Soldiers, bulkheads and transom...

[Cameron Hunziker <cameron@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I got my plans yesterday, and have been alternating between them, the  
mailing list archives and the Crusher site (You sir are a gem!) pretty  
much non-stop for the last 16 hours.  And I have a few thoughts:

1.  I read on the Crusher site of a discussion about using clean (not  
beaded or coved) strips for the bulkhead.  Further reviews of the  
archive turned up a conversation about the possibility of using  
plywood.  I will be ripping my own strips, and will likely rip them in  
2 or 3 different stages.  So that got me thinking, could the bulkhead  
material be composed of cedar 1x4s ripped into 1/4" x 4" s and glued  
together to form the 5" x 5"  sheet of material?  The grain of the  
wood would still run vertically, but it would mean a hell of a lot  
less glue (roughly 16 or so glue lines) and fewer cuts.  It should  
also be lighter, but will it be less strong or less absorbent to shock?

2.  On a similar note, could the transom also be assembled w/o bead  
and cove (I'd stick w/ 1/4" strips here for aesthetic purposes)?


3. Bram's trick on how he did his deck design (gluing full strips of  
mahogany and cedar and then cutting into smaller segments) got me  
thinking about the tee soldiers.  Could they be assembled with the  
fillets and glass tape as a single strip and then cut to length w/ a  
think kerf chop saw?   With this approach it might be easier to attach  
the cedar strips without using staples (sandwiching the cedar -  
soldier - cedar with a couple of 2 x 4s either clamped or screwed to  
your work table)


Are these reasonable solutions, or am I delusional from lack of sleep?

Thanks!

Cameron

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