Rudder Repair

Please see the post RE new 7.9 masts

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sailor536
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat May 24, 2003 10:38 pm
Location: 702 Sunningdale Dr., Grosse Pointe Woods, MI 48236
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Rudder Repair

Post by sailor536 »

My rudder had hairline cracks along the trailing edge that expanded to about 1/4 inch when I used a dremel tool to dig out the cracks.

With the cracks now about 1/4", is epoxy with a high density filler the right way to go to repair this? A picture is below to show the opening along the trailing edge of the rudder.
IMG_1468.JPG
IMG_1468.JPG (44.27 KiB) Viewed 2096 times
dave
Posts: 727
Joined: Fri Jan 02, 2004 10:39 pm
Location: Little Rock

Re: Rudder Repair

Post by dave »

You can give it a try but first make sure that the core is dry, sanded as much as possible and wiped down with MEK as much as possible before proceeding. The only way to make sure that it stays closed in to do as you say, then grind back about 1.5" from the center line all the way around the blade and glass the two halves together, then re-fair the trailing edge to the legal shape. Once a laminate has peeled away from that type of core I'm REALLY leery of getting any permanent bond. After all, it DID come loose to begin with! :shock: :oops:
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