A New Stem

After the laminated stem failed I had to come up with a new plan. Also, I still had to get those longer boards for the keel & mast. Well I got lucky the other day. I went for a $10 yard of mulch at a local lumberyard and they had some 8/4 white oak fresh off of the saw! Well not truly green, it had been drying for a few months. And this is what I love about small local businesses. This place is right next to the NC State Fairgrounds, it was my first time doing business with them. I couldn't take the board I bought when I got the mulch, but I could come back when the office is closed. So I paid $18 for a 2x6x16' air dried white oak board, and came back the next day and picked up a 12' board while I was there too. The guy said I could come back when the office was open later to pay for the other board. I will buy anything else I can from this place. American Woodyards in Raleigh is amazing.

Oak on the truck

The mulch I went there to get originally

a 12' and a 16' 2x6 fresh from the lumberyard

The 16' board I would use for my keel, I'll shape that up later. First I have to cut up that 12' board and form my new stem. The approach I wanted to take this time was to use a wider board and cut out the stem in a few pieces.

ignore those plywod bandaids

These joints are not watertight

3 pieces, but it fits the pattern

I really wanted to do some mortise and tenon work to join these together but the size of the patterns just didn't work out. I ended up with three pieces that could come together to form the stem. No good pictures of it, but I ended up getting a white oak 7/8" dowel and putting two 4" sections of dowel in each joint to stiffen it up tight. The end product was stronger than I expected! I glued it up with a ton of TiteBond III in the mortises and on the dowels and on the edges. After some time in the clamps it is really holding up strong.

Clamped up!

It got sanded smooth after the glue dried

So now I have an actual, fully formed stem. This one, I think, will work. Next step is to stand up the frames and stem on the strongback, then start forming the keel. Progress!