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Hello again,
I have a couple of old wooden GPs and I’d like to find out what is used to conceal the wood screws that secure the thwart and side benches.
It seems to be some sort of stopper or filler that is reddish in colour I presume to try and make some attempt at blending with the colour of the wood. This stuff has also been used to conceal various securing pins and boat nails that secure the outer rubbing strake or gunwhale.
Has anyone come across either the original product or a suitable replacement?
I was thinking of cutting some hardwood plugs to cover the seat screws but I think that the size of the existing counter sink may make the required plug to big hence the search for some suitable filler.
I have found some terracotta epoxy putty which may do, any suggestions will be gratefully received.
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The filler used originally was most likely to have a product called Brummer a Stopper, this was in its water resinstant form a cellulose based putty, there was also a standard version which was water based – not suitable for marine use. With time the Brummer Stopper tends to crumble and if water gets to the underlying screws the stopper gets popped out bursting the the paint or varnish.
Replace the filler above screws with an epoxy filler – under paint can be any colour under varnish I use SP epoxy filled with colloidal silica, gives a reddish colour and is very durable, the best for appearance is as you say wooden plugs but you need to drill the screw holes the correct diameter to match the plug cutter you have. Plug cutters are available from better tool shops.
Hope that helps Steve Corbet
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Thanks Steve now you mention it I’ve heard of Brummer but I think I shall be going down the suggested epoxy route as I have some of that colloidal silica you mention. I may also buy a new plug cutter as the one I have is to small for the diameter of the existing counter sink of the screws. I have also just taken delivery of a product called “Milliput” which is a two part epoxy putty that comes in the form of two sticks that when combined form a thick paste which can be moulded before it goes hard, I have the terracotta version which looks to be about the right colour. I will post the results in due course.
Thanks again for your help,
Regards Nick.
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Brummer stopper was certainly the standard material for the job when the boat was built, but as Steve rightly says it does tend to crumble in time, although I confess that I sometimes still use it for very small areas.
Another option, an alternative to the colloidal silica, for the epoxy route is sanding dust from the same type of wood. My orbital sander has a dust collection facility, and whenever I find myself doing a lot of sanding on bare wood I empty the contents of the dust bag afterwards into one of two screw top jam jars, one for mahogany and similarly coloured woods, and one for spruce or pine or similar. Then on later jobs, when I find that I need a matching filler, I have the material ready to hand.
You won’t get a perfect match, but for small areas it is not bad.
For situations where the screws are deeply recessed down parallel-bored doles (not V-shaped countersunk holes) wood plugs are superb; you can use matching wood, and can line up the grain parallel with the surrounding wood, bond them in with epoxy, and by the time they have been faired off and sanded and varnished even you yourself will sometimes have a hard job to locate exactly where they are. The casual observer will normally never see them at all. But for the particular situation you are describing I think you are right; the holes won’t be deep enough to use this method.
Oliver
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