New varnished teak transom going on

[SeaEric]

You bolt the boards to the transom and clamp and glue them in place, and then fill the bolt holes with teak plugs. It's a big job. I think usually the teak boards are as thin as they think will hold up- about 3/8", I would guess. You have to have a certain amount of thickness to bolt the boards and set the plugs in to cover the bolt holes.

If I did this I would screw the boards on with stainless steel screws. Fiberglass will hold a screw just fine. IMO 5/8" thick would be minimum. It's really quite easy to bend the boards around. Make sure they're long enough to get the leverage on them, fasten them then trim the excess off when the glue is set up.

 

[Boatsb]

If I did this I would screw the boards on with stainless steel screws. Fiberglass will hold a screw just fine. IMO 5/8" thick would be minimum. It's really quite easy to bend the boards around. Make sure they're long enough to get the leverage on them, fasten them then trim the excess off when the glue is set up.

Sounds good in theory. Just my experience tells me that bolts are needed on the ends or they will pull loose.

 

[jim rosenthal]

I think I'd want bolts, too. On the ends for certain and maybe in the middle, too. With some nice backing washers etc. I suppose you could steam-bend the boards, maybe that would help. Can teak be steam-bent?

 

[johnjen50]

That sounds doable. Someday when I have the time I'd love to do this. I love the look, especially if you got some really nicely grained teak.

 

[sandspur1966]

The dimensions on my teak is 5/16 and the board width varies because I sourced it for the book- matched grain.

Most of the work was in glassing in the old portholes and fitting the planks. I started from the water line and move up the same way I used to build carvel planked hulls... a lot of fitting and planning, fitting and planning. If I had to do it over again I would have laid it out a bit different. I started from the water line and the planks were relatively square till I got to the top at which point the top planks have a pronounced curve. I would have tried to graduate that curve in the lower planks making the camber in each plank more uniform.

Once everything was dry fit I removed them and reset everything with thickened epoxy I have seen many guys just rely on the epoxy alone and if fasteners are used, they often try and go through the transom from behind. But I sort of like the look of the bungs... as if it were traditional construction so I used ss wood screws. Laying two coats of West with the clear hardener on top of it all today and once that cures completely and the melamine blush is done I'll sand it again and start building varnish coats.