Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

[boatersam]

Im on the stage where I have to glue the two pieces of wood for my transom, 3/4" each, together...I was told to resin the two pieces and sandwich them together.. clamp them or srew them together..also do I use fiberglass resin and cloth in between or just resin?..then when I am ready to put the piece in, do I put a coat on the back and in the transom area? then glss the front part towards the end?... Please help..any tips would be apreciated..

 

[G DANE]

Re: Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

Hi Boatersam. <br />Done correctly, this bonds really good.<br /><br />Step one is to prime both surfaces with a layer of poly with hardener. Let the wood absorb what is can. Then put both together with one layer of poly+ hardener wettet mat between and screw them to eachother. You will get a very strong bond then. If you dont prime or use mat between, the wood will absorb all the poly and you will be able so seperate it with your bare fingers.

 

[bartborchardt]

Re: Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

Check this site out. I used wood flour when glueing my transom:<br /><br /> Epoxy Glue

 

[tmcalavy]

Re: Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

For ultimate strength, be sure grain on both pieces runs perpendicular to each other. If grain on one piece runs up and down, grain on the other should run side to side or at least at an angle. Mucho strongo.

 

[dogwhisperer]

Re: Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

i had to do the same thing when i replaced the transom on my old starcraft chieftain about 2 months ago.<br />Being a semi poor boy i had to be as frugal as i could be.<br />First i bought the best grade of 3/4 plywood i could find at lowes and home depot,think it was fir.<br />i used guerilla glue to glue them together,make sure you wet the surfaces as per the directions.<br />I also used square drive stainless steel screws from the same store found in the deck screw dept,they work great forget phillips head..<br />I glued two halfs of a sheet together with my pattern already drawn on and a grid spacing drawn on also for my screws,about 4 in apart.<br />Put on the glue and with the whole deal sitting on strips of wood stand on each spot and start screwing before the glue dries.<br />My screws were to long so i had to grind off about 1/4 in off the tips on the back side after the glue had dried.Put screws in just outside the edge of your pattern so the 2 pieces will be bonded nice and tight at the edges also.<br />When i cut out my pattern you could not tell it was 2 pieces of wood,sweet looking.<br />The pieces that were outside the pattern towards the edge that did not even get screws were glued solid also.<br />Then i coated the entire thing with thompsons water seal.<br />Mine is a trailer boat so im totally confident it will last for years...Good luck..

 

[BillP]

Re: Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

FYI: Thompsons Water Seal will make it tougher for resin to stick. Regardless, the transom wood is captured on all sides so I'm not sure "sticking" is that big of deal anyway. I am also screwing the transom wood to the inside of the hull around the perimeter. I beefed up the glass to make a thick structural lip (4"-6" wide) where the edges of the wood meet the hull. Screws go though that lip. Each side will have a SS U-Bolt (for trailer tiedowns) all the way through the transon and through the lip too. Overkill, but mechanical fasteners take away any concern of glass movement or delamination. Additional cost and labor was maybe $20 bucks and one hour.

 

[DJ]

Re: Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

Ditto, dogwhisperer

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

I did mine a little differently:<br /><br />I cut both layers and fitted them in as best as possible, then removed them.<br /><br />I roughed up inner shell surface with angle grinder.<br /><br />Layed a layer of mat soaked in resin.<br /><br />Coated first layer of ply with a lot of resin.<br /><br />Fitted first layer of ply in place.<br /><br />Coated exposed surface of first layer of ply with resin.<br /><br />Layed layer of resin soaked mat.<br /><br />Layed second layer of ply.<br /><br />Thru bolted everything tightly through both drain plug areas and both tow hook areas.<br /><br />Screwed every six inches with stainless screws.<br /><br />Braced so that layers would bond with entire inner shell.<br /><br />All resin was mixed for slow kick in cool temps, to prevent premature curing before everything was in place. After everything cured, I soaked exposed surface in resin, sheathed the transom in heavy mat, and then ran roving six inches in and out around perimeter. I did my stringers and floor after that.

 

[BillP]

Re: Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

I left details out on how the two 3/4" plys were secured together. First thing was to roughen up the surface using a grinder and 36 grit. Then I woodpeckered the entire surface with pick (all of my wood, including stringers were done this way). After that I used thinned epoxy to prep the wood and thickened epoxy to glue between the pieces with screws to pull them together. The transom was set against the hull using thickened epoxy and pulled tight with clamps and screws. I have no screws through the exterior hull skin. All the screws were glassed over.<br /><br />There are lots of ways to do these jobs. The basic factory installations worked fine too. Most older production boats used exterior ply and poly resin. No screws, cloth or resin between the plys either. They just wet the contact surfaces with raw resin, set the wood in and started glassing. If you keep water out they have no problems either.

 

[JasonJ]

Re: Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

I like the idea of the woodpeckering. Makes my mind start to ponder the thought of building a tool to do it more quickly....

 

[mn_mike]

Re: Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

Jason,<br />Look at the local rental store at the tool you use to prep wallpaper before steaming it off. It would do the job.<br />I can't tell you whether my technique will last but for my 1.5in thick Starcraft transom:<br />1. Dry the soggy PT 2 months<br />2. Cut two pieces to fit.<br />3. Thought I was going to paint the two ajoining faces with epoxy, wrong, it just disappeared.<br />4. Sand a bit with 60 paper.<br />5. Epoxy, screws, and 500lbs of stuff, let it cure<br />6. Removes the screws, test fit, trim.<br />7. Seal all over with two coats of USC 1:3 and fill in the voids where I'm reminded that PT seems to be the ply that was junk and by PTing it they might be able to sell it.<br />Results...looks ok...seems strong enough.

 

[dogwhisperer]

Re: Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

Let me clarify...My old starcraft is an aluminum boat,18' w/cuddy cabin..115 Johnson.If this was a fiberglass boat i would probably not put on thompsons for it might not bond as BillP states with fiberglass resins very well....With aluminum you just put in a bunch of bolts and screws after the transom is installed....

 

[BillP]

Re: Any tips on gluing(resin) the two pieces of wood for my transom?

Thanks for the clarification...I helped my uncle do the same on a 15ft al Starcraft. He used HomeDepot pt ply and it was just bolted in.