Making a Greenland Paddle with Hand Tools

[Jyak]

Bnystrom, “set” is correct, not kerf. The blade I mentioned with no “set” cuts cleanly on the up-stroke, but can cause some chipping on the surface. A jigsaw with zero clearance inserts mostly solves that problem, even when cutting plywood or veneer. A bandsaw cuts on the down stroke, chipping on the bottom. Fortunately, that issue is inconsequential for paddle making.

No argument about grain, you certainly clarified the topic. I carelessly uses the term rift and quarter sawn interchangeably because I consider the terms more about how the log was milled. Furniture grade wood usually favors plain sawn with the cathedral pattern in flat panels; however, door stiles and rails are best with rift cut for stabity. Right or wrong, my shop uses the term quarter sawn to describe wood with distinct figured patterns, such as ribbon mahogany or the vibrant medial rays in oak. Ordering bulk lumber can be a crap shoot. Sorry for the confusion. This is what you describe:

I know nothing about Greenland Paddles, so here’s a question. If Greenlands are paddled at a slight “canted” angle, not flat like a Euro, wouldn’t it be serendipetous to get a rift cut wood blank that more closely matches the direction of force.

Tools are great. Bandsaw are great. I “watched” a properly set up entry level $750 Delta bandsaw with a quality blades slice 5 inch thick wood as thin as plastic laminate ± around .040 inch. I can’t do it myself. Everybody should have a bandsaw, but many live without one.

Regarding jigsaws - Bosch tools are fine, but I was told Bosch had a model equivalent to the Festool jigsaw. I found that hard to believe, and you confirmed my belief. It doesn’t matter to me what tool a person owns or prefers, but a sales rep told me how wonderful the Festool jigsaw performed, and said, “Try it.” Yeah, yeah, so I did. I cut jigsaw puzzle curves in a 2 inch thick plank of white oak. The tight S-curved plug dropped without resistance, which said it all. Checking the cuts with my accurate combination square combination showed the cuts were dead square. I bought the jigsaw on the spot. Doesn’t matter if anybody needs or wants one, or if it’s as good as a bandsaw. I wouldn’t trade it for any other tool. You still have to know how to adjust the blade guides and push it through wood without exerting side pressure - same as a bandsaw. Problem with a jigsaw is the limited depth of cut.

Tools are just time-savers. The tool doesn’t make the artisan. Some of the most intricate furniture was created at the end of the 18th century with mostly hand powered tools and profile planes. There is a PBS program called The Woodwright’s Shop with a quirky guy called Roy Underhill. It’s amazing what he can do with crude tools.

[bnystrom]

I have the same mindset as Greg and use power tools for the rough “gruntwork”. I made my first paddle without them, so I’ve had that experience and enjoyed it, but not enough to repeat it. I’m just not the Roy Underhill type.

Once the paddle blank is cut out and tapered, everything from there on is done by hand.

I’ve seen different diagrams of “rift sawn” that are conflicting. The one you show would actually produce vertical grain boards and the quartersawn image would produce a combination of vertical and angled grain. Go figure. Sometimes, I really wonder about the woodworking industry…

As for angled grain potentially being an advantage, a GP is an omni-directional tool in that there is no left, right, top or bottom. You just grab it an go, so you could easily end up with the grain running in the opposite direction to the water.

The reasons for selecting vertical grain are strength, stiffness and stability. Flat grain boards are more flexible, more prone to feathering and more likely to warp/twist/cup, but I assume you’re aware of that given the business you’re in. Rift sawn/angled grain falls somewhere in-between, depending on the grain angle.

You can make a good, functional paddle with any clear, straight-grained wood. Those are two more aspects of wood grain we haven’t discussed. I’ve seen plenty of paddles with small knots in them that work just fine, but clear wood is preferable if you can find it, as it’s much easier to work with edged tools. Straight grain that runs from one end of the board to the other with minimal edge runout is also important. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m very picky about the wood I use and only around 2% of western red cedar 2x4s I check at local lumber yards meet my standards. It can be a pain, but the end result is worth it to me.

[Jyak]

Ha, I agree about Roy Underhill. I was proud of making a tapered sliding dovetail, then he did it using a backsaw and a hand routing-plane during a 25 minute show. I felt so small and insignificant.

