After all the wood repair was complete, and the holes filled with new wood and epoxy to last another generation, I called Scott at Lake Effect Marina to see if we should just paint the back end because the corners were not in good shape. He said that the owner was really hopeful that the same Mahogany look could be retained.
I asked about the corners and the bottom, and finally Scott said, “Dave, I have seen your boat. Just do this the way you would do it for yourself and I am sure it will be good.” Well, that settled it and made it clear how to proceed. it was time to add the pretty Mahogany layer.
The top piece was the most time consuming, trying to conform the the rub rail as closely as possible.Then the pieces were epoxied and held in place by screws with wood washers, to prevent a large hole made by the head of the screw.Usually, the transom wood goes first, and the side planks overlap the back. In this case, the corner was worn and chipped some, so the fairing epoxy was added to restore a strong and clean corner. That was how I’d do it.Cutting away the extra 1/4” veneer, and shaping epoxy fairing compound involves some tricks. The roughest cutting was done with the American and Japanese saws, with the ends taped to protect against scratching the side. The rasp and chisels did more refinement, and the trusty orbital sander finished the job.Yes, now the the side and bottom are now ready for paint touch up. The corner line is now accurate and will be beautiful.The next step was to consider how to fill the small holes left from the screw clamps. The way I would do it is was with some elegant face grain plugs. So I did it that way. . . I cut off the end of a mahogany board, and made saw kerfs on both end. Then I used the band saw to cut the 1/4” square rods which have face grain on the ends.The fragile cross grain rods are chucked gently into the drill, supported by the forked holder, and spun into a dull pencil shape.The boat needed around 60 of these small face grain plugs.Here are a couple of them, glued in.Voila, the plugs nearly disappear even to a close inspection. Sanding started with a 80 grit long board for fairing, and then went through 120, 180 and 220 grits to prepare for varnish to be sprayed on. The beautiful iridescence will be showing soon, and I can imagine a boat name appearing near the top.Jay from Lake Effect Marina came to pick it up, and kindly removed a snow pole rather than running over it. I hope to see the old Thompson when the project is finished.
Building Redemption 