Making the Stems

To make the inner and outer stems, 1/4" strips of cedar and ash 3/4" wide of the required length were cut, and then soaked in hot water (bath tub) for several hours.

To make the shape of the stem, the 3 pieces of cedar and 3 of ash were clamped to the stem mold, with the cedar as the inner layer.

The pieces were carefully bent and tightly clamped following the form.

Once the strips were fully around the mold, they were left to dry for 24 hours. The ash strips were glued together into 2 outer stems, 3 pieces each. Three cedar strips form each inner stem. The ash outer stems were put away to be used later. The cedar stems were clamped to the form and shaped with a spokeshave into a rolling bevel so that the each cedar strip can lie flat against it when the strips are attached to the canoe mold.