wooden kayak paddle constuction
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bgn4srr
wooden kayak paddle constuction
looking for a good book, course or internship program to learn how to build wooden kayak paddles...45 degree offsets...et. thanks
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Guest
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Guest
It's a different type from what you're looking for, but let me put in a plug for building a traditional Greenland paddle. I stumbled across this website last year
http://seacanoe.org/grnpadle.htm
and decided to make one just to try one. After more than thirty years of kayaking I figured I'd be the last person on earth who would ever give up my feathered blades. My whitewater paddles were always 90 degree feathers and my sea paddles lately have been 60 degree feathers. I was sure that going to a straight, unfeathered paddle would drive me nuts, but wanted to try a greenland paddle. So I picked through the stacks of cedar 2x4's and 2x6's at Home Depot until I found a clear one with more or less quarter-sawn type grain and spent an afternoon cutting away everything that didn't look like part of a paddle, roughly following the plans on the website. Total cost including the varnish was under $10.
After using that one and a couple more which I've built since for about a year, I'm starting to wonder why the more common euro-style touring paddle ever got popular in the first place? My $350 Werner carbon Camano paddle now sits on the back deck as a spare and I'm doing all my paddling with a glorified Home Depot 2x4 because IT WORKS BETTER! It's just about the same weight, there has never been any confusion over the shift to a non-feathered configuration (it feels perfectly natural) and as you learn to use the Greenland paddle, you learn to use the enitre paddle. It's not just two blades stuck on the ends of a stick, you learn to mix-in extended-paddle techniques (which never work particularly well with most euro-paddles, especially with non 90 degree or non-zero degree feathers) and you use the whole thing to maneuver your boat. Now when I switch back to my euro-style paddles, they feel clumsy and inefficient by comparison. If you're looking to make your own kayak paddles it's worth spending $10 and an afternoon carving sometime to try the traditional paddle shape and see how you like it.
http://seacanoe.org/grnpadle.htm
and decided to make one just to try one. After more than thirty years of kayaking I figured I'd be the last person on earth who would ever give up my feathered blades. My whitewater paddles were always 90 degree feathers and my sea paddles lately have been 60 degree feathers. I was sure that going to a straight, unfeathered paddle would drive me nuts, but wanted to try a greenland paddle. So I picked through the stacks of cedar 2x4's and 2x6's at Home Depot until I found a clear one with more or less quarter-sawn type grain and spent an afternoon cutting away everything that didn't look like part of a paddle, roughly following the plans on the website. Total cost including the varnish was under $10.
After using that one and a couple more which I've built since for about a year, I'm starting to wonder why the more common euro-style touring paddle ever got popular in the first place? My $350 Werner carbon Camano paddle now sits on the back deck as a spare and I'm doing all my paddling with a glorified Home Depot 2x4 because IT WORKS BETTER! It's just about the same weight, there has never been any confusion over the shift to a non-feathered configuration (it feels perfectly natural) and as you learn to use the Greenland paddle, you learn to use the enitre paddle. It's not just two blades stuck on the ends of a stick, you learn to mix-in extended-paddle techniques (which never work particularly well with most euro-paddles, especially with non 90 degree or non-zero degree feathers) and you use the whole thing to maneuver your boat. Now when I switch back to my euro-style paddles, they feel clumsy and inefficient by comparison. If you're looking to make your own kayak paddles it's worth spending $10 and an afternoon carving sometime to try the traditional paddle shape and see how you like it.
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marchmyres
- Posts: 31
- Joined: Wed Aug 04, 2004 9:54 am
- Location: Aberdeen, UK
Try this:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 82-7202225
Very good for canoe paddles, has a section on kayak paddles. I've made a couple of canoe paddles, one ash, one laminated spruce.
Cheers
Gordon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASI ... 82-7202225
Very good for canoe paddles, has a section on kayak paddles. I've made a couple of canoe paddles, one ash, one laminated spruce.
Cheers
Gordon
kayak paddle building
I believe that Mac Mccarthy's book has a section on building double bladed paddleshttp://www.feathercanoes.com/books.html