Subject: Re: [baidarka] Shape of aleut paddle?
From: William Nettles (netttles@adelphia.net)
Date: Sat Mar 25 2006 - 22:46:08 EST
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There is a difference between saw blades and I'm not sure what it is.
Some kick like a mule and others are forgiving. A Combo blade I have is
horrible, I don't like using it for anything. My Freud Piranha? thin
kerf blade never grabs and is very forgiving.
Will
On Mar 25, 2006, at 11:00 AM, Mitchell James wrote:
> OK, I will fess up to my sins of the table saw. All those of you who
> are trying to rough out Aleut paddles, listen up. Now, you gotta be
> above average to survive this with all your fingers intact, so be
> SAFE and pay ATTENTION. No meds, legal or otherwise, during the
> following. Agreed?
>
> Get a good table saw, 10" blade, preferably carbide, fine pitch. You
> are using good wood, so treat it well. As a matter of fact, I
> recommend that you try this out on a $1.00 2x4 first... practice.
> Then cut your good wood.
>
> What we are going to do here is cut a blank from which you can
> fashion your paddle. I have found that the ridge and loom can be cut
> in one continuous trip. I use straight-grain western redcedar, 8'
> long. Now, some use 2x4, but I use 2x6 because I like the 4" finished
> width. If you can give up that 1/2", you can save a bunch of money on
> the wood. Up to you. One more note... I am writing this off the top
> of my head, so plan your cuts accordingly.
>
> 1. Cut the material to your finished width, plus 1/8" for sanding.
> Leave it full depth (1-1/2"). Now, determine the width of your loom.
> I use 1-1/4 width loom to rough out the material, which gives me a
> half-width of 5/8". Subtract this from the half-width of your
> material -- in my case, 2"-5/8"=1-3/8". That will be the depth of
> your blade cut, minus 1/8" for safety.
>
> 2. Cut the blade dihedral angle first. Set the fence on the left side
> of the blade. Set the blade at a 5-7 degree angle, then carefully
> measure the blade cut depth determined in step 1. Now, the waste wood
> will be against the fence. I leave 1/2" of meat on the paddle blade,
> so I set the fence so that the cut of the saw will leave 1/2" of wood
> at the paddle edge. Once you have this figured out, set a back fence
> on the table using clamps and an extra piece of wood. Don't try to do
> this cut freehand. Finally, set rollers to catch your wood on both
> sides so the angle with the table does not change in mid cut. Then go
> for it.
>
> 3. Now cut the loom and ridge angle. I keep the saw blade at 7
> degrees. Match the depth to the first cut, being careful not to
> scribe any additional cuts into the blade material. When you are
> done, you will have a rectangular blank with the blade dihedral and a
> trapezoidal loom all roughed out. This makes the rest much easier.
>
> NOW IF YOU TRY THIS, BEEEEEEEE CAREFUL!!!!
>
>
>
> On Mar 24, 2006, at 12:47 PM, Will Samson wrote:
>
>> Hi Jack,
>>
>> I'm no expert, but I've carved four Aleut-style paddles. I usually
>> follow
>> Zimmerly's drawings - they are drawings of original paddles and I
>> don't
>> think you can do much better than that.
>>
>> First stage is to cut away surplus wood to get the right shape in
>> plan and
>> profile. I do this on a bandsaw.
>>
>> The convex non-power face is, of course, the easy one - just use a
>> block
>> plane.
>>
>> The tricky bit is the ridge and hollows either side on the power face.
>> Drawing a heavy pencil line down the middle helps to avoid taking
>> off the
>> ridge by accident. I usually start by planing the sides flat,
>> either side
>> of the ridge, down to the edge, being careful not to make the edge any
>> thinner than it should be.
>>
>> The hollowing needs careful work with a sharp gouge. I haven't
>> been able to
>> find a plane with a convex sole to finish this nicely, so I use a
>> convex
>> Surform tool to get rid of the inevitable humps and bumps left by
>> the gouge.
>> I'm told a crooked knife is very helpful, but have been unable to
>> find a
>> good one.
>>
>> I've also tried to do the hollowing with a disk sander, with a little
>> success, though it strikes me the end of a belt sander might be a
>> better
>> tool, though I don't have one.
>>
>> A convex scraper steel, nice and sharp with a burred edge helps
>> achieve a
>> fine finish.
>>
>> One thing to keep checking as you work on the two blades is that
>> the paddle
>> balances nicely in the centre of the loom. Oh yes - and leave the
>> loom
>> rectangular until last - it's helpful to clamp your work down by
>> the loom.
>>
>> So there you go - no magic bullet - and a lot more work, I find,
>> than a
>> Greenland-style paddle.
>>
>> One final thing - err on the thick side, at least until you've
>> tried it.
>> You can always take wood away - it's a lot harder to put it back
>> again. My
>> earliest attempt ended up looking gorgeous, very light, but
>> fluttered and
>> flexed like a piece of cardboard in the water.
>>
>> Bill
>> --
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>>
>
>
> James Mitchell
> 15325 Redmond Way, C-113
> Redmond WA 98052 USA
> Email: redcedar1@mac.com
> Phone: 425-273-0884
> reproduced outside Baidarka or Baidarka archives without author's
> permission
> Submissions: baidarka@paddlewise.net
> Subscriptions: baidarka-request@paddlewise.net
> Searchable archive: http://rtpnet.org/robroy/baidarka
>
>
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