Time is money, and work is therapeutic. Depends on your goal, your space, your skill, and your finances. There was a time that I couldn’t afford a kayak, then there was the paddle and a PFD. Regardless of resources, a Greenland paddle doesn’t have to be expensive. There are better woods, better glues, better techniques, better terminology, but one thing is certain: if you want to build and own a Greenland paddle, you can find everything you need to know right here. I took the advice and bought a nice straight grained 2x4 that cost $5.00 as the moulding clay. It took three months to find one that had the grain structure and stability (the last time I bought a 2x4 it was $2.38). I can use it, reshape it, shorten it, change the faces, then give it away or burn it.

I want to build mine at home. It sound crazy, but I’d rather spend the time shaving thin layers than go through the basement cleaning up wood chips from the electric planer. The shavings go in the fireplace as fire starters. I have until spring. If this were spring, I’d buy one. Time/money. Good luck everybody.

My Fir blank arrived. I pick it up as soon as the sun warms my blood enough to make it easier to move. The adventure begins.

[GregofDelaware]

Yes, I have seen that one as well. Interesting to watch these guys!

[bnystrom]

It’s definitely interesting to see how woodworking was done before the advent of power tools. The quality of the end product was as good as anything made today, it just took more skill and time.

Not to drift too far off-topic, but PBS has been running “Alone in the Wilderness” again lately. I’m completely in awe of the skills demonstrated by Dick Proenneke using the most basic of hand tools.

[Jyak]

I searched and found several shows entitled “Alone in the Wilderness”. Not sure if this is the one, but I started watching on You Tube.

My Fir blank will wait until I finish watching. Thanks for the reference. Power tools helps us to compensate for lack of skill and time. What’s more amazing is that today, you can buy a hand plane and pick between three types of tool steel for the iron, or blade. In the old days, the cutting blade was made of carbon steel hammer welded, to a mild steel or iron blank, by the blacksmith.

My father had a Chraftsman power jointer, but if he joined boards, he’d clamp the boards together in a vice and plane them by hand with a jointer plane. When I accompanied him on home improvement jobs as a young kid, he rarely used a circular saw to cut wood. It was always a rip saw or a crosscut saw. I have his saw sharpening tools, but never acquired the knack of sharpening them the way he could. He’d strike a line, and cut the length of a 2x4 with ease. There’s something appealing to that, but you have to devote the time to master all the related skills.

[Jyak]

Picked up my Douglas Fir blank. 5/4 x 4 inches. I’m going to play with this. I can get two paddles if I laminate the blades with Sapele.

[raosborne]

I can ruin a piece of wood MUCH faster with power tools

Point being: some skill is still required.

[NotThePainter]

@Jyak

Time is money, and work is therapeutic. Depends on your goal, your space, your skill, and your finances.

That’s exactly where I am right now. I was given a table saw and a lot of hand tools. I have a chop saw. And we just moved so I have space. So I’m on the cusp of being a power tool wood worker. But I find the hand tools so satisfying. But, I watch them build big stuff, ripping and planing with hand tools and I think, do I have the patience for that?

I guess I’ll find out.

[Jyak]

We’re gonna have us some fun, NotThePainter. Do you have a jointer and know how to use it?

[Jyak]

Skill needed for hand tools as well and I’m sure you have the skill, raosborne, but you make a very valid point in that hand tools give you more control, with less noise, and the tools are typically lighter. You get the smell of the wood shavings without the dust.

[bnystrom]

All true, but it still doesn’t prevent one from screwing up a good piece of wood. Something I’ve seen pretty frequently is that people opt to use hand tools, but then try to rush the process by skipping steps and jumping ahead before they’ve completed the basics. Bites 'em in the butt every time…

You need to have and understanding of the process and respect it.

You also need ancillary skills like being able to sharpen your edged tools, which is a whole ‘nuther can o’ worms.

[rival51]

@NotThePainter

But I find the hand tools so satisfying. But, I watch them build big stuff, ripping and planing with hand tools and I think, do I have the patience for that?

