I enjoy carving canoe paddles and painting them with either documented fur trade designs or coming up with my own. I usually use ash or maple. Anyone else make paddles? Here are a couple I've made.
any canoe paddle makers out there?
- Thread starter markh
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hey whatever works!
I made an Eskimo style kayak paddle from an ash log and also a beaver tail canoe paddle for my son from a cherry board. An axe and drawshave for the rough work and a spoke shave for the fine.
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I don't make them myself. But I do live very close to the old Old Town factory and have some of theirs in cherry.
Yep, most of my shaping is with a hewing hatchet followed by a drawknife and spokeshave
I grew up in a small community called South Thompson in Georgia. There was a local outdoorsman there who made hand carved paddles and sold them or gifted them. He gave my dad a set, and they’ve disappeared over the years. I often think about using those paddles growing up on the Ohoopee and Altamaha rivers. Thanks for sharing; those look amazing!
Those grips and paint jobs look awesome. Do you put your work up for sale? I make a couple single piece ottertails a year. Not a fan of laminate paddles. I mostly use Cherry, Ash dulls up my spokeshave quick.
Really nice job dude.
Really nice job dude.
Thanks! Yes I do sell them, mostly to folks who ask me to make them a paddle. Occasionally I'll make one that wasn't commissioned and put it up for sale online.
Same as you, I prefer single piece paddles over laminates. I like to chop out paddles at Old Fort Niagara as a historical interpretive activity too.
I made this paddle out of cherry this spring.
Ranger 1755
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I would be happy to make a couple paddles for you. Just let me know what you would like
BTW, nice canoe!
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zimmerstutzen
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I made one once a gazillion years ago. I was in about 9th or 10th grade, summer time. Only mine came to a sort of blunt point at the bottom because that is what the instructor said the "Indian" canoe paddles looked like. Used it all summer and then gave it away because I had no canoe at home. Never painted mine. As I recall it was made from a red maple log about 5 ft long and 12 inches wide. We planned out and then started hacking chips away.
I made one out of cherry at a class at the Blue Mountain Lake Museum a couple years ago. the class was a Xmas gift from my girlfriend, and one of the best gifts I’ve ever received. Can’t bring myself to use it.
