I need some advice about glueing on the outer stems on my prospecter. When I glued up my inner and outer stems on the stem forms before they where mounted on the strongback I was very happy with the fit.Now that I am ready to epoxy glue them on the canoe itself after completeing the striping ,the fit does not seem as good. They seem to have unsprung about 1/2 inch but pull into place ok by hand or with bungees and rachet straps.When looking from the side there appears to be a couple of gaps between the inner and outer stem, maybe a 1/16 of an inch. My question is will the epoxy glue hold them ok and will it fill the gaps. I am concerned about appearance but not as much as structural integety. Any advice is greatly appriaciated
Thanks to all
Roger Bebee :frightened
outer stem problem ?
My Nomad 17'
I was very apprehensive when I started cutting in the mortise for the outer stem. I got the fit pretty good but it seems the more you mess with it, the worst it gets. My problem was getting the inner stem with strips perpendicular to the center line. Anyway, I did the best I could and I added a little bit of West System #410 microfibre and a little sanding flour for color and and it turned out great. After shaping one end, everything flows together and you can't even see where the gap was. Remember you will be cutting the outer stem down to fit and you are exposing areas that were inside before shaping. By the time the final sanding/shaping is done and the glass in put on, it will look great. IMHO
Joe "Woodchuck" Gledhill
Garden City, MI
Garden City, MI
Outer Stem
Roger, you didn't indicate if you have cut the mortice to fit the last 10 inches of the outer stem to the inner stem? A little spring open is typical and it will pull down OK. When you epoxy on the outer stem, it's a good idea to first paint on un-thickened epoxy on all mating wood parts to soak in the epoxy. The end grain of the cedar will soak it up.
Then thicken some epoxy with Collodal Silica to the consistancy of peanut butter and paint on a generous amount. Clamp on the outer stem.
On the Prospector, I only use a single strap clamp at the last few inches near the top end of the outer stem. I use face frame screws on the rest of the stem to pull it down onto the inner stem. (Select a screw length that will not protrude through the inner stem!)
I start the screw layout by scribing a pencil line on the inside center of the outer stem. I then layout marks about every 5" to 6" and drill a shank hole for the #8 face frame screws. I then set the outer stem inplace over the inner stem and use a screw to mark the screw locations where they will enter the inners stem. Then drill those locations with a pilot size drill. (Please don't drill all the way through the inner stem!)
Dry fit the outer stem setting all the screws in place to make sure the outer stem pulls down to your liking. If it's OK, take it apart and proceed to the gluing as above. When the epoxy is cured, perhaps 48 hours or more, remove the screws and plug the holes with dowels.
Ed...
Then thicken some epoxy with Collodal Silica to the consistancy of peanut butter and paint on a generous amount. Clamp on the outer stem.
On the Prospector, I only use a single strap clamp at the last few inches near the top end of the outer stem. I use face frame screws on the rest of the stem to pull it down onto the inner stem. (Select a screw length that will not protrude through the inner stem!)
I start the screw layout by scribing a pencil line on the inside center of the outer stem. I then layout marks about every 5" to 6" and drill a shank hole for the #8 face frame screws. I then set the outer stem inplace over the inner stem and use a screw to mark the screw locations where they will enter the inners stem. Then drill those locations with a pilot size drill. (Please don't drill all the way through the inner stem!)
Dry fit the outer stem setting all the screws in place to make sure the outer stem pulls down to your liking. If it's OK, take it apart and proceed to the gluing as above. When the epoxy is cured, perhaps 48 hours or more, remove the screws and plug the holes with dowels.
Ed...
Ed Alger