Stem scarf jig

[IthacaBill]

Does anyone have suggestions for building a jig for bending shorter (8-14") pieces of wood to be used for replacing stem tips? Also, any tips for actually bending the wood at that extreme radius without cracking/breaking the wood? How about splicing/scarfing the new bent piece onto the existing stem?
Thanks!

 

[Michael Grace]

Why bend if only splicing in tips? Instead, use a band saw to cut curved pieces from larger stock.

 

[Dan Miller]

I second Michael. If splicing a short section, just saw it out of a sufficiently sized block of wood. On a curved stem like an Old Town, I'll only do this for 6 inches or so - a longer replacement than that warrants replacing the stem outright, IMO. On a torpedo stem that has a straight run to the gunwale (e.g. a Thompson Hiawatha) I'll do longer, but pretty much only the straight part.

 

[IthacaBill]

Stem tips

That would work, but how would you attatch them to the existing stem? Would you cut matching angles an then glue/clamp or screw together? Even epoxy? Anyone have some good pictures of this?
Thanks alot!
-B

 

[martin ferwerda]

Have a look at this thread, there are a couple of links to photos of stem repairs, along with thread discussion
http://forums.wcha.org/showthread.php?t=712

 

[Dan Lindberg]

I often bend several test pieces before bending the "real" piece, I've then cut out and used smaller pieces of the test pieces for raw scarfing material.

Dan

 

[Ric Altfather]

Bill,

When the On-Line Store comes back up, there is a reprint of 3 articles ($3) with good info on stem repair.

 

[MikeCav]

IthacaBill...

When you look at the thread that Martin posted and you see the sunset scenic (with the scarfed stem repair) you might recognize the lake as Owasco.