I’ve purchased Canoe Paddles by Graham Warren and
David Gidmark. The paddles that I made turned out nice.I was wondering if anyone has any information on other plans or books.
thanks Jeremy
Two more … sort of
The two that immediately come to mind are not specifically paddle-making books, but canoe building books with a chapter about paddles. One is the Gil Gilpatrick book where he talks about building a canoe paddle of the Maine variety (long). The other is Mac MacCarthy’s book about building the Wee Lassie where he talks about building a double blade (kayak) paddle. I built this one and it was OK.
Neither of these books are anywhere near as sophisticated as the Warren/Gidmark book. BTW, I have made a beavertail paddle from this book. Came out nice.
Homemade Camping/Paddling Gear
Several years ago, long before his paddling making book came out, I emailed Graham Warren. He was going to publish a book on homemade camping gear. It seems the paddle book either took the place of, or took precedence over, the gear book.
Anyone hear anything about this (potential) book?
Jeremy, get out and start using them.
I built almost every paddle in the book. Then I started using them and quickly found that some suited me more than others but none was just right. I now have a bent shaft that is on the 5th generation gluing in the shop and a straight shaft that I think will be close to pertect for me. Neither of them are very close to Warren’s original designs. Borrowed a bit from Zaveral too. I have a 49" bent shaft with an 8 1/4 wide blade down to 21oz. and am going for 18 on the one in the clamps. Great fun and the only problem I have is where to hang all of the paddles I’ve got laying around. Nothing sacred about Warrrens designs so wing it a bit. Change blade lengths, shaft lengths, widths and grip shapes to suit your needs.