transom material

Hello everyone,

Is there a reason not to use solid lumber, say sapele, for the transom rather than marine ply? Thanks

Dave

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Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on May 8, 2016 at 7:06pm

I used walnut/white oak/mahogany, then backed the inside and my frames with douglas fir.

Permalink Reply by Dave Curtis on May 9, 2016 at 10:08am

Looks beautiful, Mike. What did you use for the stem?

Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on May 9, 2016 at 3:37pm

I laminated a 2" pc of cherry and a 2" pc of ash that I had, then made a nose from white oak and walnut. lol....I was using scrap wood that I had on hand. I had wished later I would have been more selective,,,,but now it doesnt matter to me much, its just a fishing boat

Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on May 9, 2016 at 5:43pm

Forgot to say thank you :) Its not all that but it does have a little more character than just plywood. David Witton did a real beauty if you look through his build thread

Permalink Reply by David Witton on May 20, 2016 at 7:14am

Thanks, Mike!

I used two layers of 3/8" ply, but spiced it up a bit with a walnut/maple detail. As far as solid wood goes, I'd think about whether you planned to use a motor. If so, it might be prudent to use a species/thickness you were confident wouldn't split. 

Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on May 20, 2016 at 9:09pm

Heres a pic of the inside. I glued the plywood sides to the rear frame with thickened epoxy, the transom to the rear frame with thickened epoxy, then I added the doug fir filler pcs with thickened epoxy, its pretty strong.

Permalink Reply by Mark Stuberr on May 27, 2016 at 8:09am

I would use a hardwood. I have used plywood but only due to financial reasons. You can easily build a transom out of lifts then glue them together using tongue and grove or grove and spline. Use a good epoxy and filler. 

You can look at a lay up here. 

Permalink Reply by Dave Curtis on May 27, 2016 at 2:01pm

Thanks everybody. Think I will try a glue1up.

Permalink Reply by Mike Thomas on May 27, 2016 at 2:39pm

That layup link didnt work for me. Many years ago I made a 10" square for a small longshaft outboard motor to bolt onto the transom (someone stole my short shaft) out of 2-3/4" pcs of plywood. I used to troll alot in Lk St. Clair. It lasted a few years and one day trolling it snapped and I almost lost the outboard.

Then I made the same size out of oak pcs joined, 2 layers of 3/4" and used it alot for 5 yrs or so. Its been on the boat now for 20+ yrs, it has has been just sitting though for the last 15 and its splitting up now. I guess the point is, any wood is pretty tough but nothing will last forever ;)

Permalink Reply by Mark Stuberr on May 27, 2016 at 3:16pm

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