The next step was to build the stem’s mold. I followed
the plans and built a plywood form to bend the stem. For a uniform bend I have
found that you need many, many clamps and since I didn’t have sufficient
clamps, I made clamps using two 5/16 x 6 inch eye bolts for clamps. Here’s what
I did: I drilled 1” inch diameter holes in the bending form and then used ¾
dowels that went through the ‘eyes’ of the bolts and attached a short length on
wood to the top to form a U bolt type configuration. These bolt clamps work
extremely well as they don’t leave a ‘cupped’ area in the middle of a piece of
wood like a C clamp does.
To make the stem I purchased a white oak board that
measured 2x6x60 and ripped the oak into 17 1/8 strips. The white oak board cost
$37. As you may know, white oak bends extremely well but it needs to be soaked
in water prior to bending. I then soaked 8 strips in water for 3 days and bent
them around the form. I found that the white oak bent easily without having to
steam the wood. The downside of water soaking the wood is that it took a long
time to dry; particularly in March. So to speed the process I decided to glue
the strips together with Gorilla Glue. The moisture content in the wood aided
the polyurethane glue to form a tight bond and formed an interior stem that had
little if any spring back.
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