Transom and bulkhead-4

 Had a few extra days off during the holidays.

With some rearranging, the transom, bulkheads, and frames (8 pieces total) can be cut from just 4 pieces of plywood.  I chose to cut frames 1, 3, and bulkhead-4 in two pieces each and scarf them together later.

I laminated the two transom pieces together to form a 1" thick transom.  The 12mm plywood has a lot of flex to it, but two pieces laminated feels wonderfully stout.

Each of the transom, bulkheads, and frames will have the sides and the bottoms cut at an angle to match the curves of the hull sides and bottom.  The plans don't give these angles, so I determined approximates using a drafting program measuring the plans pictures.  Between the angle of the transom and the rocker of the bottom, I cut the bottom of the transom at an angle of 30 degrees.  The sides were cut 9 degrees.  The angles aren't critical, all the connections of the boat will get thoroughly embedded into epoxy and covered by fiberglass. 

The plans show the top of the transom to have a curve, but no other detail or measurements are given.  I envision the designer saying "Just giv' her a jaunty ol' curve, lad!"  I drafted an oval on my computer which nearly fit, and lofted the measurements to the piece.  I then hand drew one end and cut it. Then traced it's shape onto heavy paper, cut it out, and used the pattern to draw the other side.  I then used a 3/8" round-over bit in my router on the transom's top. 

  Bulkhead-4 contains the door from the cockpit to the cabin.  To conserve plywood, I cut it in two pieces and scarfed them together.  Not a angled, boat making, scarf, but just an old carpenter's construction scarf of adding another piece of plywood along side of it.

I haven't determined how tall the cabin will be, so I left bulkhead-4 extra tall (nearly 30% of the height you see in this picture is above what the plans call for.  A couple in Australia raised their cabin roof 2 inches.  Whether I'll raise mine 4, 6, or 10 inches... who knows.

The basement store room adjacent to my workshop.

 Both these pieces still need two layers of epoxy to seal them.  They won't be assembled into a hull until some time in May/June??

The transom and bulkhead-4 came from the first two pieces of plywood.  The other frames will come out of two more pieces of plywood.  I cut the full pieces into 2 pieces each and now have them in the basement workshop.  Gave them 24 hours to dry a little, then put them on the table with weights to flatten for during work week.