Rudder shaft install

i Was hoping to be able to install my rudder after I had finished and painted the hull of my tug, but have a hard time deciding what the process should be, mostly my issue is how is the rudder shaft affixed to the rudder so that it will be a solid connection, I what to be able to position the rudder under the hull and then slide the shaft thru the hull and pass thru the rudder and into the mounting hole in the keel. What is the most used method for this

The Rudder shaft.. the hull should be drilled to accept the rudder TUBE dia and glued in place, you can do this with just glue around the tube inside the hull or make a tube block which gives the tube more security and stability long term...( shaft block are my chosen method)

theres no reason why you cant install the tube after painting however you run the risk of chipping paint, idealy the tube should be fitted before painting to avoid this along with the fact it gets a lick of paint too.

the rudder and its shaft can usualy slide up the tube in the hull and is secured by a nut at the top ( if its threaded) and a tillar arm whih screws to the shaft to lock it, some people opt to file a flat where the tiller arm grub screw hits the shaft to give a more secure connection. ( more so if there is no thread on the shaft for a lock nut to stop the shaft dropping out...)
 if you dont have a theaded shaft.... my chosen method is to cut one on.. loosing a rudder mid sail is poor form!

 this applys to ' most boats' so simple operation of a normal rudder....

That said many boats have rudder skegs, this means you have little choice but to make the skeg, thats the end of the rudder inserts into removable to allow you to put the rudder in and out.

i have seen many people put the rudder in and glue on the skeg and paint in one go.. frankly i find that amature'ish' as there is no way to remove the rudder after its installed.... 

As for attaching the rudder to the shaft

that depends what material its made of..

plastic/wood rudder to metal = epoxy ( regardless which metal) extra then add two pins through the rudder and shaft to give added security if the shaft is ' slotted ' 9 basically any slotted shaft for rudders you would use two pins + the attchement methods to secure)

brass rudder to stainless shaft, = silver solder 

brass rudder to brass shaft = silver solder, but soft can work well.

white metal to white metal .... = remake that entier junk from brass!


to make the skeg removable you need to make up the skeg with the intension of it being screwed to the hull, or the remainer of the skeg thats still attached to the hull. 
On a model the skeg generally is more for accuracy of the model its fuction is limited as its a fragile part anyway in any model size...

a removable skeg is the best way to install not only the shaft but the rudder as your able to remove it consistanlty for maintence/greasing. 

my chosen method for skegs removal is to make skeg of brass, counter sink the holes for the screws, as this part becomes on solid part thats very durable, but takes paint poorly... ( i enamel it later) other option if its GRP works the same as brass, but wooden skegs would require a little reinorcement which i suggest using some glass cloth & epoxy to add strength to it where the screw holes are countersunk i would also add some of the brass bushing from servo mountings to help the screw joint less 'weak' . if the skeg is of ''white metal/puter'.. bin that shit and make if of brass! white metal skegs are junk there is no other way to say it...

see attached photo of my springer tug with a detachable wooden skeg...

Thank you, yes, of course, I hadn’t thought about making the skeg removable, I can-do that easily, I wanted to make the skeg wider anyway to accept some kind of bushing or bearing for the rudder shaft to sit in , currently the skeg is 1/2” wide , I’ll just add some thin pieces of brass on either side of the piece I cut off and then reattach it using some thru bolts . Thank you, everything else I think I have figured out . As for the rudder itself I thought I would solder some small brass fins onto the 3/16 shaft and then build up plywood pieces on either side and sand back to the shape I want and finish off with epoxy resin

All that will work fine, if your building up the rudder as you said I would defiantly add some pins through the rudders width for some added reinforcement and stress reduction on the rudders length.

As for the skeg itself some brass or bronze bushings will work well, they are low load anyway at that point as the strsss it as the hull entry point not the rudder tip, so the bushings won’t wear, even a off cut of the rudder tube will work fine.

My contribution of further food for thought.

My rudder shoe is all wood but soaked in resin diluted with isopropanol initially. It has brass tube inserts for the screw holes so that tightening the fixing screws cannot crush the wood. The metal inserts in the skeg are 2mm thread that I cut off the end of servo rod connectors. Everything is coated again in resin before painting and lacquer so I hope it will stand the test of time. I used a dab of loctite on the screws on final assembly.












The rudder is plywood profiled to fit the shaft which is glued with CA but then the whole thing is wrapped in glass cloth and resin 

Thats a nice clean looking install, the skeg looks to be about 1/2 wide , same as what I have, the screws that go down thru , or I guess up thru the dead wood appear to be machine thread, did you put threaded inserts in to support those, ? Very nice, gives lots of support to the bottom of the rudder post, thanks

Thank you Bill . Yes I cut these off and resined them into the skeg. Screws are 2mm CSK stainless steel