Slayer Steering Swap

I have been wanting to swap the steering to the other side on the slayer. This is because while winding with the right hand I can then steer while I fight the fish instead of swapping the rod in my hands. I wasn’t sure what the best way to do this so I removed the existing steering first.

The main difference between the LH and the RH side is on the LH there is the box shaped recess on the LH side and there is nothing on the RH. I decided I would make a mounting plate and bracket to hold the rudder cable sleeves. I designed it in CAD and chucked it on the 3d printer to make sure it would fit.

This is the mounting plate to be screwed to the kayak with threads allowing the handle mount to be screwed on.

This is the bracket to hold the cable sleeves.

The two parts will bolt up like this through the hull allowing the cable sleeves to be attached and the handle to be screwed down.

I removed the rod holder by drilling the top off the rivets.

I sat the mounting plate in location and checked to see the cable wheel would fit. This means a fairly large hole needs to be cut to swap it over.

I drilled the mounting plate in location and then marked out the hole that needed to be cut.

I shut my eyes and then went bananas with the band saw.

I cut the hole and mounted the plates. The cable holder is mounted in the hull using the two holes at the rear of the kayak.

I reassembled the handle and bolted it onto the new mount. Everything seems to line up!

With everything fitting its time to make some actual parts! All of the 3d printed parts will be made from aluminium and I will be making a cover plate for the recess left on the LH side. After pulling my used steering cables out there is one last thing needed to resolve and that is changing out the cables.

I will let you know shortly what I have designed…..