Tiller | Making & Test Fit

Making the tiller seemed like a quick, fun bench project before I started on the bowsprit.

So I used the pattern to mark up the tiller on a nice piece of Ash and cut it out.

Here it is held in the vice for shaping. I am using a Shinto saw rasp to make the concave curve on the bottom edge of the handle.

Here I am using a good, sharp chisel to pare the piece which fits into the slot in the rudder. I don't know if it has a special name - let's call it the 'tongue'. 

And here I am trimming the end grain with a block plane and bench hook.

I added a couple of inches to the length of the tongue, because unlike the tiller in the build manual I think it needs some sort of locking pin to keep it in place. Here it is.

Lastly I checked it for squareness, held in the vice like this.

All was well. Here is a final pic of the tiller fitted in the rudder.

Looking good!