Transom repair

[bluefinnn]

Seems every post I've read says to cut the 3/4 marine plywood shape out of 2 pieces then glue the two of them together. My transom is 23" by 66". When I bought my wood I had them cut it in half for travel & handling. This maybe a stupid question but couldn't I just cut a couple feet off the length & glue the 2 together & then cut out the transom shape. Are you cutting them separately just for the ease of cutting (3/4 vs 11/2) ?

 

[tpenfield]

When you say "cut in half" do you mean 2 24" x 96" pieces or 2 48" x 48" pieces. :noidea:

No rule says that you can't glue the 2 layers together and then cut to the final size & shape.

 

[matt167]

Absolutely cut them together. I would not glue them before cutting, but use clamps.. This is the sides of my plywood boat just after cutting. Just use similar clamps close togther and I would recommend the best possible blades you can find for your jigsaw. I use Lennox blades with a fine TPI.

The reason for not pre gluing is the amount of glue you need will be a lot less. You can even coat both pieces in resin before assembly

 

[Scott Danforth]

two reasons to cut to shape prior to glueing

reason #1 - much easier to cut 3/4" vs 1-1/2"
reason #2 (as Matt pointed out), no need to waste glue

I normally glue together, then screw, after glue is dry, remove screws if they are in the way.

 

[Woodonglass]

Also, having an EXACT fit is not required nor preferred. You want about 1/2" gap around the perimeter to allow for the PB to ooze out and seal the edges and also make a nice coved fillet.

 

[rookie456]

I think I have the same boat as you, 17’ blue fin.
I installed my plywood transom over the weekend and I think it went pretty smooth. I cut my plywood into 2 24x68 pieces, then glued and screwed them together. Let it dry, removed screws. I then traced my template on the plywood. I used a circular saw to cut all straight edges, and a jig saw to cut the 2 curves. The reason I liked glueing and then cutting was that it gave me nice flat edges that matched up to the aluminum edges when I installed it, which will provide a nice surface for the aluminum top cap to attach to. I’m no expert, this is my first transom replacement.