bronze fitting and into a kind of notch in the stainless steel shaft of my Soverel. The notch has no threads, or at least, it doesn't now. The only threads seem to be in the bronze fitting that the tiller bolts to.

There is a small bronze spacer under this fitting. When I took the fitting off, the shaft settled down somewhat. Since I had not removed the aluminum wheel that WAS the point of attachment for the wire cable of the Edson wheel, the shaft did not fall out of the boat. (I knew that it would not for that very reason.) I put a wedge under the wheel to bring the shaft back up to the level it WAS at and reattached the bronze fitting. However it did NOT go smoothly together, and the head of the bolt now limits the drop of the tiller. It is clearly NOT as far into the shaft as it once was. However I am reluctant to tighten any further--I am afraid of stripping the threads on that nice old bronze fitting.

It seems from what I have read that there is nothing else holding the shaft into the boat other than the Edson aluminum piece and the fitting at the top of the shaft. Is that right?

I am concerned that IF the shaft falls again the rudder will become locked and I will be unable to steer unless someone gets down in there with the edson aluminum "platter" and holds it up while turning. So among other things, just to have a redundant steering system I am thinking it is time to put the Edson back--BUT I have sailed pretty happily for a season and a half (or slightly more) with the tiller. What do I need to do to feel safe that it will NOT fail?

THANKS!

[Richincident]

Here's more information.

Today I tried to do something to tighten up the rudderhead fitting. It seems as though either the bolt or the bronze fitting itself may be stripped.

http://i716.photobucket.com/albums/ww16 ... erhead.jpg

There is play both left right and a bit up down. The shaft has what appears to be a "pocket" which MAY have been threaded at one time. It almost seems as though something is missing. Even if the bolt was good and tight I don't see how it really worked--but it did, and for many years.

So all ideas are welcome. Part of me says just make the best fit I can and then epoxy it so I can sail, deal with the problems later. But that seems like a poor substitute for doing this properly.

Any help is warmly appreciated!

[Hirilondë]

Is the bolt threaded all the way to the end? Or is it just threaded where it goes through the rudder head fitting and not where it penetrates the shaft? It may have been a special bolt originally and is now a replacement that does not fit as it should. If the rudder head fitting is threaded, then having the shaft threaded as well does nothing really. The bolt needs to thread through one of the two and fit tightly inside the other. It is in fact a large set screw in application. Are you sure the up and down movement is in the same place? It could be that your shaft bushings are wearing as well. It is very hard to see any of this from one picture.

[Richincident]

Agreed, my picture is not good. Had not taken it apart previously, but it appears that the bolt was threaded all the way to the end. Now that part is stripped.

I suspect that the logical thing to do is to try using a tap and re-threading both shaft and rudder head, then get a new bolt to match the new threads. I haven't ever done that work, so a part of me is living in fear that I will make matters worse.

On the other had the absolute fallback might be to purchase a new, bicycle seat style rudderhead, which appear to be available in a number of sizes and would simply clamp to the rudder post.

So the risk is lower that way. The bushings beneath the deck may be worn or shot--certainly I have had more vibration in the rudder upwind than I would like. The stuffing box was newly repacked and appears to be okay.

So I am going to take more pictures (I was running out of gas last night) and give everyone a better look. I figure I will measure everything, price everything, and then try to tap new threads and hope. It appears that something is missing AROUND the shaft--even with the bolt in it I suspect there would be play.