Taking a bull by the horns.

[Michael Brigg]

I have discovered woodworm in the original Cow horn tiller extensions for my IC, Torment.

Closer inspection shows that they have in fact undergone many repairs. The old resin/fibreglass has been appied I presume over original varnish, and there is certainly evidence that its adhesion is poor.

What to do?

I will try to repair and strengthen the old set for show, and special use.

I think a new "practice set" made with plastic water pipe will be sensible. These things clearly get trashed quite often and plastic piping I think will be a cheap and robust alternative.

In the mean time I have purchased a 10ft length of 2" x 1" ash from a local furniture maker. It is nice and straight with no knots in it.

In the good old days if you gave a boy a stick he would be happy for a day, but if you gave him a penknife he would be happy for the rest of his life!

Not quite a penknife, but I am making very close acquaintance with my newly re-bladed Surform tool.

[JimC]

Plastic water pipe on its own tends to be a bit too flexible. You can bear away OK, but sharp luffing may be an issue. I'm a great fan of 12 quid landing net handles, but my local fishing shop has stopped stocking the cheap ones.

[PeterV]

I used plastic water pipe on my Finn for many years, it was strong enough for the large helm movements in a Finn in heavy weather and I blessed it many times when I made a mistake and just bent it to recover. Only 1m length though, longer might be more of a problem.
I alSo used cane extensions on my contender, light and cheap, I even had a shorter one for lighter winds when I wasn't trapezing.

[ent228]

I found the plastic waterpipe to flexible for a canoe, I'd definitely go for the carbon landing net handles!

[Obscured by clouds]

I'm a great fan of 12 quid landing net handles, but my local fishing shop has stopped stocking the cheap ones.

I got a cheap carbon handle off ebay to make a dangly stick for the merlin

[Ed]

Canes look correct on an old IC and work pretty well. Would prefer them to plastic pipe. Even if you brake them you can normally get home with them. I find the biggest problem is working out how to attach them to the tiller. It is here that mine have always broken. I ended up binding them with wipping twine and then epoxying them then drilling through that.

Early boats using canes often had two, one either side of the tiller.

There are a few people who can and like polypipe extensions on ICs. In 2005 a couple of the Ozzie boats had em by choice. Although I have found them too bendy, I currently have a lightweight ali tube extension, that was broken and is joined with a bit of poly pipe. It looks awful, but it is actually really good to use. Plenty firm enough, but if I fall onto it, or put my hand down heavy on it, it just bounces back into shape, whereas with the ali, it would bend and I would have to bend it back.

Really like the idea of landing net handles Jim, can you give me any more advice on what I should look for? a link maybe?

eib

[jpa_wfsc]

Bamboo is both 'original', and cheap, and looks OK... and is stiff enough for those urgent tiller movements. I had one on my IC last for about 6 years. Varnish it, and put a tennis ball on the end to avoid poking it through the sail.

It used the same SS Holt tiller fitting many small dinghies had using screws and nuts right through one side to the other..

j./

[Rupert]

For the Minisprint and the ToY, I jammed doweling down the plastic tube. The plastic stopped the wood from snapping, and the wood stiffened the plastic. Heavier than bamboo, though.

[Michael Brigg]

Well I am thinking of bamboo core for the plastic tubes as a general purpose tiller for learning my way around the boat. (Next year now I think.)
...but for the authentic "original look I am generating a good supply of small rodent bedding. anyone got a hamster that needs a duvet?

Pure Ash. I am told it is best for shaping the curves, and it is certainly a nice long grain.

[cweed]

I've epoxied a short (4 inch or so) length of ali tube to the cane extension and bolted that to the tiller U J.

A bolt through the ali / cane ensures security!

[Michael Brigg]

My intent is to rig Torment "as was" in the classic style with a "Transom" traveller attached mainsheet, coming off a "Long" boom. (which might possibly be bought up the boom to a central sheeting position if there are problems with cleating it.

Stern sheeting means the Tiller extension cannot be passed round the stern, hence the need for two, which are mounted on a "Yoke" on the tiller at an angle to eachother of @ 120'

You can see the arrangement here...

[Michael Brigg]

Lots of fiddly bits to do and no guarantee that it wont all fall apart with a small amount of strain. The modern option of Universal joint using the rubber bush off a windsurfer mast foot becomes an attractive option.

But authenticity is demanding mistress!

The original is here, The challenge lies in the translation...! Pint for the winner when I get to a meeting some time.



Clue: Its all about energy.

[Michael Brigg]

So... here is the basic plan.

[Michael Brigg]

Take one 2" x 1" x 10' ash Plank.

Cut it length ways on a band saw and whittle each resulting pole to a gradual 1/2" taper.



Next take an old piece of mast section (Old broken ones are perfect) wrap it in discarded carpet and run the hose of a wall paper stripper into one end and put your tapered ash poles in the other, tapered end first.



Steam them for 2-3 hours until soft.

Using an old extention as a template, place this on an area of lawn and peg the extension to the ground with a little more bend than previously. Remove the old extension but leave the pegs in position.

Now remove your new extention from the steamer, (you may need garden gloves as it is initially quite hot, though as it is wood it will quickly dry (due to the heat on the surface, and as a poor conductor of heat, you will be able to handle it within a few seconds without gloves.

Quickly, before it cools, (It will start to stiffen and set within a few minutes!) transfer it to the pre-prepared "jig" of pegs driven into the lawn. If it feels too stiff or seems likely to break under the strain, put it back in the steamer for another 30 minutes.

[Ed]

All very interesting.....and I will hopefully come back to it.

but...

2-3 hours of steaming seems way too long....and there are issues with over-steaming leading to brittleness and/or loss of strength. With oak there seems to be a sweet spot, go too far and it just goes soggy and snaps really easy....

what is the story with the kanji?


Looking forwards to hearing more...

Incidentally, I am not sure you are not mad.....Sailing IC's is one of the best fun experiences, but I have to say that they got a whole lot easier and better fun when they got rid of the bullhorn tiller extensions and the bacon slicers.

the problem with two tiller extensions, especially if they are connected/one piece is that if one side catches anything (like sheets) it totally fux you up, and in my experience rips off the tiller extensions, leaving you with nothing to steer by. Personally I would make up a simple one-piece system, even if a bit short, to use when you are learning. When you feel comfortable with it and need the full length offered, then I would go for the bullhorn system.

eib