Walnut Laminated Voyageur

A common paddle design marketed today is the so called "Voyageur" blade, essentially a straight side paddle with a wide, squarish tip, and recurved shoulders at the throat. Despite the persistant occurance of this design in modern stores, there is little evidence that it resembles anything that the real voyageurs may have actually paddled. Certainly in the paintings of Frances Anne Hopkins, the paddles don't resemble this blade design. The only other time I've seen the recurved shoulder design is with an early Mi'kmaq design documented by Adney.

Graham Warren refers to this design more precisely as a "North West Voyageur" simply because it appears in the voyageur art of Howard Sivertson. For some examples, I checked out a book of his entitled, The Illustrated Voyageur: Paintings and Companion Stories which has some delightful anecdotes and illustrations, although probably not entirely accurate.

Cover of Sivertson's Voyageur themed book

In any event, I had made this blank many months ago from scraps of black walnut and a 3/4" wide strip of yellow poplar. Given the small width of the poplar, the walnut was laminated from the grip all the way to the blade resulting in a neat contrasting look in the shaft area. Walnut and Yellow Poplar are both very easy to carve and the simple, straight edges meant that cutting out and shaving down the blade and grip was very quick. This was one of the fastest paddles I carved out from a blank. Here are some pics of the job.


Unfinished paddle; Blade Closeup
Since I was using left over cutoff scraps, the grain pattern isn't perfectly symmetrical on the blade. There's also point on the blade where the grain reverses suddenly giving the appearance of a horizontal "scratch".

I've read plenty of criticisms of this blade design on canoeing forums with many paddlers literally calling this blade shape a piece of junk. Personally I found it an acceptable design although the larger squarish tip certainly made for a noisy entry and the recurved shoulders tended to cause some cavitation and loss of power when paddling with a quick pace. But I found that if I slowed down and relaxed the pace it handled well with underwater recoveries. The walnut-poplar lamination also resulted in a super-light paddle and there's no denying the rich-chocolatey appeal of the wood. Instead of adding any additional pyrography to this one, I've settled on simply oiling it and using it as an occasional light use paddle


Final work all oiled up

Aleut Kayak Paddle - Part 2

One incomplete paddle project that's been haunting me lately was the attempt at an Aleut style kayak paddle made with some left over walnut and maple stock (see the Part 1 post). The blank was cut out in the fall of '07, but the actual carving didn't being in ernest until the late Spring of '08. With the frustration of working with a a wavy grained wood that I shouldn't have used in retrospect, the paddle has been sitting and collecting dust in the locker room for months now. So in an effort to finish what was started, I decided to forgo any major pyrography decoration (wouldn't show up will with this dark piece of walnut anyway) and simply sanded it down and oiled it.

Aleut kayak paddles tend to have an interested off centered grip area with a spine ridge running the length of the blade. Here are some pics to illustrate this:


The offset laminated loom


Two shots of the blade powerface


Backside and Powerface pics
I'm not much a kayak paddler anyway, but intend to give this one a test trial in the spring and will report back then.

Varnished Paddles

With warmer temperatures and glorious sunshine on this spring day, I got a chance to quickly revarnish two of my previous paddles from this past winter - The Walnut Kingfisher Solo and Cherry Bittern. Varnishing has obviously darkened the pyrography considerably (especially the walnut paddle), but I'm still happy with the results.



Cherry Bittern Paddle


Blade Closeup


Walnut Kingfisher Paddle


Blade Closeup

Aleut Kayak Paddle - Part 1

Back to paddlemaking. A few months ago, I wrote a post documenting an attempt to construct a laminated Greenland Style kayak paddle. For this project, I had obtained 1-1/8" strips of walnut & poplar at Century Mill as well as a large, narrow piece of walnut stock (dressed to 4" x 96" x 1-1/8") with the intention of making a solid one-piece if the lamination experiment failed (which it didn't). Soon after I had decided to carve another kayak paddle with this suitable walnut stock and settled on a different style...an Aleut (Alaskan Inuit) style of blade.



A typical aleut paddle shape

Searches on the net revealed that this paddle is unique amongst traditional kayak-faring peoples in that it is a non-symmetrical paddle with only one side of the blade used as the power face. The blades are long (30+") linear extensions from the loom with full lengthwise spines forming a noticable ridge. The backface of the blades are curved similar to modern touring paddles, albeit on a much more shallow gradient.

After checking out some pages, like Lew Plumme's recreation of an Aleut Paddle in the Finland National Musuem as well as Wolgang Brink's paddle making pages, I figured it would be an interested project. Plans were hard to come by, but I did manage to find an online reprint of David Zimmerly's 1984 Sea Kayaker article entitled "Arctic Paddle Design" with a specific page (.pdf format) documenting an Aleut design. I also luckily came across the page of Swedish paddle expert, Bjorn Thomasson, who had some an Aleut plan (.pdf) as well as a few others. Thomasson's well drawn plan with side view, dimensional info, and loom cross-section diagram was the one I followed, although I was limited with the confines of my walnut piece. The linear lines of the blade were too similar to the Greenland Paddle I had already made so improvised and made the blades more similar to stretched beavertail designs. Because of the board's length, cutting out the blank by hand took a frustratingly huge amount of time. I should mention that this was done back in the Fall of '07. After exhausting myself out cutting the blank, I simply stored the paddle in the locker-room until I was ready to tackle this bigger job.


