Well, after the very helpful machinist cut the old flange with a new 1/2" keyway displaced about 30 deg from the old one, and making a new key, and redrilling the flange mounting holes, we re-fitted the steering head flange again on the Union 36...
Image of WK Union 36 worm-gear steering - Photobucket - Video and Image Hosting
It did not think it would work as well as it did.
The flange went on with some hammering.... next time I will heat it first... and it seated OK. We fitted one of the bolts and used that to hammer the flange round a little to align the keyways. It is very awkward for a big man in there, and you are permanently off-balance.
The key went in there, though we had to hammer it home. We fitted a wee grub screw to hold it also.
The guy in the next boat helped enormously, until his wife hen-pecked him half to death and he left, leaving me gazing off into space.
Alone, I added added some 1.5 thou" stainless spacers to take up some of the gaps in the system, but remembered to leave enough clearance to be able to get the SAE 80W/90gear oil lubricant in there.
The result was zero relative circumferential movement. The helm answers much sooner now. There is still some dead-zone in the wheel, but it is much reduced.
The flange will not be easy to get off again, if ever it is needed, but heat should help.
The worm-gear steering is not an Edson, but looks like one. The manufacturer had taken silly short-cuts. The mount holes on the flange were not drilled along the same pitch circle diameter, for example, so we had to re-drill when we turned it. Still, it works ok.
I had not realised that a worm gear steering system was so expensive... $9000 is typical.
Well, that will do for a few years more, I hope. The steadily-increasing play was troubling me, but not now.
Rockter.
Connect with Facebook
