Rudder Bar Parts (Post 2)

 The ends of the rudder bar are flattened to fit a piece of 3/8" dia. tube.  To do this I cut some scrap pieces of 3/4" plywood.  To help center the blocks on the tube and align the 2 ends I supported the tube on a piece of plywood.  I made the blocks 2 1/2" wide x 5" long, the taper is for 4 7/8".  If I were to do this again I would make the blocks wider to make clamping them easier.  The idea is you tighten the end clamp to flatten the tube.  It works fine but you need more clamps to get enough force, so wider blocks would give more room

  I made the blocks 2 1/2" wide x 5" long, the taper is for 4 7/8".  If I were to do this again I would make the blocks wider to make clamping them easier.  The idea is you tighten the end clamp to flatten the tube.  It works fine but you need more clamps to get enough force, so wider blocks would give more room.  If the blocks were about 4" wide you could have 2 clamps at the end with a little leverage from the wider blocks you would need less clamping force.
The end springs back about 1/16" so you need to over shoot.

 The second end was done the same while keeping the 2 ends reasonably aligned.

 The flattened end needs a notch for the tube.  You could cut it with snip on the .035" tube.  I find it as easy to cut a starter notch with the band saw and the file it with a 3/8" rat tail file.

You don't need to file into the flat sections.  Having the full thickness of the tube wall makes welding easier.

 The little tube at the end is a Safety Tip to keep your feet from sliding off.

I notched the front and back of the Rudder Bar tube so I made the Safety Tip long enough to set the full width.

After I made them I realized the factory only notched the front of the bar and let the Safety Tip end a little forward of the back of the Bar.  I'll do that on the bar for John.

 The both ends of the Safety Tip are welded shut.  On the back end I hammered the end closed a little to save some welding.  You just cut a notch with the band saw and hammer it closed.  The smaller the gap the eaiser to fill it with welding rod.

The other end of the tube is cut at 45 degrees.  It was easier to rough cut it on the band saw and then grind the angle with the belt sander.

 The finished support tubes and the way each end is finished.

The cut end welds to the bearing tube and the closed end welds to the Rudder Bar.

 The pivot bearings for the Rudder Bar.

The smaller one is 7/8" x 0.065" tubing for the standard bar.

The larger one is 1" x 0.125" tubing for the Rudder Bar with brakes.  Because of the brakes there are loads twisting the bar.

Here are the parts for the Standard Rudder Bar ready to weld.