andylsun wrote:
Here's the tinkercad for the rudder shim. It's *very* basic, but should be a good starting point.
Everytime I do something in tinkercad, I keep thinking I should sit down and fully learn fusion 360.
https://www.tinkercad.com/things/jWNamyriuxa-hobie-rudder-shim/editv2?sharecode=cWAVTNWnUIO9gEMR0N5MfQ2MYu2EDI37uWg0yPGpGGE=I previously printed a rudder cam, just to see if I could and it kind of worked. Not great, but was fun to try.
Edit: What is it about your boat setup that means you need the rudders forward? Not enough weather helm when block-to-block on the main sheet boom?
I think fusion 360 requires a subscription of around $300/year. I know someone who swears by a program called sketchup. You have to dig around the net, but there is an older version that is stand-alone and free that works. He doesn't use it for 3d printing, but I think there is a way to output to .stl. I am lucky enough that I learned AutoCAD from middle school, and have had jobs using it ever since, about 20+ years. I remote into my work computer and use it at home as well. I recently learned solidworks, which is nice, but for what I do, simple AutoCAD works great. Both programs though take a long time to learn.
Only thing about my printer is that it's a stereolithography printer using resin and a projector to cure the layers. I have yet to find a resin that is strong, but not brittle. Our library has a filament printer I can use though.
From everything I've read, the more forward the rudders, the less weather helm, less pull on the tiller arm. It's also apparent if your rudders are not locked into position, if they are kicked out a bit, you can really feel how hard the tiller is to pull. I've inherited the boat from my father who passed a few years ago. Looks like he replaced a broken side stay at some point. Problem is, now there is one newer, shorter side stay, and an original side stay on the opposite side, and original front stay, so I had to make an extension on the bridle since the original front stays were shorter, and currently waiting for the other new style side stay to come in. The block gap is huge as is, and current setup, with no mast rake has decent but manageable "tiller tug", but once I rake the mast back and get closer to block to block, I would assume the tiller tug will increase quite a bit.