: I am going to put stems on the bow and stern on a strip yak. I've
: read up on doing it. I've never seen a kayak with a stem. Never
: been out paddling and seen a wood kayak in my parts. And I can't
: find a pic of a stem where it ends on the hull. Seems to be
: something taken for granted all of us are supposed to know. Is
: the end tapered? Ends abruptly? Imbedded?

: Thx
: Kim

My take on it is that it is best to laminate a few thin (3 to 4 of 1/16" material) layers on to your stem area, and then shape them into a rounded edge- fairly blunt, as a sharp edge is likely to be too fragile and possibly lead to bad straight line tracking problems if it is off by a hair. You could also do a shaped solid piece to fit the curve of your stem areas, but you should probably know your way around woodworking tools pretty well for that one.