Keith et al
I saw this post when it first popped up and thought you were doing fine so nothing for me to add. Plus, on some of these issues I can only describe how I did it on my boat, blah blah blah. Not all the boats are the same though often the build methodology was very similar. Plus I have been busy and mostly have had access to only my phone which makes it hard to see the pictures or type on.
For those that want to know what the gudgeon looks like, at least on my 36, click on this link and scroll down about half way. There are pictures of the shoe, the pin and the delrin disk too.
http://www.farreachvoyages.com/projects ... rsion.html
The SS pintle should not rotate. It is pressed into the bronze shoe. In the picture to the right of the one with the shoe and pintle there is a photo looking into the receiver in the bottom of the rudder. There is a SS sleeve in there that has a flat top. The top of the SS receiver rests on top of the pintle. The SS receiver is fixed in place in the rudder and the whole thing rotates on the pintle. I never determined exactly how that receiver was installed or exactly what it looks like/how designed as I could not see it since it is encased in the bottom of the rudder. My best guess is the receiver in the rudder is part of or connected to the bottom of the SS rudder post encased in the fiberglass and foam rudder. I never could tell how much of a “cup” there is to contain the pintle.
I think the epoxy ideas discussed could work as a bushing but the pintle needs to rest in the SS receiver. There is no way epoxy can support the load of the rudder if it gets between the top of the pintle and the receiver. Make sense? You also need to align the rudder receiver with the pintle carefully if you are going to encase it in epoxy. I would wrap the pintle with some clear packing tape and smear it with paste wax vice grease. Wrap the pintle from top towards the shoe so there is no lip of tape to hang up on the cured epoxy.
Jim Bircher made the delrin bushing. There is a link to his shop website in the link above. The delrin rudder does not support the rudder. The pintle is taller than the receiver is deep so the rudder is lifted up above the bronze shoe, supported by the top of the pintle. There is a small gap between the shoe and the rudder. The bushing rests on the shoe. The disk part is maybe 1/4” thick and the tube part of the bushing is maybe an inch or inch and a half tall with a slight taper on the outside surface. The top of the bushing fits into the chamfered opening around the receiver hole in the bottom of the rudder. The purpose of the bushing to reduce clunking and rattling of the rudder on the pintle. All I can say is it works perfectly. I’ve heard nary a sound from the rudder.
I took the rudder and shoe with pintle to Jim and he machined the delrin bushing to fit precisely. You could probably have one made without taking the rudder but you would have to make perfect drawings. IMO, the best thing is to take the rudder and shoe to a shop that is equipped to make one.
I’m not making a pitch here for tiler steering. But because I have a tiller I can tell you the rudder turns very easily with no noticeable friction. So, when set up correctly the rudder assembly and bearings and bushing do their job just fine.
If there is interest in seeing the pictures posted here I can do that. If not, you can see them in the link above.
