Crooked Knife Refurb

While sharpening the homemade crooked knife and practicing on some scrap cedar a while back, the lashed blade began to jiggle and loosen. I quickly realized that the knife needed to be more secure if I was going to use it as a serious carving tool.

One thing I had forgotten to do when originally assembling the knife was bend the tang of the blade at a sharp angle to hook onto the handle wood and prevent movement. After quickly heating up the tang in the cottage fireplace, I bent it up slightly to conform to the angular shape of the handle then bent a sharp hook at the end. The piece of wood selected for the knife had a knot right at the bottom and by sculpting out a hole (with an awl), the hook fit securely into place. The original waxed thread whipping was replaced with flat leather lace I had on hand...much more comfortable. Even though the bottom of the knife looks ugly, the whole thing is amazingly secure with this change.


Bent tang in place


Hook end inserted into carved hole
I had also decided to decorate the handle by burning on a sort of chip-carving motif. The whole decoration was first sketched using pencil and that's what you see in the pics.


Chip-carved motif on handle
This was my first time burning on olive wood and sure enough, the naturally oily material gave off a slightly sizzling aroma. Unfortunately, it also burned unevenly and required constant cleaning of the metal nibs. In the end the pattern turned out too blotchy and I ended up sanding the whole thing off in frustration at the poor quality of the image. Here's the plain, refurbish version ready for some carving...


Resanded to remove the intended pyrographic decoration


Perfect fit for the one-and-only user

Paddle Blade Warping Problem

Michael Weiser, a reader of the blog, sent me some pics and details of a few paddles he has made. They include 2 laminated versions patterned after Adney's Attikamekw paddle plan and two Northwoods paddles (Stern and Bow). Great looking stuff.


Michael's paddle collection
A problem emerged with his Northwoods bow paddle however. Since these were carved from maple, they were significantly thinned to reduce weight. When dry, the paddle is a "picture of straightness" according to Michael, but upon contact with moisture, the blade severely warps. The paddle was made from flat sawn wood stock with a grain pattern that one would assume, would be pretty ideal for strength and flex. A closeup of the tip reveals the distinct growth rings curving upwards and contributing to the cupping at the tip however.


Grain Pattern on tip


The resultant warping when wet
In addition to discussing issues with low moisture content of the wood stock, Michael also had some other points which add to the mystery. Generally, a dense pattern of annual rings make a wood less prone to warping, but other paddles with even wider spaced annual rings don't warp as much as his paddle. In addition, the larger to radius of the growth rings (a function of the girth of the tree), the flatter the rings appear and the less warping. But Michael's impression is that others have made paddles from similar stock without warping problems.

We've been discussing the options to deal with the absorption through the end grain at the tip, including using varnish (the paddles were originally oiled), sealing with epoxy, etc. But if any other any readers have other suggestions or explanations to this mystery, please feel free to post a comment.

Michael also took the liberty of preparing some basic stats on paddle surface area to illustrate the huge size of the Stern Northwoods. See the info below:

PADDLE DESIGN	SURFACE AREA
Attikamekw 11cm wide/64cm long Attikamekw 12cm wide/70cm long Northwoods Bow Grey Owl Chieftain Grey Owl Tripper Graham Warren's Ottertail Graham Warren's Voyageur Graham Warren's Traditional Beavertail Northwoods Stern	569 cm / 88 sq in 683 cm2 / 105 sq in 798 cm2 / 123 sq in 800 cm2 / 124 sq in 820 cm2 / 127 sq in 829 cm2 / 128 sq in 895 cm2 / 138 sq in 938 cm2 / 145 sq in 966 cm2 / 149 sq in

Certainly not a paddle ideal for solo paddling, but advantageous for steering and controlling a heavily loaded tripping canoe down some deep moving water.

Artist Profile: Martin Bellmann Canoe Art

Martin Bellmann is a self taught artist who has made some lovely paintings feature the bark canoe theme. His web page of Historical Art has wonderfully descriptive captions of his artwork. Below is a piece entitled "First Light"


"First Light"
I really enjoy the color of the wake behind the canoe reflecting the first glints of sunrise...the ideal time to capture a Blue Heron taking off in the distance. The paddles seem to reflect a more tradition, pointed beavertail shape

Another piece is "Forgotten Voices" which features a couple paddling alongside tall cliffs. I really like the perspective of this piece and the sense of movement through the water. The bow paddler looks to have a large Northwoods style paddle with a slightly elongated grip.


Forgotten Voices
There's a similar granite rock face on my cottage lack (nicknamed "Hastings Rock" by the locals) that serves as a diving platform for the more adventurous. Seeing this painting makes me eager to get the bark canoe out of storage and back on the water where it belongs.

Many thanks to Martin for permission to reproduce his work and for the inspirational art. More paintings please!

Western Cree Paddle by Mike Elliot

One of the blogs I follow keenly is that of Mike Elliot of Kettle River Canoes. Mike's artistry and skill with cedar canvas canoe restoration is just wonderful. His posts are filled with nuggets of wisdom and fantastic photos of restoration projects. A recent post about spring cleaning for the canoe included a picture of a custom made paddle in the Western Cree style with a bobble grip.

Adney has an illustration of the Western Cree paddles and noted that this tribe was the only one he was aware that had separate paddle designs for men and women. Graham Warren also has a reduced image of this paddle shape in his books as well.


Adney's Plans; Mike's Alder version
Mike generously emailed some extra details about the paddle. It is made from an 8/4 board of Alder (Alnus rubra) which was then worked down to shape the 2" bobble grip. That's a lot of extra carving! This prevented the need to laminate extra wood on the grip, as was the case with my bobble grip experiment. Never made a paddle out of Red Alder before but I just checked out the Exotic-Woods.ca site and it is available - looks to be a gorgeous grain pattern as well. Many thanks for the paddle wood suggestion!

Artist Profile: David Wright Canoe Art

Continuing this historical art theme, I came across the artwork of David Wright. At first I could only find a few pics with a canoe theme, including the lovely work, "Quiet Reflections". It features a decorated paddle featuring a red grip and blade, very akin to the fur trade / voyageur paddles of the day.


A solitary Woodland Indian fishes
from his birchbark canoe in a serene setting
David graciously emailed an image gallery of his other works featuring bark canoes of various, including Maliseet, Fur Trade, and old style Alonguin.




His most haunting work is that "The Captives" which features an emotional scene with an unknown ending that leaves the audience in suspense.


It turns out that David has thoroughly researched these various canoe shapes and models and even has some practical experience in paddling them. He owns a 14 foot Old Style Algonquin canoe that he has paddled in the Boundary Waters. If the lines of the canoe look familiar, it served as the "model" for The Captives piece above.


David's 14ft Old-Style Algonquin Bark Canoe
Many thanks to David for allowing me to share these beautiful paintings with you.