: I am building a cedar strip Guillemot, and am considering putting a
: hand-hammmered copper external stem (mainly because I think it
: would look nice). Has anyone tried something like this? Thoughts
: on whether the copper stem should be attached before
: fiberglassing (i.e. glass over the metal stem) or attach after
: 'glassing? Is this a really bad idea for reasons I haven't
: thought of yet?

If the metal starts oxidizing under the glass it will mess up your job. I had a carbon paddle with (unknown to me when purchased) alluminium ferrules connecting the blades to the handle. of course the carbon burst when salt water eventually got to the alluminium. I am not sure of this, but I think marine ring-nails are made from phosphor-bronze. It may be possible to get specially formulated marine bronze alloys for the job that are resistant to corrosion or oxidization. I would ring up a chandlery.

I had a brass keel-strip on a wooden dinghy for years and, although it became tarnished, it never showed any signs of corrosion.

Et