Hi Jay,

Thanks for the compliments. The WLII has been a fun project, and for the most part, I'm pleased with how it's turned out.

The ash outer stems: I ended up with some pretty massive outer stems, and although they might be good for ice-breaking, I prefer the look of smaller ones. If a narrower outer stem suits you too, I think the easiest way to add one would be the same way I did it on the Guillemot. That is, assemble the hull normally, use a plane to shave a flat surface all along edge of the stem, then glue a stack of ash veneer on top of that flat edge. You can use packing tape to hold it all in place to dry. When the glue's dry, shape the veneer overhang to match the contours, giving it a nice round edge. I would recommend an extra thick fillet on the inside of the stems to compensate for the material you would be removing on the outside when you plane. In fact, you might need to plane down to the fillet to get the width of outer stem to your liking. I think this would be easier than trying to build and internal form ahead-of-time in the ends. Wrap some bias cut cloth around it when you're done to tie it all together.

If you take a look at my Guillemot page in the miscellaneous section, the first picture has a close-up of what it would look like.

Good luck, sounds like a cool idea.

Ross

> I've been looking at your Wee Lassie II picks today. What a beautiful
> boat!! What caught my eye the most was the ash strips at the bow and
> stern. Trying to figure out a way, if possible, to do the same thing on
> the clc West River kayak that i'm getting ready to build. I know the
> consturction techniques are completely different but there has to be a way
> to incorporate this into a s&g kayak. What i had in mind was making a form
> like yours that the strips are laminated to with the strips being wider
> than the form by the thickness of the plywood. This would allow the ply to
> butt up against the strips and be stitched to the form. What i cant figure
> out is how this would affect the lines of the panels and how to modify
> those lines appropriately. Any ideas, advice or wisdom anyone?????????????