I've got exactly the same "problem" with my Guillemot. As Nick suggests in his book, once I pulled out the staples I planned the bow strips in order to get an even surface (no carving required). Then I ripped 6 (six) 1" x 1/16" x aprox 2 feet cedar strips, from a solid stock so as to mantain the grain pattern.

I re-glued (regular white glue) this "sandwich" of strips over the planned stem and secured it with milles of duct tape.

After a couple of days, I planned and filed the stem. Believe me, it looks like a solid piece of wood! The whole process was quite simple to achieve.

Hope this helps

Marcelo 9 7/8