Stem band end detail

[patrick corry]

Please show me some end detail on brass stem bands. I've usually just bevelled the ends at a 45 degree angle, but I know Rushton made a 'bullet' style end. I thought about heating and doing a little blacksmithing to create a 'spoon' end profile. How about some other styles?

 

[dtdcanoes]

Oh, Pat the sky 's the limit here and the front deck however shaped or whatever size is just waiting for the little thing that says , it's a Corry boat. I made a little washer for the painter ring on the deck of a little Chestnut in the form of the Canadian Maple leaf. I used a piece cut from heavy brass stock and included as much leaf edge detail as I knew how. Then engraved the interior with the typical veining they show. Good fun.
Dave

 

[Benson Gray]

The link below shows a slight pounded flare at the bottom end of the stem bands in some early Old Town canoes.

Benson

Post in thread 'A canoe from the Indian Old Town Canoe Company'

May 1, 2018

I wondered if this canoe would be attributable to Old Town Canoe Co if it had no tag?

I need to ammend my earlier response. This canoe has a slight pounded flare at the bottom end of the stem bands. I recently noticed that the 1906 Old Town shown at http://www.wcha.org/forums/index.php?threads/12416/ has a similar characteristic. Both of these are shown below with the arrow on the Indian Old Town canoe's image. Please let me know if anyone finds this on any other canoes. Thanks,

Benson

• Benson Gray

 

[1905Gerrish]

Please show me some end detail on brass stem bands. I've usually just bevelled the ends at a 45 degree angle, but I know Rushton made a 'bullet' style end. I thought about heating and doing a little blacksmithing to create a 'spoon' end profile. How about some other styles?

Hey Pat,

Where you copied the Gerrish seats in your latest build why not the bands as well? Gerrish regularly flared out the stem bands for the last 3 inches or so. Doesn't take much with a small sledged to mimic the design.

Zack

 

[patrick corry]

Zack, might you have a photo or two of this flared stem band end to share? Today I did a little pounding on a scrap of stem band, making a flare similar to, but slightly more enlarged than the one in Benson's shared image. And rather than a convex radius at the end I might experiment with a concave arc at the end to mimic the deck shape. Trivial detail, yes I know... but fun to think about.

 

[Dave Osborn]

Did this little variation on a St Louis Meraco Racer.

 

[samb]

"Trivial detail, yes I know... but fun to think about."

That's what makes the difference between looking ok and looking great.

 

[dtdcanoes]

so appealing to my eye, I hit zoom. ( screw at 10:00 , I'd go to noon for lunch ).

 

[patrick corry]

Here's a brief attempt on a scrap of stem band. I think it's a pretty hard alloy- cold pounding on a small anvil produced the taper and flare, but also the stress cracks (hard to see in this photo) at the end radius. This experiment was filed and then sanded with 80 grit so far. It deserves a little more experimentation. Maybe introducing heat first and during?

Standard bevel for comparison. I checked every canoe in my barn, Old Towns, Chestnuts, St. Lawrence Boat Co., they are all bevelled!

 

[Dave Osborn]

Patrick
Heat does help some. Also, I’ve always filed a groove on the underside of where the bend goes. It provides a much sharper bend.

 

[dtdcanoes]

Dave, I have always wondered how to get a sharper bend right there where it would look so clean and right . But a question. How do you get a consistent groove when the under side of the groove has a significant radius in today's bands ? I had thought of using my Dremel with one of those grinding discs that have worn down to a very small diameter and , ya know, the ones you keep if you ever need such a thing like Dave's groove.
Dave D.

 

[patrick corry]

I’ve always filed a groove on the underside of where the bend goes. It provides a much sharper bend.

Good tip to know. Thanks.

 

[Dave Osborn]

Dave D.
I just file across the backside with a triangular file or one with a 90 degree edge. I don’t file too deep into the concave part. Mostly just remove material from the outer two edges.

 

[JClearwater]

Attached is a picture of an original Rushton stem band from a canoe the Steve Lapey restored. The end has a rather "diamond" shape to it. On the Morris I just finished the end of the stem was simply filed off with a 45 degree angle. They did nothing fancy.

Jim

 

[patrick corry]

Thanks Jim for that Rushton detail. I have seen a Rushton stem band with an end shaped to a "pointed" bullet shape, but not the one you show.

I have decided to go with the shape in the following pictures.

One can sometimes over think the embellishments/decorations of a project on which one has toiled for a long time! My Dad used to say, "don't gild the lily"; suggesting that the thing itself is the beauty and doesn't need additional decoration. This canoe (my first new build) has taken shape over time due to a well-made form (thanks to Keith Lake) for a well-designed canoe (thanks Rollin Thurlow) and has evolved into this beautiful creation in my barn. Yes, I did all the work, but it's almost as though the canoe morphed from this collection of flat materials and my minor design input, into a fully formed thing of beauty. I wish I could share it with all of you at Assembly, but I'm unable to attend this year. Next Assembly perhaps. In the meantime I'll post a gallery of pictures when truly complete.

 

[Dave Osborn]

Sycamore??
Cool figure in the wood!

 

[patrick corry]

Yes, quarter sawn American Sycamore. It’s a species that is very common where I live, typically found along watercourses and lowlands. I used it for decks, grab handles, seat frames, and thwarts. My little bit of Pennsylvania in an otherwise Maine canoe.

 

[dtdcanoes]

Pat, I know you are probably committed to the chosen end of the band. But I am compelled to say. I have used the bullet about an inch and a quarter long and highly polished to finish. I see it on your extraordinary fading deck shape showing those captivating figures in the grain . The fineness of the bullet image on these long and narrow decks is really quite something. In your case with the deck shape and grain image I would even consider a longer bullet and even make a sample(s) before committing. And / or sampling different lengths, tapering much earlier if you were to go LONG, and consider if there is a way to pin the last screw and rid the image of a common old slot. Believing here that overthinking in not the same as overuse. WOW what a fine thing you have wrought !
Dave D.

 

[patrick corry]

Dave, thanks for your thoughts. I can’t visualize what you’re suggesting. Do you have an image or drawing to help me understand? I’m not fully committed yet. I have not made the bend yet or drilled any screw holes.

 

[dtdcanoes]

I'll get back to you, Pat. I think I have some photos .
Dave