Page 68 - Nicolaes Witsen & Shipbuilding in the Dutch Golden Age

Chapter Two
Figure 2.22. Figure 2.23. Figure 2.24.
(left) Plate XLVIII (drawing G)
(center) Plate XXVII. Chock below the broekstuk. (right) Plate XXVII. Broekstuk.
in T [fig. 2.27] are the Transoms in the Tuck, d is the hole, or dovetail, in which the ends of the transoms are lain, these transoms come across the Sternpost with a shoulder; and the Wing T ransom is fastened to the sternpost with a dovetail and the same, as also the transoms, is secured with two bolts to the stern- post, at the ends or dovetails that are bolted with nails until the stern timbers are fastened over it. W hen the Stern is raised or put upright, the bolts and some nails are hammered straight through the stern timbers, and nails at the lower end.
transom at the inside of the fashion piece, and this will make the dovetail; but at the inside the hole of the fashion piece should be half an inch narrower
as on the outside. The transoms are to be equal , and they are to be hollowed out as deep as the hole of the dovetail, which makes the joint of the transom, as can be seen at B. The transoms are not fastened before the sternpost is raised; 4 holes are drilled through the wing transom for the bolts, 2 in the transoms, 13 or 14 in the Broekstuk, 8 in the Fashion pieces 5 or 6 in the sternpost, to keep together the lower ends of the Fashion pieces, 10 or 12 nails are hammered in to the Fashion pieces, the Rabbet in the sternpost tapers to naught below, the bolts of the Transoms come but for two inches through the sternpost.
As can be seen at I [fig. 2.29], the Transom is put plumb, and marked with chalk, the wood from f to g is removed, or taken away, as from e to d, the part from h to g cut, and the joining of the dovetail in the Fashion
. ..
The transoms are 1⁄3 thinner than the wing
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The transoms are 1⁄5 thinner than the stem.
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Between the transoms in the tuck are to be the gunports.
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(147 II 36) Model of a Transom, turned on
its front side, seen at letter H [fig. 2.28],
on the plate alongside.
The dovetail at a, b, and c is the shoulder on the sternpost. When the joins of a transom are made, one takes a plumb line and measures to w hat extent the timber is o plumb (vertical), then tak e half the thickness of the F ashion piece at the inside, letting it taper to naught at the outside. Take o half of the transom, and at the end as much as one cut from the
(68 I 39)
transom.
(67 I 9)
(55 I 39)
frame, which is shown in
gure K [fig. 2.30] at k.
(73 II 38) 2. The upper transom lies 2 feet from the wing transom, according to the heigh t of the gunports. The transoms are thick 13 inches. The transoms come as low as the lower end of the rabbet and the fashion pieces, and are let in at the ends with a dovetail: they are of even thickness and breadth as the wing transom, the upper lying 2 feet from the wing transom.
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8. The Transoms
The transoms joined the f ashion pieces and the stern- post. These timbers strengthened the tuck laterally and