POTTER KICK UP RUDDER

Hi Travis,
The typical glue  I use on most of my stuff is Titebond III.  Be sure to get the III as it is completely waterproof unlike I & II.  What I typically do on the Potter15 kick up is a little different.  I like to put epoxy on the inside of the portion of the 2 outside pieces where it will be exposed to the kick up part.  Then you can use either more epoxy or the titebond to hold the three parts together.  Don’t try to do both steps at once as the epoxy it heavy enough to sag from whichever piece you have laying on top and then the opening will no longer be wide enough for the kick up blade.  Not really as difficult as it sounds.  Just mark the outside boards where they will go against the inner board, lay them down, coat them in epoxy ( I use West Systems but any epoxy resin will work.  Don’t use polyester resin typically found at places like Lowe’s and Home Depot. It’s not for this purpose.) then after this sets, glue the three pieces together.You need to be careful when you glue the 3 pieces together as the wet glue works as a lubricant and the boards will want to slide around when you put them together.  If you have your holes already drilled for the kick up and the tiller you can put bolts through these to help keep things aligned.  You will still need a lot of clamps to hold it all uniformly together tightly.
Hope this long oration helps you.  It’s not hard but if you’re not careful and take your time with the steps you’ll have some good kindlin for your fire but nothing else.  Trust me.  Been there done that!
If you decide you want me to do it just let me know.  I am currently 3 to 4 weeks out on production maybe a little less but that typically gets worse in about another month or two.  People are just now waking up to the fact that it’s almost sailing season in the colder climates.
Just one more piece of advice.  Don’t predrill both the cheeks and the rudder before you put it together.  It doesn’t take much for it to not fit. I hope you have a drill press as that will make drilling a hole perpendicular to the assembly much easier.
Let me know if I can help any further.

John Owens
J O Woodworks

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