Rounding the end of the stems

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Hey Guys,
When Ted says to round over the end of the inner stem, to make it easier for glassing later on... Is he talking about just the end of the stem where you temporarily attach a screw into it at the first station?

The reason why I'm asking such a basic question is because flipping ahead to other pictures in his book, the keel area of the inside stem almost looks somewhat like a dowel laying in the bottom of the canoe where he shows details about glassing the inside of the canoe.

Sorry about such a basic question, but we don't have an archive to fall back on at the moment. First time builders like myself get to ask one stupid question per day, Right?

[Glen Smith]

Hi Dean,

I do a generous radius round-over on the end of the inner stems. Along the side of the horizontal portion I just do a small round-over with sandpaper. You don't want to round-over the vertical portion or you will have a gap between the inner stems and the planks or strips.

Just do the portions of the inner stems that will end up exposed inside the canoe.

I hope this is clear,
Glen.

[Dean in Eureka, CA]

Glen,
That's what I thought. Those pictures on fiberglassing the inside just threw me a bit.
Maybe the stems in those photos are just a bit narrower than I was thinking they should be. They sure look like big pencils laying on the bottom of the canoe though.

Well, it looks like I will have to wait until tommorow to ask another on of my "dumb" questions, since I've reached my daily quota already.