Here is a project for you if you haven’t already come across it. Two (mostly) people building a wooden sailboat starting by harvesting the timber. Some massive old (19th century) power tools, some new stuff, and some planes and chisels that have been the family for generations.
(warning! they have been at it for 5 years and there is ~60 hours of content on the YouTube channel. )

Acorn To Arabella

[bnystrom]

Pretty cool, but that’s one major rabbit hole!

[NotThePainter]

@Jyak

We’re gonna have us some fun, NotThePainter. Do you have a jointer and know how to use it?

Do I? LOL.

From left to right:

• Veritas low angle, unmarked but probably a 7
• Stanley/Baily number 6
• Millers Falls, unmarked, but looks like a 5
• Record No 5

Oh, you mean a powered jointer… :- ) No, don’t have one of those…

And there are more, my father-in-law both used them and collected them! Supposedly he has a No. 1 but I’ve never seen it…

[NotThePainter]

@Jyak

in that hand tools give you more control, with less noise, and the tools are typically lighter. You get the smell of the wood shavings without the dust.

You would enjoy this read: Fabrication First: The Riddle of the Table Saw — rexkrueger.com

[Jyak]

Rival51, I had the pleasure and honor to watch construction of the Pride of Baltimore in the city’s Inner Harbor. What an experience, and a heart-felt tradgedy when it went missing during a voyage. I believe a microburst put it flat on its side.

My father worked with wood and actually worked on repairs to the USS Constellation while it was in Maryland Drydock during the mid 60’s. He said the repairs were a hack job with too much that wasn’t repaired.

Bnystrom, you are so correct. It takes some people a long time before they realize that you can never sharpen a chisel or plane blade (iron) without fist making the back dead flat. It’s just a hand tool, but it doesn’t work unless you tune it right. Once you get there, it’s a eureka moment.

NotThePainter, you have some great tools. The Veritas is an awesome plane. That will shave wood so thin you can see through it. There was a discussion about low angle vs. high angle. That’s another discussion, but I do love my low angle Veritas Block Plane. Low angle was designed for end grain, where it excels. It also works well for most flat work. A good card scraper starts where the plane leaves off. I mentioned another brand that competes with the Veritas, but noted that I have no experience with the brand. Reviews noted that the tool had to be tuned and the blade homed. Veritas tools come out of the box ready. The Miller Fall plane is an entry level plane you find in HS wood shops, but they can be tuned. All you need is the knowledge and the time.

[bnystrom]

I have the same Veritas block plane and it my favorite for fine work. I have a Record that I use for roughing. Another favorite due to its handy size is the little brass Lie-Nielsen block plane, though it’s gotten pretty expensive since I bought mine. If I were buying new, I’d get the Veritas Apron Plane instead.

I have a bunch of low-end Groz block planes and Stanley spokeshaves that I bought for use as loaners in paddle making classes. It took a lot of time to tune and sharpen them, but they actually work well on cedar and other soft woods. With edged tools, it’s a tradeoff between price, quality, tuning time required and edge holding ability. If you’re willing to learn to tune a plane/spokeshave and sharpen it often, a cheap tool can work fine for light-duty applications. I prefer to spend more time making shavings, so I buy better tools.

[roym]

They like to congregate with their friends…

[Jyak]

You are correct. A Stanley is $59, a Bench Dog is $79, and the Veritas is $159. From your comments, I believe we must be . . . from the same generation.

I was ready to buy a Lie-Nielsen. I got to a wood show late and the seminar ended. I wanted to ask questions and the rep said you missed the show, then he berated me for wanting to buy a nice tool. I went to Lee Valley and bought the Veritas. I tuned my Stanley low angle block plane, but you surely have greater talent and patience for that task.

One thing that is hard to fix on a less expensive tool is the rigidity, square/flatness, quality control in the casting and inspection for tolerance control, the mechanical fit, weight and quality of the blade iron, and screw adjustment backlash. I’m sure you get it.

Nothing like a nice tool, and it’s forever. Where I’d use the Stanley to trim fit a painted door, or a 2x4 with dirt on it, I’d never touch anything like that with the Veritas. The Stanley is thrown in a tool pouch side pocket; the Veritas is wrapped in the treated paper and stored in its own box.

I need a good spokeshave. My Stanley chatters like a kid waiting for the bus on a snowy school day. Thanks for reminding me. Open to suggestions.