For those playing along at home, we (collectively) recently designed
a tiller lock device to work as a manual stand-in for a tiller autopilot.

Then, one of the cleverer fellows here pointed out a web site that already had
the thing in stock. Sogeman Tiller Brake - made in Canada too!

So I ordered one.

It was *almost* exactly what the doctor ordered.
But not quite...

There were a couple of problems to overcome.

For one thing, the boat end mounting only swings in one axis - on a plastic
fork. That's not going to work on my boat. I'd break it in less than a day.

I gobbled up a two axis mount to replace that mess that lets the stick
hang freely without breaking the mount fork. It's not pretty, but it works.

The other issue I have with it is the tiller end mount pin.

The stick came with a little plastic mount with a stainless pin.
It would probably be ok structurally. But I'd prefer to only have one
mount pin on the tiller - shared by both the manual stick and the autopilot.
(one at a time, of course). Less crew training and less chance to mess up.

The pin already on the tiller is really spiffy - fits the autopilot perfectly
(well, it did come with it, so - duh?).

But there is a small conflict with the plastic fitting on the tiller end of the
stick. The shoulder of the plastic fitting doesn't let it seat all the way.

So I'm wondering what to call this spiffy pin thingie when I go a-googling?

This ought to go straight to the picture of the oin in question...
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~capri26/#pin

Richard

PS: It was a beautiful day to day in the mid 60s (winter solstice).
So I had a chance to actually use this contraption.

Guess what?
It really works!

cavelamb wrote in
m:

For those playing along at home, we (collectively) recently designed
a tiller lock device to work as a manual stand-in for a tiller
autopilot.

Then, one of the cleverer fellows here pointed out a web site that
already had the thing in stock. Sogeman Tiller Brake - made in Canada
too!

So I ordered one.

It was *almost* exactly what the doctor ordered.
But not quite...

There were a couple of problems to overcome.

For one thing, the boat end mounting only swings in one axis - on a
plastic fork. That's not going to work on my boat. I'd break it in
less than a day.

I gobbled up a two axis mount to replace that mess that lets the stick
hang freely without breaking the mount fork. It's not pretty, but it
works.

The other issue I have with it is the tiller end mount pin.

The stick came with a little plastic mount with a stainless pin.
It would probably be ok structurally. But I'd prefer to only have one
mount pin on the tiller - shared by both the manual stick and the
autopilot. (one at a time, of course). Less crew training and less
chance to mess up.

The pin already on the tiller is really spiffy - fits the autopilot
perfectly (well, it did come with it, so - duh?).

But there is a small conflict with the plastic fitting on the tiller
end of the stick. The shoulder of the plastic fitting doesn't let it
seat all the way.

So I'm wondering what to call this spiffy pin thingie when I go
a-googling?

This ought to go straight to the picture of the oin in question...
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~capri26/#pin

Richard

PS: It was a beautiful day to day in the mid 60s (winter solstice).
So I had a chance to actually use this contraption.

Guess what?
It really works!



If thats a Raymarine/Autohelm tiller pilot pin, the matching part is
probably 'Raymarine G004 Thrust Cap' which is a threaded part that screws
straight onto the end of the ram. OTOH if you made a replica of that
pin end out of a bit of brass rod (possibly a touch undersize) and heated
it up some, you might well be able to use it to reshape the tiller brake
end to accomodate it.

--
Ian Malcolm. London, ENGLAND. (NEWSGROUP REPLY PREFERRED)
ianm[at]the[dash]malcolms[dot]freeserve[dot]co[dot]uk
[at]=@, [dash]=- & [dot]=. *Warning* HTML & 32K emails -- NUL

Ian Malcolm wrote:
cavelamb wrote in

So I'm wondering what to call this spiffy pin thingie when I go
a-googling?

This ought to go straight to the picture of the oin in question...
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~capri26/#pin

Richard

PS: It was a beautiful day to day in the mid 60s (winter solstice).
So I had a chance to actually use this contraption.

Guess what?
It really works!



If thats a Raymarine/Autohelm tiller pilot pin, the matching part is
probably 'Raymarine G004 Thrust Cap' which is a threaded part that screws
straight onto the end of the ram. OTOH if you made a replica of that
pin end out of a bit of brass rod (possibly a touch undersize) and heated
it up some, you might well be able to use it to reshape the tiller brake
end to accomodate it.


That lead to several links for exactly the right parts - Extra long tiller pin
(D104) - all in England, Ian. How interesting.

So what does 10 pounds come to in Texas money? Is that a bit high?

I think maybe you had the right idea.
If I had access to a lathe I'd make this thing from a stainless bolt.

There *has* to be a machine shop around somewhere...

Richard

On Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:57:34 -0600, cavelamb wrote:

Ian Malcolm wrote:
cavelamb wrote in

So I'm wondering what to call this spiffy pin thingie when I go
a-googling?

This ought to go straight to the picture of the oin in question...
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~capri26/#pin

Richard

PS: It was a beautiful day to day in the mid 60s (winter solstice). So
I had a chance to actually use this contraption.

