Re-finishing suggestions for a Plywood Rudder

[Spot]

Hello,
I am looking for re-finishing suggestions to a rudder setup on my trailer sailor.
Previous finishes include paint, Bondo, and gel-coat (based on a styrene smell while sanding). I was told to 'rattlecan' it but that does not seem to be enough for this one.
I am not trying to return to bare wood and varnish, just looking for methods/material list that makes sense for the project (budget trailer sailor).
So far I have patched the blade with filled polyester resin and epoxied wood into the cheek to reinforce the pintel mounting area. I am considering some sort of fill to all of the end grain as this seems to be a weak point. I am also hoping to clean the paint off the hardware as well.

Thanks!

[Benz]

I'd sand to bare wood, do a couple layers of epoxy; maybe start with some penetrating epoxy if that's in the budget, then paint with 545 primer and your topcoat of choice.

[George_SD]

Just like Benz said, sand some and then cover with epoxy. I would even wrap a layer or two of fiberglass for additional strength (it's cheap enough at home depot for a small project like that).

I hate doing things twice, so prefer to do a good job the first time around.

[tkeithlu]

Ditto on the Benz and George SD advice.

Maximum force on the rudder is at the arms to the pintles and their bolts through the center core of the rudder. The design has got a weakness, in that those arms are indented in the rudder, bypassing the outer two layers of plywood and grabbing only the center layer. The plywood in that area has taken a beating, including screw holes from some past repair, and is suspect. I recommend a larger and stronger plug than the pine block you show in the third picture. Ideally, the plug would be much larger, and made of epoxy impregnated plywood or a stronger wood.

[Spot]

Thanks Ben, thanks George!
I think I have been shown the spectrum between a quick fix (spray paint or alkyd enamel) to refinishing for durability (seal with epoxy, epoxy primer, topcoat). I had not planned on 2 or 3 40$ quarts to do this but I guess any extra time or money spent on materials will hopefully result in a longer time between paint jobs.

[Spot]

Thanks TKL!

I will have to think on all of that. Poking around, I see that Catalina recommends a 1/2" [12.7mm] pintel and gudgeon set to replace their older 3/8" [9.5mm] ones on their 22'[6.7m] boats. Mine is a short 21'[6.4m] with 3/8" hardware. The gudgeons on my boat, basically a stainless angle with holes, seem a bit 'light' compared to the newer Catalina ones. My rudder cheek seems to have failed from drilling the cheek multiple times at the upper pintel (non-immersed) to correct the angle without appropriate backfilling/sealing, similar to leaks and rot on a wood-cored deck. I agree that a non-recessed pintel installation would be ideal.

[Apollo366]

Boy, those indented pintles are just waiting to fail on you. The thing is if you repair as you have done, it will fail on it's schedule, if you fix it now it's at your schedule.

Me, I'd get new pintles like you noted above, they should be available at a wreckers yard for very low cost, and new marine plywood. A layer of FG cloth to waterproof it, no strength is really added, then just paint the rudder and done.

Apollo Wayne

PS, what does your your model's boat discussion group say?

[Cadence]

Originally Posted by George_SD

Just like Benz said, sand some and then cover with epoxy. I would even wrap a layer or two of fiberglass for additional strength (it's cheap enough at home depot for a small project like that).

I hate doing things twice, so prefer to do a good job the first time around.

Clean all the paint and whatever off and encapsulate with FG cloth and epoxy.

[Lake-Effect]

Before doing anything... are the wood parts dry enough to work on now? I would want to let the things dry out for a couple of months in the winter before doing an extensive refinish. Also poke at them with a screwdriver, and dig at any wet spots... there's no sense refinishing if there's considerable rot.

I just finished making new cheeks for the rudder of our Sandpiper 565 (19' trailersailor). Originally it was just supposed to be a refinish, but once the bits were apart... the rot was more extensive than I thought. I cloned the cheek pieces in 3/4" marine ply, and cut in the pintle and gudgeon indents with a router. And I used a cheap laser engraver to put the Sandpiper logo on them. . To finish I used one coat of runny boat-building epoxy, which soaked in decently, then 2 coats of good spar varnish.

From your pictures, your pintle and gudgeon straps seem rather small; ours are 4 and 6 inches. And the wood didn't look all that great. Maybe do the minimum to keep that rudder functional, and plan to make a new one in the off-season?

[Spot]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

Maybe do the minimum to keep that rudder functional, and plan to make a new one in the off-season?

This might be the best course of action to redeem our terribly short season and not be beached until better wood and hardware are sourced.



Thanks for all of the input everyone!

[Spot]

Gudgeons and pintels and sanding, oh my!