Adney's sketch - Diamond Bladed Passamaquoddy in middle
A while back I had cut a blank out of my final piece of Yellow Poplar stock. Apart from the blade shape, I was attracted to the short, flattened grip style. Doug Ingram of Red River Canoe also replicated this design for his historic paddles article which includes some nice pics of his work.
Doug Ingram's fantastic replica
It's been a while since I've been able to do any carving. My shifting work schedule combined with poor weather and the demands of our little monkey at home have meant serious deprivation from this time-consuming hobby. Well, the universe was perfectly aligned today as I scored a day off from work, the child was sent off to day care, and the frighteningly unseasonal weather in Toronto meant the carving tools were out on the balcony again today.
Blank ready for more shaping
The blade was simple enough to shape down quickly. To work on the edges of the grip area, I thought I'd try working with the crooked knife recently sharpened with some waterstones. It worked well enough though I still have more work to do on the grip area before it's shaped to my liking.
Working with the crooked knife
I still can't believe the weather today, warm enough to eventually strip down to a T-shirt for the final carving. Ridiculous really for the middle of January!
Toronto in January???
Still more work to be done on this one. For now it's back hanging in the locker room until another miraculous day when I get some carving time.
UPDATE - April 11/2010: Part 2 of this paddle construction has been posted.
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3 comments:
Doug's paddle looks great. Looking forward to seeing yours finished.
I once carved a very similar blade shape a long time ago. I loved it. If you planted it deep into the water, you got an amazing amount of leverage. Yet if you dipped it quietly (meaning so that the widest part of the blade was still out of the water), you could lightly crawl along without a sound. But I like your grip much better. Mine was a standard pear grip. I gave it to a friend of mine over ten years ago, and he still uses it for tripping. Great shape in my opinion. Please post your impressions of how it handles.
crooked knife looks great!! Hoping to see other paddles..
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