Loose tiller handle

[umpire111]

my tiller handle is very loose when fitted onto the tiller- the end of the tiller is simply not large enough in diameter- how can I make the diameter larger?

[Taslim]

Some time ago I did a "temporary" fix for somone by spliting a length of copper water pipe (28 mm?) and sticking it to the swan neck with a Locktight type product. Still there and the owner polishes the copper.

[Bee]

That is really annoying, making the dia bigger is either welding and grinding, never going to work very well or a bit of epoxy resin and a scrap of fibreglass tissue wrapped around it, or maybe ram a piece of dowel into the end of the handle and then bore it out to the smaller dia.

[Timleech]

You don't say how big is the discrepancy.

 

'Proper' ways to do it:-

Cut off the end of the Ram's Head/Swan's neck and weld on a piece of steel the right diameter;

Get a tiller bar which fits;

If the gap is big enough, get someone to machine a sleeve which can be slipped over or inside as appropriate, held with Loctite or epoxy or just a press fit.

Don't do this with steel fixed inside a brass tiller bar, you'll regret it in 10 years or so! The sleeve could be made up in short pieces if doing it in one piece is too much of a challenge.

 

Tim

[bizzard]

If there is only a little bit of free waggle on the tiller handle, thin sleeving of either part will be difficult. The play can be taken out quite simply and lasts quite well by sticking rounds of insulting or gaffer tape around the male stub. Do not just wind it round and round which will cause it to quickly scuff up and peel off but separate circles of tape neatly cut clean with a craft knife so they butt up to each other all smooth and level with no overlaps. Then slightly bevel with a large file and smooth with emery the inside edge of the tiller tube so that it slides smoothly over the taped stub without scuffing it up. One treatment of this should last at least a season and is easily repeated if necessary.

[koukouvagia]

I have the same problem. I just dunk the handle in the cut. The wood swells and the wobble goes away for about six weeks.

[FadeToScarlet]

I have the same problem. I just dunk the handle in the cut. The wood swells and the wobble goes away for about six weeks.

I think the OP has a problem with the other end!

[koukouvagia]

Ah yes. In that case I just let it wobble!

[ditchcrawler]

I think the OP has a problem with the other end!

I was trying to work that out.

If so buy a different diameter brass pipe

[FadeToScarlet]

You don't say how big is the discrepancy.

 

'Proper' ways to do it:-

Cut off the end of the Ram's Head/Swan's neck and weld on a piece of steel the right diameter;

Get a tiller bar which fits;

If the gap is big enough, get someone to machine a sleeve which can be slipped over or inside as appropriate, held with Loctite or epoxy or just a press fit.

Don't do this with steel fixed inside a brass tiller bar, you'll regret it in 10 years or so! The sleeve could be made up in short pieces if doing it in one piece is too much of a challenge.

 

Tim

I've seen a couple of boats, with 80+ years of wear on that stub, having had it built up with weld in one or more places and ground smooth. Might be the easiest permanent solution.

[twbm]

A nail of the right dimensions held against the lower side of the bar up against the fat end whilst you slide the tiller over it forms a useful wedge and stops the rattle. Oval are best.