I Was Wrong...

Last Wednesday I declared myself nearly done with shaping the rudder. I was wrong and didn't know it!

I was pleased with the shapes I had planed in both the leading and trailing edges - they seemed to fit the template very well. Both sides of the rudder seemed to be symmetrical. The trailing edge was a nice uniform 3/8" all along its length. I thought it looked great and was ready to be sanded and glassed. I was wrong and didn't know it!

However, I was concerned that maybe the trailing edge should be narrower. I checked the plans. Regarding the trailing edge, the plans state,

"Note that it finished to a narrow flat edge. DO NOT ROUND THE BACK EDGE - IT IS TO BE FINISHED SQUARE. Do not round the trailing edge corners."

Clearly the back edge is NOT to be rounded. But the plans do not say how narrow is narrow.

I took advantage of the on-line forum, and posed the question, how narrow is the trailing edge of each foil supposed to be. The answer, later confirmed by the designer, is 1 to 2 millimeters! That is very close to 1/16th of an inch - a far cry from the 3/8" I thought looked so good.

So this weekend was spent narrowing the trailing edge of the rudder. It is now about 1/8" and the shape matches the template, and I am concerned about making that next-pass-with-the-plane-that-takes-off-too-much... and taking a chunk out of the edge. I know for certain the trailing edge is not to be scalloped! After carefully getting it to this point, I am putting the plane aside and I will sand the rudder to its final shape. I may not get that trailing edge to a 1/16th thickness, but I think it will be fine. I am not a skilled enough sailor to recognize the marginal improvement in performance a 1 mm edge would make.

I am planning to fiber glass the rudder this weekend, and that leads to a question I will address tomorrow.

On a very different note, I am trying to figure out how to improve the photographs I use in this blog. It seems I am losing some details because the color of the materials so closely match the colors of the background. The WRC seems to blend in and become lost against the work surface of the Work Mate, and the carpeting is also a close match. I may decide to paint the Work Mate (the work surface only) a darker color to provide better contrast in the photos.

The leading edge of the rudder contrasts reasonably well with the top of the Work Mate. The use of a caul (the piece of wood placed on top of the rudder to help clamp it to the Work Mate) is completely lost in this photo. Now, part of the is my photography and part of the problem is the similar colors of the materials and the background. I will experiment with the photography. Maybe I do not have to show the full length of the rudder when I am trying to show a detail - like the shaping of the edge. I'll see what I can do to improve the presentation.