Our smith has made a new part for the steering system. Chains from the steering wheel control this arm that is connected to the rudder, it was originally made by a smith so we used the same techniques to copy the old one.

Click here if you want to read the Introduction/first post.

 

After two weeks helping with a new building here at Fartøyversenter Joost and I started working again on Brottsjø. The first thing we did was taking out the stem or “stevn” in Norwegian. The biggest job was to take out the old nails without damaging the planks of the skin. After a day work this was done and after removing 4 long bolts that connect the stem with a root that is connected to the keel we lifted it up.

Without problems the stem came out.

The skin is good, we have plugged the holes so that we can make new ones later. Normally the planks keep the same thickness all the way to the end, the stem is changed to make it fit. With Brottsjø they made the ends of the planks thinner to have a nice fit. This is strange because from the 5cm thickness there is only 3,5/4cm left, not mush to hold on for the nails. They made it thinner with an axe, but it is not clear if the stem is changed before or that this is original, in that case it lasted for more than 70 years and is this construction good enough.

Working with big pieces of wood is always challenging. Where to begin and which tools to use.

With an ax and a planer I made the wedged shape and now I use the old stem as a mall. It’s hard to see which methods they used when they first made this stem. We did some resurge to find out what kind of tools they had but that’s not an easy task. For now I assume that the individual carpenter that worked at Stenson og sønner had his own methods just like it is today. Lifting the stevn…