Inner Stems

The first step in building the hull is making the bow and stern inner stems. These will support the outer stems, the parts of the boat subject to the most abuse, like scraping and hitting rocks.

I made the inner stems from several laminations (7 or 8) of pine, each about 1/16" thick.

Photo left column: As you can see, the bow (and stern) stem forms have holes for clamping. The stem form edges are covered with tape so the inner stem laminations won't stick to the forms.

None of the forms become part of the finished canoe, but the inner stems become part of the hull.

The strips that become the hull will be glued to the inner stems.

Stripping the Hull

The photos below show the sequence of "stripping" the hull, building the hull up from the thin cedar strips.

Click on a photo to see a larger image.

Filling the "Football" Bottom

The Outer Stems

The outer stems are made from laminations of a hardwood, in this case, 8 layers of ash. To attach the outer stems, the bow and stern are cut and sanded to a flat face from the sheer line toward the bottom.

Below left: The stem near the bottom is chiseled out to accept the outer stem laminations.
Below right: Test fit of the first lamination layer.

Below left: The 3rd (of 8) lamination is glued and clamped.
Below right: the laminated outer stem is planed and faired smooth to the hull shape.