Cutting out blank & the warped paddle after storage
Flash forward a few months and decided it was time to finish this project, only to find out that blank had warped while being stored. The grain (especially in the loom) was slightly curved to one side but I had thought that because it seemed mostly contained, the paddle would still turn out ok. A new off-centre line had to be drawn which made affected the paddle's symmetry. Anyway, the paddle now "sags" a bit when held at the center, but it's not too bad so the paddle is still salvageable in my opinion.

After planing down the blades it was time to begin carving out the ridge. This was done with the trusty hook knife. Again, this walnut piece tended to have a bit of wavy grain (in retrospect I wouldn't have bought it had I paid more careful attention) so the wood tended to tear out unevenly. Despite my best efforts, the spine region is not perfectly straight and I honestly believe it could only be achieved with power tools (like a router) or by expert woodcarving hands (not at that level yet).


Planing down one side & carving out the spine
At this point the ugly, rough worked had to be sanded down and to do an even job along the ridge, I had wrapped a piece of 1-1/4" scrap dowel with 60 grit coarse sandpaper. After just a few passes on the blade... PAIN!!!! Two quarter inch slivers of wood jammed under my fingernail! Instant blood letting of course but at the time, my wife was taking a much deserved nap inside and I didn't want to wake her...so I toughed it out in silence, grabed some tweezers and yanked the slivers out (all the while tearing out some fingernail bed flesh). The bleeding stoped with simple pressure and a day later the swollen nailbed receded leaving behind a mark showing how deep the wood got embedded. Guess my manly pain suppression worked because she didn't notice a thing. Hand sanding was not the way to go, so I scrounged for a solution and came across a sanding disk attachment to a drill in the growing tool pile. This vertical disk allowed for close sanding next to the spine and smoothed out the bumps in no time.


Sanding with dowel, fingernail aftermath, sanding with drill attachment

The other error I had miscalculated is that the stock had been planed down to 1 1/8" thickness (the standard thickness I've been using for canoe paddle shafts). The Aleut loom however is a distictly oval shape (almost egg shaped) and plans clearly cite a thicker dimensions (Zimmerly: 4.1cm = 1 5/8"; Thomasson: 3.1cm = 1 7/32"). To achieve this I would have to laminate another strip onto the loom. Rather than use walnut for this, a contrasting piece of scrap maple was cut and glued.


Laminating maple onto the loom
This 1-1/8" square piece meant that the total loom thickness was now 2-1/4" and of course would need to be planed down. I decided on a thicker loom and used Zimmerly's measurement of 1-5/8". A line was drawn to reflect this desired thickness. The Gorilla Glue foamed quite vigoursly and seeped out the edges, making the lamination job look quit messy. However, I knew that the egg-shaped cross-section of the loom would mean these unsightly glue blobs would be planed off. Quite easy with handtools which is why I enjoy using this glue rather than epoxy.


Drawn thickness line & one side smoothed
At this stage, the loom was left purposely thick and the paddle turned over to shape the backsides of the blades. As mentioned previously, the Aleut paddles had concave powerfaces and convex sided back face. This meant using the spokeshake to camber the backside and result in a curved surface. The pics really don't show this well.


Curved blade views

To be honest, this double blade has been quite tedious to work and the spine ridge has taken a toll on my patience. I've decided to take a bit of a break from finishing this one and will probably come back to it after I've spent more time on my current distraction with the Birchbark canoe model.

UPDATE - November 1, 2008: The paddle is now complete - Read Part 2.

Laminated Adirondack Guide Paddle - Part 2

When I last blogged about this paddle, I had come across a significant structural fault in the flattened grip area. A large crack filled with soft, punky wood emerged after shaving and sanding this area from its original 1 1/8" thickness. To "save" the paddle, a little emergency epoxy repair job was in order...the 1st time I've attempted something like this.


Dead wood crack & applying epoxy
After letting the epoxy set overnight, it was time to begin the vigorous process of sanding it down. Luckily, the direct sun on the balcony made working outdoors a very pleasant affair. I had to strip down to my undershirt because the sanding action warmed me up quick. Made for a fashion faux-pas photo especially with our now dead (but once highly productive) tomato plant in the background.



After checking out the grip, the bulbous palm area didn't quite agree with me, so I shaped it down to a more traditional triangular shape using some rasps. Pretty easy now that the area had been extensively thinned.


Before and After shot of shaping the grip

The different shaded walnut strips used to make this paddle gave the blade a bit of a streaked look. This reminded me of a time when I spotted a Barred Owl while paddling the Oxtongue River (just beyond the Western boundary of Algonquin Provincial Park on a day trip last year. Couldn't take a proper photo because while paddling a river solo with a significant current, my bird watching is limited to a quick use of binoculars with one hand while trying to brace the canoe with a paddle in the other. Unless I'm resting in a nice eddy, photos are tough to manage. Anyway, this stock photo shows the streaking pattern on the bird that I figured would blend with the walnut on the blade. Thought I would add some Eastern White Cedar leaves as an accent as well as a native inspired owl image (may sand off...not entirely happy with it) on the grip face.


