Aries Vane Gear cleaning service

 Over the years, well decades the Aries Vane Gear becomes stained with salt and grime from its many miles steering your yacht.

When an Aries Vane Gear comes in to me for new bearings I can offer a cleaning  service of the various metal parts.

Aries vane gear model three down tube bearings

 Made in the UK originally

in PTFE which is a really slippy plastic, I now make them here in South Africa with a Durban made product named Vesconite High Lube.

The Vesconite will outlast the PTFE and be very Slippy in service also.

Check the web site at www.vesconite.com 

Argie 15 sailing built by Jaap.

 

The Aries mark three vane gear

 What does the Aries mark three vane gear look like?

This picture shows the Mk3 version, there may be others with some slightly changed fittings, the hinge assembly on the water paddle being one, the air vane clamp may be another.

Genuine Aries vane gears ( there are copies) should have the words Aries Cowes I . O .W in the main frame assembly.

This Aries was cleaned and restored by myself, it was then packed into a shipping container and sent by courier to its new owner.

Aries Vane Gear stainless steel cross shaft bearings

 The early Aries Vane Gears were made to Imperial sizes, so the measurements were in inches.

The stainless steel cross shaft that supports the swing arm measures 1" ( one inch ) I have made a set of standard Vesconite  bushes to suit that, this will require the bronze or stainless steel gear machining out also.

Aries Vane Gear re made spare parts

Having the Aries Mk3 in for a service has allowed me to copy ( it is in inches ) exactly the required dimentions that need to be machined to.

An old bearing to the stainless steel down leg is on the left, a new pair of bearings are on the machine.

The Vesconite High Lube material in the lathe will next be cut to make a second set of bearings for another Aries Vane Gear.

Aries Vane Gear bushes in Vesconite High Lube plastic

 Aries Vane Gears will work better and for longer if the bushes ( bearings ) are made from Vesconite High Lube material.

The Aries Vane Gear mark three version I have in for service right now has had a set of bushes made, they are ready to fit soon.

I can accept orders from Worldwide, delivery is by Fedex and payment can be by Pay-Pal or a bank draft?

Aries Vane Gear spare parts

 

 It is thought that over 20,000 Aries Vane Gears of various types were produced?

Who has them and where are they, there were many models and types over the years!

Some we see here in Hout Bay near Cape Town and from time to time I am asked to service them for their owners.

In the past would ask a local engineer to machine bearings from Acetal, that person is no longer available to me, so  to be able to continue to service Aries gears I have bought a Maximat V10-P lathe.

With this lathe I can now machine in house and deliver faster.

A test part for another use was on a sample of Acetal.

I can also machine none Aries parts as well?

An Argie 15 kit build in New Zealand

We shipped an Argie 15 kit down to Ian in Picton, New Zealand.

Ian made a really fine job of  his build and uses the result for both power and sailing ventures.

Bill Petigrew took the image.