Making a Bent Shaft Laminated Canoe Paddle

Book excerpt: Making a Bent Shaft Laminated Canoe Paddle is all about the very enjoyable process of making your own paddle. Laminating is all about using epoxy to join weak wood strips into amazingly strong paddle shafts and blades. This book walks the reader through the setup, materials, tools, and the workflow to turn out your own wood canoe paddles. Hand tools, especially a spokeshave, but also a block plane and scrapers allow for even the beginning woodworker to turn out a beautiful paddle that is every bit as functional as it is art worthy. The setup portion includes a plan and materials list for a paddle form that simplifies adding the bend to the shaft and aligning the shaft pieces. The materials portion includes discussions of shaft, handle and blade as well as epoxy for shaft and blade and fiberglass for the blade. The tool segment discusses how spokeshave, block plane, scraper and an assortment of sandpaper are frequently used, as well as other optional tools like a Japanese pull saw, an Xacto knife, and other sanding tools. The workflow of paddle making is basically the whole book. Broadly speaking there is an assembly portion of a paddle project and a shaping portion. But in the garage during the reality of making a paddle both assembly and shaping are mixed together. Sometimes it is easier to do shaping prior to assembling something else. Sometimes it is easier to skip part of the shaping bit and go e.g., use the paddle to get a better sense of length and then come back to the shop and complete the shaft and the handle. Many options exist within the workflow of paddle making. It can be a flexible process. It's a great feeling to go paddling. It's even better when you are using one of your very own hand made paddles!