old town stems

[fred capenos]

It's sooooo good to have the WCHA site up and running again. Thanks to all who made it happen. The info I need is probably in this forum someplace, but I'm not getting to it.

I'm redoing a 1931 old town 16 ft, cs hw sponsoned canoe.All the usual work. (rail splices, a few ribs, and stem splicing. etc etc). The stems are gone down to about the 5 oclock area, so I don't know what the stem profile looked like. It looks like about 3/4 in. wide on the inside, 7/8 in front to back, but I don't have a clue about the taper because I don't know how the inwales taper to the top of the stem. Can anyone provide me with the average dimensions or give me a site to refer to (a picture would be GREAT)
Thanks.....Fred Capenos

 

[Dennis Vidal]

I recently finished doing similar repairs to a 20' Old Town guide. Much of the stem was rotted away, but enough of the planking remained in the bow where there was once a stem. I traced the profile of the planking where it met the stem on a piece of card board. I traced that profile to a piece of stem stock. I spliced the new stem tip in place, then used a finger plane to shape the new portion of the stem. I dealt with where the inwale met the stem when I got to that point. I hope this helps.

 

[fred capenos]

Thanks for the reply Dennis. I too have enough planking to determine the shape of the bow and stern.(apx. a 9 1/2" rad.). However, I'm lacking most of the decks, maybe the last 6 in" of the inwales, and most of the bent portion of the stem. Maybe it would be better to ask, " How wide is the entry and exit before the boat has canvas on it?" Or, after you were done with your finger plane,how wide was the front of your of your stem?

Thanks for your interest
Fred

 

[mariola01]

stems

Hello,
I just did stems for that very model. Mine were rotted down to the five oclock position too but I was able to get enough info out of what I had to replace them fairly well. What I found was that the inside facing surface of the stem around the five oclock position was about 5/8" and tappered to 1/2" by three o'clock and stayed 1/2" all the way up to the deck. The leading edge of the stem was 1/4" wide when done (that is the stem's leading edge). Don't forget that when planks and canvas are on, the stem edge will be covered with a 3/8" stem band. The finished leading edge is probably around 1/2" wide or so. It's always a little rounded so hard to say precisely. If you need photos I can post.

 

[fred capenos]

Thanks Martin,
This information confirms what others have told me, plus more. I have the new stems spliced in and will be adding new inwales sometime soon. I'll work the new stems down to size during planking.

Later Fred.