thompsondockside.com

The Thompson that I have begun restoring has a replaced transom. It appears to be hard wood but not mahogany. Records show that my boat had a mahogany transom. I really dont feel like ripping the whole transom out and replacing it with mahogany so I was considering using mahogany veneer over the existing one. Has any one every done this?? What are the pros and cons of doing this?? If I did this and applied that fiberglass cloth and epoxy over it to lock it in, is this stuff transparent or would it be visable and ruin the mahogany look?? thanks for your input.

tcvc,

Do not use fiberglass and resin over the wood. It will hold in mosture and cause problems in the future. Wood needs to breath and putting fiberglass abd resin over it will not allow this.

If you do try to laminated veneer over the current wood besure to use a waterproof glue tha tis designed for below waterline usage. Try to stain the existing wood with a mahagany stain and see how that looks first.

Those are my thoughts.

Good Luck,

Phill

Absolutely NO to fiberglass. That is a death knell.

I would say yes to veneering over your existing wood as an option. You will have to remove any stain and varnish on the existing transom to get to clean wood. Use a waterproof adhesive. Read and undertsand the instructions on the adhesive container.

Clamping the two layers of wood together to get a good bond will be an interesting challenge.

I veneered over a existing hole ridden wooden dashboard with a 1/4 inch piece of Meranti plywood on a '61 Peshtigo Sea Lancer. It worked out very nicely. The deck was off which made clamping very simple.

Andreas