Yes, a Dutchman can repair a stem that is only suffering surface rot, and this clip will begin our chronicling of doing so on the stem of the 1953 Shepherd 22’ Utility we are preserving.
The first step involves excising the rotted wood using our Fein MultiMaster, which truly is a revolutionary tool having seemingly endless applications in the wood shop.
John began peeling layers off the rotted section of her stem until he found sound oak, which is where he is in this clip. He then creates a template using heavy industrial paper, which he will transfer to two blocks of white oak, following which he will saw out the blanks. (John was initially going to execute the entire repair using one Dutchman, but we decided to retain the joint between the stem and knee.)
After sealing them with CPES, we will pack Jamestown Distributors’ Thixo thickened epoxy into the voids and allow it to clear.
Each Dutchman will be rough-shaped, sealed with CPES, glued in place using Thixo thickened epoxy and through-bolted to the existing using appropriately-sized silicon bronze carriage bolts. 3M 5200 will be applied to the joining faces of the stem and knee patches before the second one is installed.
Vintage Boat Preservation
