So I'm all set to glue my outer stems first thing tomorrow morning. I've studied up on the process, and I've finished prepping the bow and stern of the canoe.
When I did a test fit of my outer stems after initial prep, it looked like I needed to mortise a bit longer groove to get the outer stem to 'push into' the front of the inner stem. I did this and it helped but now I notice that the fit isnt as good along the 'top edge' of the stem.
I think I might have slightly changed the original alignment of inner stem and outter stem when I lengthened my mortise groove. In hindsight, I think they had just changed shape a bit over the months since being made and I misread the problem.
Anyway, I just did another dry fit and they come down nice and snug under ratchet straps, but I did have to apply a fair bit of pressure to bring them down flush where they wanted to float off the inner stem, especially along the tight curve where the front becomes the bottom of the boat.
Is this fairly normal? Should I be concerned about the glue joint being under stress, or will it be fine once the epoxy cures?
![Image](http://i.imgur.com/lpIcGQr.jpg)