Inner Stem

The inner stem is laminated from six 5mm x 35mm strips of Douglas Fir.

First the curve is drawn onto a piece of wood, in this case a flat sheet of MDF. The strips are bent around the curve and clamped onto blocks of wood placed along the curve. Naturally the MDF has to be covered in a plastic bin liner and the blocks have to be covered to prevent the inner stem from sticking to the template.

Even 5mm strips can break when bent around a tight curve, so I heated them over some boiling water (in that old Le Creuset we bought when we got married - knew it would eventually come in useful) to allow them to bend more easily. They say you should steam the wood one hour for every inch of thickness. I only got 15 minutes before herself wanted the hob for lunch but it was enough.

All the wood was wetted out with neat epoxy and allowed to soak for a couple of hours. Then the strips were glued together lying flat with thickened epoxy before being presented to the template. I clamped the upper end together first and then went around the curve as shown. A lot of clamps are needed. The laminated wood has to be banged flat to the MDF as well to keep the pieces flush.

Given the tight curve in the wood I left it for two days before I took off the clamps otherwise the wood might spring out of the correct curve while the epoxy was only partially cured. When the clamps are removed the edges of the piece are covered in epoxy which has to be shaved off.

Finaly the stem is shaved down into a triangular profile to fit into the front of the boat where is is sat into a bed of thickened epoxy. The planks are then screwed to the stem before the epoxy cures to hold them firmly to the stem. Each plank was fixed with two 25x5 stainless steel screws.