I think…
… that I’ll go with the tung oil approach on this paddle with maybe a bit of epoxy on the tips.
This way I can practice with a bit of reshaping.
I looked at the video - very cool ! Damn I wish I had seen that before I started 
Oh well…
Just for interest here are some details. I downloaded the pdf instructions as used in the video and then bought a length of red cedar.
My paddle is 87" (I’m 6’2") but I think that I have gone a bit wrong on the loom… I marked it all out a few months ago and am sure I followed the destructions but measured it last night. I found the the straight length of the loom is 17" and with the ‘shoulders’ comes in at around 21".
What I’m not clear on is whether the loom should be measured on the straight or with the shoulders ? Any hints welcome
I cut it with a hand saw and then cut down to the line and knocked out sections with a big chisel. From there I used a plane to make the flat tapers and then cut the loom taper with a hand saw.
After that I carved it trad style with a carving knive (Sloyd/Frost one - very sharp) - this suited me as it meant slow progress and attention to detail.
After that a spot of work with a 2nd cut bastrd file (on the shoulders around the loom) and then some cabinet scraper work.
At the moment I have just finished using 80 grit on rounding bits out and am moving on to 120 grit paper. Again by hand…
Think I’ll coat the last foot or so of the blades with West System slow cure epoxy (been alot of rain recently and the epoxy is about a year old so hopefully will still ‘go off’).
The rest will be tung oiled - I have Liberon Tung oil - this is 100% I am assured
Anyway - think I have stuffed up the shoulders on the loom but it is all good practice. Got enough red cedar left from the plank to make a storm paddle.
Thanks for your help - will try and read or find details on actual paddle stroke now - thanks a bunch one and all.
Ed
(Might load up some pics when it is done for constructive or other criticism)
loom length doesn’t include shoulders
If it’s uncomfortable maybe you can carve the shoulders back? As you’ll probably find in your search for tips on how to use your paddle, your thumbs sit in the shoulders and your fingers drape across the blade roots. Sounds like you got throught the carving part just fine. The finish is the easy part. Good luck with it, I’ll bet your gonna like the way these paddles work.
Thanks Matt
Watched your video again last night - very good idea and nicely put together - are you going to make one on actually paddling ?! Might help us newbies but if the weather is anything like it is here (relatively mild but stormy as heeell) then maybe not.
Here are some images - all rough and ready:
http://www.parazz.com/photos/17396335923_10337.jpg
http://www.parazz.com/photos/46752203339_10337.jpg
http://www.parazz.com/photos/54716977314_10337.jpg
http://www.parazz.com/photos/28408587737_10337.jpg
http://www.parazz.com/photos/89786743260_10337.jpg
Ed>K, nice looking paddle!
Started with a good wood stock, it seems, which has made a difference. That is your first paddle? Sweet? how long did it take you to make, soup to nuts?
By the way, Pooder is looking lonely. You might want to play tin foil ball with him, or get him some catnip or something.
Great looking paddle Edward
Thanks for your comments. No I probably wouldn’t do a paddling video. I had thought about it but the cost in extra filming equipment and my technique shortcomings kinda put a stop to it. But thx.
Try all of the
suggested finishes that have been mentioned and see what works best for your needs. No finish at all is also nice.
Okay, I am going to do it!
My new years resolution, and I swear I will keep this one (unlike past resolutions about no more drinking non-diet pop, and cutting back on chocolate) is to make a Greenland paddle.
First, I will compliment Edward_K on his initial effort, and giving me the feeling that maybe, just maybe, a ten-thumbs dolt like myself can bang out one of these puppies if I just take my time and enjoy the process. Put on a Van Halen CD, drink a huge Coke Classic and eat a king sized Butterfinger and spend the afternoon carving and sanding. I gotta get out to Lowe's and get some of the tools necessary. So, thanks Edward_K for your fine first effort, which is a model for me and all of us Pnetters.
