The Kayak Forum is Sponsored By
|
|
|
| |
Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board
Re: Tools for Greenland Paddle Making
Posted By: Greg Stamer In Response To: Tools for Greenland Paddle Making (FBC)
Date: Friday, 22 December 2000, at 5:10 p.m.
SNIP
: My question is what tools does one need to make a greenland paddle. I will
: probably carve from a single cedar piece, but would love to know from the
: laminators what they need for tools also.
SNIP
: What's on your "need to have" and "nice to have" lists?FBC,
For edge tools you need a good sharpening system, be it waterstones or oilstones and know how to use them. I use 220, 800, 1200 grit waterstones and a fine 6000 grit polishing stone. You can also use various grades of sandpaper glued to glass. The coarse stone can take the place of an expensive grinder. Once a tool is sharpened, I maintain it with a cheap leather strop. I have a number of tools that have seen years of use, and other than initial preparation, have yet to go back to the stones.
For one-piece paddles I use a japanese Ryoba (handsaw) to crosscut and rip to size, a drawknife to taper the blades and rough-out the shape, a blockplane and jackplane for assorted tasks and an antique Stanley 151 (adustable flat-bottom) spoke-shave for fine work. A good rasp is useful, the "microplane" variety have a very smooth cut.
A bandsaw would be "nice to have" for tapering the blades and cutting to the pencil lines, but it only takes me about an hour with the drawknife. Likewise, a tablesaw and thickness planer would be useful to dimension the blank, but I don't own either.
Be careful mixing sanding operations with edge-cutting tools (drawknife, planes, etc). Once sandpaper has been used the wood is charged with abrasive that is murder on your razor-sharp tools. I only use sandpaper for helping to shape the shoulder (transition of the paddle-shaft to the blade), after I am done with the edge tools, and for final smoothing.
I also find a crooked knife to be very useful (Kestrel "C-bend" - available on the web), but you could easily get by without one.
I base my paddles on Chuck Holst's plans, except that I make the paddle-shaft wider, the length slightly longer and the paddle edges thinner than he recommends. You won't know the ideal dimensions until you make a few paddles.
Good Luck!
Greg Stamer
Orlando, Florida
| |
Sea Kayaks Techniques Bulletin Board is maintained by Nick Schade - Guillemot Kayaks with WebBBS 5.12.
|
Kayaking Technique |
|
|
|
