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Fabricate a Laminated Tiller.

The new tiller is laminated from ash and American walnut.  The ash is for strength and the walnut is for colour contrast.  Both woods have excellent adhesion with WEST system epoxy.  The new tiller is the same length as the factory original but with a bit more curve to raise the grip to a very comfortable height so it can sweep across the cockpit above my knees.  The cockpit is tight enough without the tiller taking up a good portion of the room!  Besides, it is bad manners to swing a tiller into a crew's knees!  The gentle curve continues upward until the grip is level with the gunwale.  The pummel at the end of the tiller is formed with a teardrop to keep my cold hand from slipping off.  Its about the same diameter as a baseball bat.  The new tiller has absolutely NO side bend to it.  I tested it by lifting a 300 lb. person standing 1' from the rudder end. 

CONSTRUCTION - Select solid lumber with straight grain and no knots.  Ensure that the lumber is at least 1/4" wider than the width of the tiller so the outside of the tiller can be shaved off smooth to the final dimension.  I use a band saw to cut the wood stock into 1/4" thick strips of suitable length.  Plane and sand the cut sides smooth to avoid cracks or voids in the assembled stack.  If the band saw blade has sharp teeth with deep gullets and you feed the wood slowly, then the wood will cut smooth and straight and require only light sanding.  The edge of the stack will be finished when it is assembled in a later step. 

• If you wish to copy the original tiller then draw the outline of it on a sheet of 3/4" plywood leaving at least 6" all around to install the stopper blocks.  See diagram below.  If you don't like this shape, then now is the time to alter it to your liking. 
• Spread waxed paper over the plywood to prevent the epoxy from sticking. 
• Screw some small stopper bocks of wood along the top of the rudder outline.  These blocks MUST be fastened very well with a single screw so they can rotate to align to the laminate. 
• Dry fit the stack of wood strips, clamping the stack to each block with a C-clamp.  Clamp in the middle first, working to the ends, alternating left and right till you reach the ends.  If everything fits OK then scribe the edge of the laminated stack with a single thick line for later alignment when you apply epoxy.  Extend the scribe lines to the paper to mark the stack relative to the stoppers.  Disassemble the stack. 
  

• GLUING - Use a disposable brush and lightly but thoroughly paint unthickened epoxy over both sides of all the strips.  Let soak.  You should see air bubbles coming to the surface of the wood as a sign that epoxy is replacing air as it penetrates.  If you have applied too much thin epoxy, it is OK to scrape the excess of with a spatula, pouring it into the plastic mixing container for later use.  While the first coat is soaking in, thicken some epoxy in your plastic mixing container to the consistency of mayonnaise and coat the top and bottom of each strip.  As each strip is coated, set it in the mould, aligning the strips to each other and the stopper blocks using the previously drawn scribe mark.  Once the stack is complete, tighten it with C-clamps (center outwards) until the epoxy starts to ooze out.  While you must clamp the stack hard enough for the strips to contact each other, do NOT over tighten them so you squeeze all the epoxy out.  You must leave some epoxy between the strips.  It should ooze out the full length of the each crack to ensure there are no voids inside.  Leave clamped to cure for 24 hours, not any sooner, and remove from the mould only when hard.  Remember the strips are under sheer stress and any relaxing of the clamps when the epoxy is still green will ensure a stack of fire wood. 

• SHAPING - Now file, sand or plane each side till smooth.  I used a belt sander to start and an assortment of other shaping tools to finish.  Shape the corners, the pummel and the stack of laminates to fit inside the rudder head.  You may find a void in the epoxy if you were frugal during the application.  Although sometimes air bubbles are trapped and you end up with a void even if you weren't frugal!  Anyway, fill them with thickened epoxy till flush with the surface.  Once the desired shape is reached, sand the entire surface with 200 grit paper in preparation for the finish coating.

• COATING - To protect the epoxy from ultraviolet coat the tiller with a UV blocking finish.  Epoxy has no protection or tolerance to ultraviolet light.  I used Sikkens Cetol Marine right over the epoxy.  Five coats of this stuff blocks 100% of UV and is tough as nails.  I have also added the bi-annual maintenance coats.  See Tech Tips G02 & G05 for further info.

• FITTINGS - If you fasten anything to the tiller, using a screw or bolt, seal the exposed wood inside the hole with epoxy.  This helps to maintain the strength of the laminate.  In addition, seal the underside of each fitting with a flexible marine adhesive to inhibit marine growth.  This bracket is for my Tiller Pilot.
   

• 2019-10-25 - My laminated tiller has served me well since I built it in 1997.  Over the years I applied a maintenance coat of Cetol when needed but lately a few cracks started to show along the glue lines, exposing open joints to the weather.  Time to get at it before the wood absorbs water.  So I gouged out each crack with a Dremel Tool cutting wheel, dried the tiller in the warm furnace room and filled the cracks with WEST Gflex epoxy.  It took 4 applications to fill some of the cracks as the epoxy penetrated.  I love the way WEST epoxy penetrates dry wood.  A light scraping removed the excess epoxy after which I sanded it to roughen the surface for the clear coat.  The bare wood was stained where I scraped too deep (oops), following by 3 days of drying.  Lastly I applied 2 coats of Cetol and let it dry for a week at room temperature to harden.  The fittings were installed on the tiller with clear Marine Goop under each as you see below.  The Tiller Pilot received a new control line and the BMW318IS stick shift knob from my son's car got another coat of bee's wax to keep the leather supple.  Love the feel of that in my hand.  The tiller is good as new again.

• 2023-10-13 - I had an accident with the tiller extension this summer when the stick shift knob fell off, landing in the cockpit.  Frankly the original installation was too weak for this job.  So this time I beefed it up by inserting a length of telescopic aluminum tubing that fit precisely inside the extension tube and to full depth of the knob.  It is secured with lots of Marine Goop the entire length of the tube.  This stuff sticks to leather very well and the assembly is stronger than ever.  I also coated the leather knob with shoe polish to blacken it. 
  - PS: The stick shift knob belonged to my son's BMW and is a lasting memory of him.

The WEST site explains epoxy application, safety and laminating wood in good detail. See Tech Tip G05. 

Safety - When working with epoxy observe the safety rules by using barrier cream and disposable gloves to protect your skin. 

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