A laminated tiller

[terrulian]

I searched the forum for tillers and didn't find this but maybe it's here someplace.
I wanted to build a tiller for my sailboat and decided to laminate it out of white oak and mahogany. It was easy.
First, I milled the boards to about 1 1/2" x 1/4". I wanted a finished width of 1 1/4" and if I had it to do over, I would leave myself some more room to trim and make them 1 5/8" wide.


I made a form from my old tiller, just blocks glued and screwed to a piece of plywood.


Then glued the pieces together, protected from sticking by packing tape.


Once that cured I trimmed the edges. I thought of doing it with a table saw but decided to use planes.


Final shaping was done with a saber saw, router with a 1/2" round over bit, and belt sander.


A little varnish.

[cape man]

Beautiful, and yours!

[cape man]

Beautiful, and yours!

[gonandkarl]

Hi Tony,
You built a really beautiful tiller and finished it so fast on top of it. I built mine the same way laminating the offcuts of the shoe hole for the centreboard. I still have not shaped it or worked on it with a plane, but I have to do it soon if I want to splash in July.
Please let us see a picture of your tiller attached to the rudder and in action on the boat. I know I will find some important detail on such a picture that I can apply for my tiller build.
Greetings from Karl ( Austria landlocked and dreaming of the sea )

[glossieblack]

Great thread - for me, an elegant tiller speaks volumes. Very nice work terrulian.

Off Centre Harbour is a subscription bespoke wooden boat building site (my favourite) that offers access to up to 10 videos free. If you're into the 'how to' of handcrafted bespoke timber tillers, suggest you google Off Centre Harbour, and get access to http://www.offcenterharbor.com/videos/m ... -brainerd/ . If you simply click on this, you'll get the short promo video. If you go the next step and ask for access for the entire video free, I'd be amazed if you didn't enjoy what you see.

[Cracker Larry]

I'll echo what they said. Beautiful work

[terrulian]

Thanks, guys. This was surprisingly easy to do and not very time consuming.
Yes, glossieblack, I'm familiar with the Off Center Harbor videos. You Tube has become a goldmine for crafts of every imaginable kind. It really is now the most valuable resource for continuing many of the traditions of workmanship which would otherwise go the way of slide rules. It's very nice to see these arts continue. It is true, there are some videos by guys who really don't give advice I would agree with; for example, there is a video on knot tying that shows an incorrect sheet bend, and another that shows an incorrect cleat hitch. This is actually not trivial; an incorrectly tied knot is worse than no knot at all. But by and large, there is a huge amount of skilled instruction online.

I seriously considered using a spokeshave, a tool with which I have no familiarity, but I punked out for a couple of reasons. One, I didn't have one. But they're cheap. Two, although I really do enjoy working with hand tools, I also know that getting good results can be very frustrating for a beginner. Nice wood is not cheap and a false move will mean starting over. I was pretty sure I could achieve what I wanted with tools I was familiar with.

[Cracker Larry]

I seriously considered using a spokeshave, a tool with which I have no familiarity, but I punked out for a couple of reasons

I love using hand tools and do whenever practical. Draw knives, spoke shave, hand planes, hand saws. Something about a sharp plane swishing over the wood, does a lot more for me than the sound of power tools.

[gonandkarl]

Hi,
Thank you for the tiller building link, now I know exactly how to do it. I have a spokeshave which I have never used. I will just get myself a rebate plane and then hopefully I will produce a reasonable tiller.
Greetings from Karl

[terrulian]

I love using hand tools and do whenever practical. Draw knives, spoke shave, hand planes, hand saws. Something about a sharp plane swishing over the wood, does a lot more for me than the sound of power tools

I'm a little disappointed in myself for not trying the spokeshave...but I think I'll start with some cheaper wood. I had to take an hour's drive to get this stuff.