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Tiller arm making


jaywalker

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I would be very surprised if any respectable boat builder would make a swan's neck from tubing. Every one I have seen has been fabricated from solid round steel bar, involving a lot of heat and a heavy bending jig. Any steel fabricator should be able to make one if you provided the measurements, or you could approach a Boat shell builder. I have no real idea of how much it would caost, but I suspect you would not get much change from a hundred pounds, especially if you nee a rudder post socket welding on as well.

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4 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

I would be very surprised if any respectable boat builder would make a swan's neck from tubing. Every one I have seen has been fabricated from solid round steel bar, involving a lot of heat and a heavy bending jig. Any steel fabricator should be able to make one if you provided the measurements, or you could approach a Boat shell builder. I have no real idea of how much it would caost, but I suspect you would not get much change from a hundred pounds, especially if you nee a rudder post socket welding on as well.

I saw a fbeam last year that had a tubular swansneck not fitted. ( it was lying on the deck) it had rusted through where it had been fastened to the socket. He was enquiring on how to get to midland chandlers where he thought he could buy a new one . Given he was an a narrow canal i  simply pointed him in the direction of the nearest bus .

id have towed him of course if the boat would have been suitable .

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10 hours ago, jaywalker said:

I need to make a new swanneck/ tiller arm. I believe the standard size tube used is 38mm tube.

has anyone else done this and if so how did you form the bends? Failing that who could I get to make one and roughly how much would it cost? 

If you have got the budget and your boat is nr Braunston then Roger @ Ivybridge or if a lower/less budget ask Dave at Granthams Bridge they may do it but if not he will know someone I'm sure

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9 hours ago, David Schweizer said:

I suspect you would not get much change from a hundred pounds,

 

I'd have thought all shell builders will have the tooling necessary but persuading one to break off from building their current shell build to make a custom swan neck would cost a good deal more than £100. Just supplying the bar and turning down and drilling the end to accept the brass tiller bar would take you way over £100 I'd have thought.

 

Then there has to be an hour of discussion with the customer about exactly what shape/height etc to make the bends, then make the tapered collar to fit onto the rudder stock. What taper is it? A trip to the boat (wherever it is) might be necessary to measure it.  Then of course welding the swan neck to the tapered collar. 

 

I think £500 would be more like it, and even then the fabricator wouldn't be making much out of it. 

 

A far better bet would be for the OP to approach whoever built his/her shell. They will knock one out quickly as they will already know the shape and what fits. Might even have a pile of them already made!

 

 

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Midland Swindlers do sell some swan necks, along with other steering hardware, but the photos don't make it clear if this is just the unbent bar, of if the bends have been formed. The prices, photos and lengths quoted suggest they are not bent up, but worth asking. In addition to the bends, the one end will need turning down to fit the inside of the removable tiller extension tube. If it is just the plain bar, then you still need to get someone to turn it and bend it, which is the hard bit! Plus they could also probably buy the plain bar cheaper.

 

Jen

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I made my own from Steel tube , using a machine mart pipe bender...

 

I took measurements of one I liked the look of.

Cut myself some tube to length

Tacked a cap on one end 

Fill with sand, very tightly packed

Cap the other end 

Place in the pipe bender 

Apply the pressure very slowly, to avoid tube collapse, ( that's also what the sand is for)

 

Once you get your shape, just cut the ends off and release the sand. Then trim to length ..

 

Easy ;)

 

Of course it depends how handy you are or if you look at things and think "sack it, I'll pay someone to do it for me"

 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, Canal321 said:

I made my own from Steel tube , using a machine mart pipe bender...

 

I took measurements of one I liked the look of.

Cut myself some tube to length

Tacked a cap on one end 

Fill with sand, very tightly packed

Cap the other end 

Place in the pipe bender 

Apply the pressure very slowly, to avoid tube collapse, ( that's also what the sand is for)

 

Once you get your shape, just cut the ends off and release the sand. Then trim to length ..

 

Easy ;)

 

Of course it depends how handy you are or if you look at things and think "sack it, I'll pay someone to do it for me"

 

 

 

Just the sort of skills you need to avoid the big bills you get when you hand over your boat to the professionals. The spirit of Brunel lives!

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