From: Guillemot@aol.com
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 1995 17:35:43 -0500
Message-Id: <950316173505_51688399@aol.com>
To: baidarka@imagelan.com
Subject: Re: Traditional Paddles, Late Entry
> Another possibility: They could simply have built the paddle in two parts,
> pegged them together at the loom and then lashed it up. It would not have
> taken a great deal of imagination to carve the flat faces of the looms in
> such a way that the assembled paddle was feathered. And this is the same
> type of lashed scarf joint used to assemble the keelson and gunwales of the
> boat.
This is very similar to how I build a feathered paddle. I make two single
bladed paddles cut the shafts off at an angle and glue together the scarf.
Pegging and lashing is potentially weak and would tend to make a somewhat
floppy joint. Flex in this part of the paddle is not desirable, especially if
it is not a springy flex. Maybe a good rigid scarf could be made with a
lashing that tightens when wet and an interlocking ridge and valley down the
length of the scarf. It has to be very reliable or it would not be accepted.
Nick Schade