{"id":988,"date":"2019-08-04T17:22:05","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T00:22:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/maxvollmer.com\/?p=988"},"modified":"2023-12-07T23:37:36","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T07:37:36","slug":"west-greenland-paddle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/maxvollmer.com\/?p=988","title":{"rendered":"West Greenland Kayak Paddle"},"content":{"rendered":"

I made this traditional West Greenland paddle for my son, a sea kayaker extraordinaire, out of a rough sawn sassafras 2″ x 4″.\u00a0 This one is actually called a “storm” paddle because, at roughly 70″ (178 cm) long, it is shorter overall and has a shorter “loom” (the hand grip) than is true for a full size West Greenland paddle at approx. 8′ (244 cm).\u00a0 While the Inuit made their paddles out of whatever wood drifted onshore, I chose sassafras, a minor North American hardwood, because it is relatively strong, light, and holds up well in fresh and salt water. [All photos \"copyright<\/a> Max Vollmer,\u00a0 Click on any photo to enlarge]<\/p>\n

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West Greenland storm paddle.\u00a0 [Click on any photo to enlarge]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The simple appearance of the paddle belies the challenge involved in making one.\u00a0 My first steps were to mark out centerlines on both the thick and thin dimensions of the 2″ x 4″, as well as the location and shape of the loom.\u00a0 These lines guided me in creating the tapers in both width and thickness of the paddle blades.<\/p>\n

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Paddle layout.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Next, I used my bandsaw to rough out the loom and then shaped the blades with a drawknife and spokeshave, finishing up with a belt sander.<\/p>\n

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Loom.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Tapering the blade with a drawknife.\u00a0 Note the Emmert patternmaker’s vise that holds the wood securely and in the proper orientation<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Refining the taper with a spokeshave.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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Note the centerlines which guided me in keeping the blade cross-section symetrical.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Refining the taper and smoothing the blade with a beltsander.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Holding the paddle “blank” in the grip of my 1930’s vintage Emmert patternmaker’s vise made this shaping possible.\u00a0\u00a0 The Emmert has been known to generations of patternmakers as “The Iron Hand<\/strong>” for its ability to twist, rotate and lock its jaws in an infinite number of positions.<\/p>\n

The loom is shaped so that the paddler’s thumbs can grip against “shoulders” cut at an approximate 45 degree angle on one side, while the fingers wrap around a splayed\u00a0 grip on the other side.\u00a0 The cross sectional dimension of the loom is sized to the individual kayaker’s hands, in this case to Karl’s hands.\u00a0 See the photo below.<\/p>\n

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The loom.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I finished the paddle with two coats of 100% Tung oil.\u00a0 Tung oil has no VOC (volatile organic compounds),\u00a0 is slow drying between coats, but offers good protection for the wood in water and can be renewed as needed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I made this traditional West Greenland paddle for my son, a sea kayaker extraordinaire, out of a rough sawn sassafras 2″ x 4″.\u00a0 This one is actually called a “storm” paddle because, at roughly 70″ (178 cm) long, it is shorter overall and has a shorter “loom” (the hand grip) than is true for a … Continue reading West Greenland Kayak Paddle<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,8],"tags":[128,127,123,125,126,124],"class_list":["post-988","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-journal","category-woodwork","tag-100-tung-oil","tag-emmert-patternmakers-vise","tag-greenland-paddle","tag-nova-scotia","tag-sassafras","tag-sea-kayaking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxvollmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxvollmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxvollmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxvollmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxvollmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=988"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/maxvollmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2079,"href":"https:\/\/maxvollmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/988\/revisions\/2079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/maxvollmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxvollmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/maxvollmer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}