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 Post subject: Sanding Rudders
PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 10:12 am 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Tue May 06, 2014 7:47 am
Posts: 17
The Hobie that I inherited has rudders with chewed edges.

Image

I've been told that this type of rudder cannot be sanded. Can anybody please confirm this? And how should smooth the edge?


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 Post subject: Re: Sanding Rudders
PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 10:32 am 
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Joined: Sat Oct 29, 2011 4:27 pm
Posts: 576
Location: Central Oregon
Ouch! I would be hunting down a couple new (used) rudders.
You could try something like bondo or marinetex or other thick epoxy filler than sand it back to shape/paint. But those have definitely seen better days.

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 Post subject: Re: Sanding Rudders
PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 12:18 pm 
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Joined: Mon May 09, 2005 10:25 am
Posts: 4176
Location: Jersey Shore
Not much you can do to those old lexan rudders. I don't think they can really be wet sanded like a fiberglass rudder. There's nothing you can use to build up the trailing edge that will last longer than a few days on the water. Marine tex and bondo will not bond to lexan. Maybe use a scotchbrite bad to remove some of the stains. If you're looking for a performance improvement, then you need a composite rudder (fiberglass or carbon). One of the biggest concerns is that they are clearly sun fried and the UV damage may cause them to fail catastrophically under heavy load.

sm


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 Post subject: Re: Sanding Rudders
PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2014 1:03 pm 
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Joined: Mon Oct 09, 2006 2:34 pm
Posts: 621
Location: NC
+1 on the lexan rudders. I broke a lexan rudder shortly after purchasing my boat. I was sailing in pretty heavy air when the tiller just went limp. It caused me to immediately capsize and made for a challenging sail back to the beach. I'd look for used EPO's before used lexan rudders. They are worth every penny in terms of strength and improved performance. You will literally feel the difference in many ways.

That being said, I don't know where you are located but I do have a couple of old lexan rudders if you are interested.

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86' Redline Hobie 16
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 Post subject: Re: Sanding Rudders
PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 8:09 am 
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Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2014 5:00 pm
Posts: 29
Location: AZ, MESA
Some 400 grit wet sand polished up my lexan rudders beautifully, but that was just sun damage. There were no nicks or gouges like that.


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PostPosted: Tue Jun 03, 2014 9:59 am 
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Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Tue May 06, 2014 7:47 am
Posts: 17
Abbman, I sent you a PM about the rudders.


mattsails247 wrote:
Some 400 grit wet sand polished up my lexan rudders beautifully, but that was just sun damage. There were no nicks or gouges like that.


mattsail, thank you!.

Any idea if its its possible to file those away. Then I was planning on sanding them using 400+ grit. I've been told that the material would break. So if anybody done this, I would appreciate the feedback.


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