Transom Jigsaw Puzzle!

Transom for the stern

On the last post we talked about the stem that is part of the bow of the Whitehall rowboat. Today we're going to take a look at how the transom is built for the stern (back) of the boat.

You can see from the picture that the transom is made up of several parts and in two layers. The outside of the transom is what you see above and what you don't see are the alternating layers that make up the inside.  The transom is made up of a double thickness of 3/4" boards to end up with an overall thickness of 1 1/2".  This is strong enough for a trolling motor to be attached.

The inside and outside layers overlap in a way that no joints line up to eliminate water ingress.

Here we have the transom mounted and it becomes the rear attachment point for the wood strips to come.  You can see that according to the plans the transom does not sit right on the strong back like the station molds because the strips will not go all the way to the strong back table top, only to that sheer plank you see clamped to the transom. 

At the bottom of the transom (which is at the top of the picture) you will see that I made another laminated part called a "knee" that connects the transom solidly to the keel. 

The finished knee is in the picture above and below you have the laminated strips being held in place on the knee form.  The knee form is also part of the plans and I made it from 3/4" plywood to have a thicker surface for clamping

Here is another angle of the transom to keel connection and you can see how the knee helps keep everything lined up properly (it's not a 90 degree angle but don't worry, it's also in the plans) and very nicely screwed and epoxied together.

If you look closely you can also see the layers of wood for the inside of the transom don't match the outside but it all fits together nicely.