Hi John,

It is always informative to see how someone else does it.

I considered a laminated stem, but thought I would try a solid one, and am glad I did. I just traced the chunk of plywood that I cut from the stem form onto a piece of cedar the same thickness as the plywood form, and then cut it out with a bandsaw. No glue, no bending, and the cedar is exactly the right size to guide the stem tapering process. By trimming the cedar from the edge where it joins the form, to the outside centerline, the resulting curved surfaces on each side of the stem automatically produced sizeable and fair gluing surfaces for the cedar strips.

I used screws because I thought I would like to hold the stems rigid against any tension caused by the strips, but I like your tape idea, and may try it the next time around.

Thanks for the feedback,

Best regards,

Allan Edie

: Clever solutions. Thanks for sharing.

: I use tape instead of screws. Then I just slice through that tape
: before stripping over it.

: Also, I find it easiest to make inner stems from a few thin
: laminated strips of soft wood instead of carving a single piece
: of wood. The laminated strips generally conform well to the
: required shape with only attachment in a few places. The photo
: below is a canoe, but you can get the idea. The holes allow
: clamping of the laminated strips until the glue dries.

: John