Burning the blade & native owl on grip
All seemed well except that compared to the wonderful tight grain of Birch used for the Omer Sapsucker Paddle, the open grain of the Walnut & Poplar made for uneven burning and many blotchy spots. Not my best artwork but ultimately I was left with a pretty decent, extremly light, and very flexible paddle made from strips from the scrap pile. Can't wait to try this one out once the spring thaw hits and the cottage lake is open again.


Plain & Decorated Sides

May 5/08 UPDATE: This paddle has now been varnished. View it here.

Laminated Adirondack Guide Paddle - Part 1

While searching the net for different paddle designs, I came across a pic of two Adirondack Guide paddles and liked their look. Their distinguishing feature was a combination pear grip with an extra flattened area encompassing almost half the shaft length. The only other time I've seen this close up is with Turtle Paddle Works' Whip-Poor-Will paddle, but that one comes with a narrow beavertail blade. Instead, I opted to keep the shaft style but use the 28" Algonquin pattern blade listed in Gidmark's Canoe Paddles book.

This paddle was made up of extra strips I had on hand from my attempt at the laminated Greenland Kayak paddle made back in the fall. Just like that one, the canoe paddle would be made of a Yellow Poplar (Leriodendron tulipifera) shaft from a pre-planed 1 1/8th inch strip (cut to 58") and a blade of Black Walnut (Juglans nigra) waste pieces. The photo sequence below shows the pieces lined up before cutting as well as the final orientation before gluing the blade. The 8ft long walnut strip (which was quite warped) was cut into 30" pieces for lamination against the poplar shaft and remaining bits of scrap walnut (one side square) were used to complete the blade. In the end, the width just measured that of the Algonquin style blade pattern at its widest point (5 1/4").


Leftovers for materials; Alignment; Dry Clamping & marking out of blade
The grip area was made with additional walnut waste pieces lying around and were oriented in such a manner as to be able to carve a regular mushroom head grip with a flattened extension of the upper shaft. Another board covered in waxed paper and setup on sawhorses served as the laminating beam. The strips were glued up with my usual adhesive, Gorilla Glue and clamped for 24 hrs.


Grip pieces; Wax paper laminating beam; Clamping & glue up
In the end the blank looked quite odd with all the waste pieces glued up, but it was more the sufficient to make a full paddle from these "scraps" so as not to waste the wood. While maybe not as aesthetic as a one-piece, it certainly allows for a more eco-friendly use of this precious resource. The actual paddle shape still needed to be cut out from the glued blank and that was done as part of my earlier post on the visit to The Carpenter's Square Do-It-Yourself woodshop.


Glued up blank & cut out paddle
The cut out paddle has been a breeze to plane and shave thus far. In one evening, I was able to do the work that nearly took 3 days on the Omer Birch paddle. The reason for this was because BEFORE the glue-up of the strips, I had lightly tested the grain with the spokeshave to ensure that all the strips aligned with the grain in the same direction. This way, the strokes would not need to be reversed when passing over the walnut & poplar, a mistake I had corrected from my earlier time-consuming error on the Laminated Jay Ottertail. From now on, every laminated paddle I intend to make will go through this initial test to save on the shaving time.

For the grip, I intended it to be a modified mushroom head style (like on the Walnut Kingfisher) with an flattened section to give the paddle more flex. Shaping involved cutting two grooves with a round rasp on either end, spooning out the wood between these indents, and then using the round rasp again to undercut the head of the grip in a slightly curved pattern. By shaping the undercut backwards like this, I could stop to check for feel and ensure I didn't remove too much wood. The pics below show the rough job, although I signficantly cleaned up the work since taking these shots. Don't know why the photos resulted in a blue tone, but in the 4th image you can spot a reddish smudge on the grip face. While holding onto the grip area, I scraped across three fingers on my left hand with the rasp - a careless and painful mistake that tore off layers of skin while smearing blood all over the shaving horse and onto the paddle grip. I guess now I've formed a blood-bond with this one.



Carving the grip
With bandaged fingers unable to bend at the knuckle because of my thoughtless mistake, I thought I'd begin the sanding phase on the bulk of the paddle using the orbital sander. All this while Toronto experienced another massive snowfall with -16 Celsius windchill. So I bundled up and did some work outside.


Initial sanding with the ROS
This revealed a major crack with soft dead wood in the walnut when I sanded down part of the flattened grip. I had some left over Epoxy from the knife making kit and figured that by filling the knot with epoxy and then sanding it down, it would prevent the crack from spreading and the dead wood from chipping out. Time will tell if I made the right decision here.


Epoxying the crack to strengthen and prevent weakening

This is where I am now...final sanding, shaping, and repair. Stay tuned for the second part of this post which will have to wait until I can remove the bandaids on my three injured fingers.


April 1/08 Update: Part 2 of the post now online.