Guess what?
It really works!



If thats a Raymarine/Autohelm tiller pilot pin, the matching part is
probably 'Raymarine G004 Thrust Cap' which is a threaded part that
screws straight onto the end of the ram. OTOH if you made a replica
of that pin end out of a bit of brass rod (possibly a touch undersize)
and heated it up some, you might well be able to use it to reshape the
tiller brake end to accomodate it.


That lead to several links for exactly the right parts - Extra long
tiller pin (D104) - all in England, Ian. How interesting.

So what does 10 pounds come to in Texas money? Is that a bit high?

I think maybe you had the right idea. If I had access to a lathe I'd
make this thing from a stainless bolt.

There *has* to be a machine shop around somewhere...

Richard

A drill motor (or press) and a file?

There has to be a machine shop around, but shop rate will be enough to
get several from England. You need a machine shop that has a bored owner
who likes boats, and will do the job for the fun of it.

--
www.wescottdesign.com

On Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:57:34 -0600, cavelamb
wrote:

Ian Malcolm wrote:
cavelamb wrote in

So I'm wondering what to call this spiffy pin thingie when I go
a-googling?

This ought to go straight to the picture of the oin in question...
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~capri26/#pin

Richard

PS: It was a beautiful day to day in the mid 60s (winter solstice).
So I had a chance to actually use this contraption.

Guess what?
It really works!



If thats a Raymarine/Autohelm tiller pilot pin, the matching part is
probably 'Raymarine G004 Thrust Cap' which is a threaded part that screws
straight onto the end of the ram. OTOH if you made a replica of that
pin end out of a bit of brass rod (possibly a touch undersize) and heated
it up some, you might well be able to use it to reshape the tiller brake
end to accomodate it.


That lead to several links for exactly the right parts - Extra long tiller pin
(D104) - all in England, Ian. How interesting.

So what does 10 pounds come to in Texas money? Is that a bit high?

I think maybe you had the right idea.
If I had access to a lathe I'd make this thing from a stainless bolt.

There *has* to be a machine shop around somewhere...

Richard


Sigh..I cant find the file you sent me. Please resend and Ill make up
your christmas present as soon as I get the file.

Sorry...its been a madhouse around here.

Gunner


"First Law of Leftist Debate
The more you present a leftist with factual evidence
that is counter to his preconceived world view and the
more difficult it becomes for him to refute it without
losing face the chance of him calling you a racist, bigot,
homophobe approaches infinity.

This is despite the thread you are in having not mentioned
race or sexual preference in any way that is relevant to
the subject." Grey Ghost

Gunner Asch wrote:
On Tue, 22 Dec 2009 09:57:34 -0600, cavelamb
wrote:

Ian Malcolm wrote:
cavelamb wrote in

So I'm wondering what to call this spiffy pin thingie when I go
a-googling?

This ought to go straight to the picture of the oin in question...
http://www.home.earthlink.net/~capri26/#pin

Richard

PS: It was a beautiful day to day in the mid 60s (winter solstice).
So I had a chance to actually use this contraption.

Guess what?
It really works!


If thats a Raymarine/Autohelm tiller pilot pin, the matching part is
probably 'Raymarine G004 Thrust Cap' which is a threaded part that screws
straight onto the end of the ram. OTOH if you made a replica of that
pin end out of a bit of brass rod (possibly a touch undersize) and heated
it up some, you might well be able to use it to reshape the tiller brake
end to accomodate it.

That lead to several links for exactly the right parts - Extra long tiller pin
(D104) - all in England, Ian. How interesting.

So what does 10 pounds come to in Texas money? Is that a bit high?

I think maybe you had the right idea.
If I had access to a lathe I'd make this thing from a stainless bolt.

There *has* to be a machine shop around somewhere...

Richard


Sigh..I cant find the file you sent me. Please resend and Ill make up
your christmas present as soon as I get the file.

Sorry...its been a madhouse around here.

Gunner



Ok.
It should be there now.
Thanks, Guns.
It's been a mad house here as well, so all is as it should be.

As for the tiller pin, I think I'm going to try making that here.
Like Tim suggested, chuck it up in the drill press and use an angle
grinder to rough it out and a Dremel with a stone to clean it up.

That ought to work, but I do so miss my shop!



Richard

On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:48:10 -0600, cavelamb
wrote:



So I'm wondering what to call this spiffy pin thingie when I go a-googling?


"Quick disconnect rod end" works. McMaster has them, but not in
stainless. SS parts shown he
http://www.midwestcontrol.com/catdis...ort.php?pg=123

--
Ned Simmons

Ned Simmons wrote:
On Mon, 21 Dec 2009 23:48:10 -0600, cavelamb
wrote:


So I'm wondering what to call this spiffy pin thingie when I go a-googling?


"Quick disconnect rod end" works. McMaster has them, but not in
stainless. SS parts shown he
http://www.midwestcontrol.com/catdis...ort.php?pg=123


Very interesting, Ned.
That sucker couldn't pop loose by accident, but would be easy to remove.