Stem

I've run into a number of obstacles making the stem. I was origionally going to make it out of 10 strips of 3/8"x2 1/4" spanish cedar, but bending and clamping 3/8" strips proved suprisingly impossible. I'm not resawing them with a table saw to 1/4" thick, and using 15 instead of 10. They bend considerably easier, and as I understand it the more laminates the better. I had thought about steam bending the strips when they were still 3/8" thick, but resawing them is much simpler. I traced the stem pattern onto some cheap 11/2" ply and glued and screwed some clamping blocks to it. Once I get all the strips cut, I will slather them with thick epoxy and clamp them into the form. After curing, I'll cut the bevel.

Shown here are the 3/8" strips and the clamping jig