Yet again, I find myself having to proclaim, I’m not dead yet, only resting. Actually I have not even been resting, just a bit lazy about posting progress. And oh yes, there is progress. I’ll break the last few months down into multiple posts for you so as not to rush things.
As I completed stripping the hull, one of the final steps was to fit the external stems. The bootlegger is fitted with laminated external stems made of Western Red Cedar. The WRC is denser and stronger than the Paulownia and creates a protective guard at the ends where damage is most likely.
To prepare the hull, I first cut away the interlocked strip ends and planed and sanded the ends flat.
Caption: The stern ready to receive the stem.
I then used the bandsaw and thickness planer to make up a pile of 1.5mm thick strips all about the same length. These strips were then soaked in boiling water to make them easier to bend.
While the strips were soaking, I made a pattern of the stem curves using a bit of scrap plywood and some nails.
After a few minutes soaking I removed each strip and bent it around the nail. Once all the strips were on the form, I left them to cool overnight.
Tip of the Day: Attempting to bend strips into this tight of a curve without soaking will result in a pile of cracked and broken strips.
Caption: Stern strips cooling on the form.
The next day, I removed the strips from the form and magically they kept their curved shape.
I then liberally applied glue both to the ends of the hull and in between all of the strips. (I used about 7 strips to build up the height I thought I needed.)
These strips were then clamped tightly to the hull until the glue dried.
I should have left them to dry overnight. Instead, I tried to remove the clamps too early and ended up having to re-glue and re-clamp some of the strips.
Caption: The stack of strips clamped to the bow.
Once the glue fully dried, I removed the clamps and began shaping the external stems, but more on that next time.
Final thought: Are there any nautical engineers out there? Is it still a stem if it’s in the stern?
[...] The treatment on the bow stem is the same as has been shown earlier here and here. Cut some thin strips of cedar, soak them in boiling hot water, prebend them on a cheap [...]