pboulanger wrote:Just to confirm, did you mean Three Systems S-1 for the penetrating epoxy? Can't seem to find anything called X-1.
It's SystemsThree and yes, I do mean the S-1 (why I keep thinking X, I don't know, it's not the first time).
pboulanger wrote:A somewhat related follow up: for refinishing the tiller, would you follow the same process, perhaps without the fiberglassing since it will (likely) not be taking any impact? Or, if you would still suggest fiberglassing, do you have any suggestion for laying and epoxying glass on a rounded edge? Actually, any advice on dealing with the rounded edge of the rudder would be helpful, too.
I would not bother with trying to add glass to the tiller, but on mine, I keep nicking the tip, and it's easy to press it into the coaming; there's a limiter on the rudder, but the lever arm is so long, it's possible to make the tiller touch the coaming anyway. I sometimes just tape a length of electrical tape in places like that. e.g. on the underside of the tiller, that allows things to glide better and is a bit sacrificial.
For sheathing the rudder, the technique is to set the blade with the rounded front end pointing up and then to drape a single sheet over both sides. The two halves will meet in a V at the trailing edge of the rudder, and you just glue them together there. (After they have cured, you cut off the excess). If the rudder doesn't have a nice sharp V shape, you can use the glass to help form one, but then you need to inject epoxy into any voids afterwards. If your rudder has a proper foil shape, the two halves will follow it, and meet in a shallow V (or actually, more a Y shape). Afterwards, you cut off the excess (the stem of the Y) and then make sure you grind the trailing edge so it forms a 1/8" edge, angled slightly asymmetrically, perhaps at 75 degrees instead of 90. (Will prevent flutter.)
If you have not used fiberglass before, it's not really hard, but a bit finicky and trying it on a small sample is strongly recommended; that will quickly give you a feel for how this works and you'll learn best how to get any air bubbles out, etc. While the glass will become invisible, any trapped air will not, so you need to make sure you are not working so vigorously as to form bubbles and foam with the epoxy!
PS: if you ever wanted to cover a spar or pole in fiberglass, the best way is to wrap it in spiral form with strips, like you would bandage something. It shouldn't be necessary for the tiller, but I did that, for example, when coating a bamboo spinnaker pole.