Second, I have learned much from the webshots of bnystrom about everything from minicelled cockpits to deck line installation. So, I can only imagine that his new book is a winner with many tips and tricks on the making of the GP. So, why not. From one native New Englander (I was born and raised near Amherst, MA... spent tons of time in Keene, NH --not excatly Nashua, but close-- and climbing Mt Monadnock) to another, I am going to drop a check in the mail today for your book.
http://www.greenlandpaddlebook.com/
And finally, Matt Johnson. You have really done a super job on your video. If you wished to put it on a DVD, I know you could sell it for major bucks. :-)It is so well done, and so clear. Your presentation is so straight-forward, not all jazzed up with comedy and hype and theory. You just tell it like it is, and that makes even me, Mr. Thumbs, consider doing it. Your finished product in the video looks so neat. I am truly going to make this paddle because of you and your forum and your video. You really ought, as a poster above said, to consider making more videos on making kayaks, canoe paddles, whatever... compiling them all and making a single woodworking of paddling DVD, $29.99 each. The only Greenland paddling instructional video (other than rollig vids) I have ever seen was Greg Stamer, a superb teacher, for about 30 minutes total on the Nigel Foster DVDs. It was very good, and I emailed him once about making a full length video. No reply. I think one of you gentleman (Matt, you got it down already with that Sony vid cam) ought to do it for woodworking and Greenland paddles. I don't know how much you know about Eskimos and stuff, but you could school us on that, too. But I think I'd make a whole kayak if one of your guys would make a video on it. :-)
Anyhow, thanks. If I get good at this, I may be cranking them out for my kids (like the posters on your forum, Matt) and fellow paddlers. If I fail, look for a sureform tool and a vibrating sander on eBay, cheap.
Better To Have Too Short Of A Loom
than too long to start. With loom you can whittle down the shoulders to extend the loom if you have too. Not the other way around.
I like minimal shoulders. Just enough to get the feel of where my hands are.
Very good job for a first!
sing
Thx for your kind comments
You made my day.
Bought nice cedar 2x4, knotless, but…
wet. I can see these bad boys are going to twist more than Chubby Checker as they start to dry out. I need dry to work with them. Too “green”.
Don’t panic yet
If the wood has vertical grain, you should get little or no warping as long as you store it flat while it’s drying. I’ve bought vertical grain cedar that was almost dripping wet and it dried straight and true. It make take 2-4 weeks of drying to get enough of the moisture out of an 8’ 2x4 to be able to work with it.
If the wood has flat grain, warping could be a problem. That’s just one of the reasons I only use vertical grain wood.
Wet WRC
First WRC I bought was very wet and really heavy. Not being wise and patient like Brian I didn’t let it dry and just carved it wet. So wet it weeped when I planed it and saw dust was not a problem as it clumped. Otherwise it was not that bad to work with.
Finished paddle was HEAVY. I let it sit a few days and it lost 1/3 of it’s weight - ending up, with finish on it - only about an ounce heavier than my Superior Carbon.
I was concerned it would warp/check/split as it dried but it remained absolutely straight and stable. Like Brian, I attribute this to the grain which was very tight, straight, and vertical.
Not: The above is NOT recommending you carve wet wood. I probably just got lucky.
I have three paddles waiting to be freed from their boards now, and these are dry and light with really, really nice grain. The grain is so nice I may make clean end cuts and take pictures to use as examples of good stock. Got one out of a 2x6 and 2 from a 4x4 post. I have never seen a decent WRC 2x4 (or anything else for that matter) around here. I usually have to go through a couple hundred boards of all sizes (up to 16’ 2x12) to find any paddle sized sections that are clear with decent grain - so if I see anything workable I buy it if I need one or not. Last trip to my source was for some wide stock for a prototype paddle idea - and ended up with these three pieces as a bonus.
One will likely become and Aleut paddle, but I’m in no hurry to start. I made the experimental paddle, and just finished a norsaq from the scraps that’s all dressed up with edge armor and such. It’s crazy light at 3 7/8 oz/110g. See other thread in discussion board…