Hi Patrick,
Set screws are not evil or bad. Your installation
was bad though, maybe even bordering on evil.
Set screws should not bite into the threads, as
you have learned. The collar should be brought to
position and then a dimple(s) drilled into the
shaft where the set screws will land, using the
set screw hole as the guide. Alternately the
location can be marked, collar removed, dimple(s)
drilled, thread cleaned and then everything
assembled... this method being much more difficult for most people.
Either way, you end up with the security of set
screw(s) without gnarling the threads.
The split collar is also a fine option (it's what
I have in a location that demands it.. i.e.: no threads there)
Cheers, Russ
Sweet 35 mk-1
At 08:43 PM 20/04/2016, you wrote:
Good news! Lee came by this evening and his
mechanical ingenuity enabled us to get the rudder collar off.Â
The yard lent me two pipe wrenches - one large
one and one really huge one. I had been trying
to use them to unscrew the donut by pushing and
pounding with a rubber mallet, but the secret
Lee discovered was putting the really huge one
on the donut and then smacking it with the large one.Â
I didn't have doubled up set screws, but could
tell the set screws had done a bit of damage to
the threaded rudder post. After getting the
rudder nut off it became clearer - the threads
of the rudder post are actually deformed /
dented, and the nut was having its threads
sheared off. No amount of lubrication would've
helped with that - only brute force can shear off SS threads.
I really don't like set screws now - they're
fine for dodger/bimini tubing but not something
this big. I'll take the advice of using a spacer
behind the set screws when I reinstall. (looking
into getting a replacement collar nut now)
Here are some pics:Â
<https://goo.gl/photos/tcBkJny4uuqqFnRN9>https://goo.gl/photos/tcBkJny4uuqqFnRN9
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