Transom replacement

[JMAC]

I'm gearing up to replace the transom on my Rhodes 18 sailboat. The old one appears to have turned to fuzz under a layer of glass. Has there been any articles on this in WoodenBoat? Or mention of it in the forum? Now that it's going to be too cold to work outside on it, I have the time to start....figures....

[Bob Cleek]

Articles about building or replacing transoms? Well, the current issue or the one before it has an article on developing transoms and building them in place. There's also an ongoing series currently on restoring wooden sailboats which will undoubtedly address transoms at some point. Beyond that, what is it you want to know? Step number one is remove the damn fibreglass which is holding that moisture against the wood. See what you've got going in there. After that, it's just a "take it apart and put it back together job." (Easier said than done..." Maybe you can be more specific about what it is you contemplate having to do.

[Hughman]

Got a photo?

If it's flat, glue up a blank of, say, white oak, and transfer the pattern onto it.

The pattern is usually made from the old one.

Mark the bevels accurately, they likely change continously. you can get reasonable results using a decent jigsaw, stopping to change the bevel when necessary. Then use rasps, scrapers, spokeshaves, etc. to final shape. Go slow. ;)

You will be testing the fit often, so rig a tackle from the overhead to a purchase cleat on the forward side to handle the piece without damage.

happy carving! smile.gif

[Bruce Hooke]

Ummm...methinks a tackle might be a bit overkill for a transom that most people could probably lift with one hand! We're talking an 18' daysailer here. ;) :D

[JMAC]

I know that the wood is substantially mush. I drilled a hundred or two holes in it last spring and injected epoxy into them to get me sailing instead of repairing this summer, and it held. There is a transom frame that I hope will hold it all together til I get new wood in there. Should the surfaces be caulked, or bedded? I have a nice plank of ribbon grained african mahogany that should make for a pretty transom.

[Mrleft8]

Get a template of both faces of the existing transom, with center line registers on both inboard and outboard faces, and at least two broadside registers ( Not sure what the proper term is there.... but "broadside" seems to be good for me) Create a new transom from your Mahogany. Brace your hull beyond what you think is needed. Undo your old transom. Put a cotton bead (caulking stuff) and some Dolphinite on it and re-attach the new transom. If it floats.... Yer in like flynn. If not.... Try again..... Anyway, that's what I would do....

[JMAC]

Well I got the old out and have a blank clamped up for the new. It turned out that someone along the way slapped a new transom right over the old, faired it to the outside face of the planking and then glassed over the whole deal. The original transom must have had some issues. Both pieces were mostly in the same shape as a forgotten bowl of Shredded Wheat. But the nice cedar planking, you ask? Seems to be alright. Nice and solid.
Looking up through the transom to the afterdeck beams, it looks like the furthest one aft has no crown in it, and no connection to the deck. The deck material looks to be 1/4" Marine Ply. I'm thinking of replacing the beam with one to match the crown at the transom. Any good ideas for fastening from above? The deck is glassed. I'm thinking of setting the screws just below the surface and filling with thickened epoxy.

[JMAC]

Just remembered, what sort of finishing woould you recommend? I'm thinking of coating the whole works with epoxy, then painting inside and bright outside.

[Thorne]

I'd google the many threads on CPES and epoxy, but from what I've read and learned:

Coat the transom with as much cold-weather CPES (Smith / Rot Doctor makes a good one) as it will take, then coat it with epoxy while the last coat of CPES is still tacky.

An option is to just CPES and epoxy the outside, doing the inside with CPES and then multiple coats of varnish. Several folks here have expressed strong negative opinions about varnish over epoxy, but over CPES, varnish seems to be the bee's knees...

;- )