Gluing and Nailing the Transom Together

I glued and nailed the transom today. I originally was going to use screws but decided to go with nails once I realized that I would have to go through the plywood and into the frame in order to get a better “bite” for the nails. Going through the frame wood and then into the plywood gave me only a ¼” depth on a 1” nail or screw and I only had a total thickness of 1-1/4” so anything longer than a 1” nail was out if the question.

Going through he plywood first poses its own minor problems. I have to align all the frame pieces using the outside edges exclusively so I will need to be careful about keeping the frame stable while I prepare it with pilot holes for the nails and keep them aligned with some temporary small nails like I used on the gussets.

I pilot drilled one section at a time, putting an alignment nail in every couple holes.

That completed, it was time to mix a batch of Weldwood Resin Glue and apply it to the inside of the frames. It was very warm today so the thin layer would dry quickly and I had to quickly reassemble the plywood to the frame pieces and get at least a couple nails in each frame piece to prevent them from moving. I was a bit frantic but my hammer drove the nails home quickly.

The finished result looked great.

I spent the rest of the afternoon carefully laying out the cut lines for the stringers and the keel.