those dangerous rotted wood repairs

I'm putting new canvas on a 1937 Arrowhead. The stems have seen at least two canvas jobs already and while sound, not rotted, they are split badly. Somewhere is a rather dangerous wood repair, forgot what, that will solidify the wood and allow me to put those stem tacks in for yet another canvas. Common wood filler will not hold a tack. Somewhere was a thread on this. Any ideas?

 

Face lift for well used stems

I have used the laminating method , and it works beautifully. It can be a bit tedious, but the new face will take tacks and nails just fine. You must pay strict attention to stem realignment when putting all the plank ends back in position.The existing plank end nail holes may be opened up enough to be unreliable to get a perfect set to the stem. Patience works wonders here. Have fun.

 

Thanks, that is an idea I had not considered.