canoe maker

Six years ago, I was working on the woodburning decoration of the c1849 replica when my pregnant wife's water broke and we rushed to the hospital.



For that reason, that paddle has always been linked to my firstborn so I decided to commemorate the occasion by decorating the other side with a height marker, images of his little hands, feet and some important milestones (see that full post here). It has become a bit of family tradition to take the paddle off the wall on his birthday and burn on his new height before eating the cake.The cherry wood has darkened in the past 6 years and now the "little guy" has grown up to the base of the grip on this 58" paddle.



With the recent birth of our 2nd child, I decided to refurbish another cherry paddle with a similar height marker. This Cherry Guide paddle is actually the favourite all-around paddle design I've carved and this paddle has accompanied me on many excursions. You can see it in action in a few of my Youtube videos, like the daytrip to the Limberlost Wilderness Preserve.



While not exactly the same design as the original heirloom paddle, they were both carved from the same stock of cherry and have the identical blade shape. Basically the two paddles are close enough to be "siblings" so thought this would be appropriate for little brother. This paddle has been heavily oiled over the years, but fortunately that process still permits some pyrography to be added later - another reason why I prefer oiling to varnish. The woodburning tips need to be at higher heat than unfinished wood and this causes them to collect a burnt residue needing frequent pausing to clean, so the process is slow but satisfactory. Just as last time, a metal straight edge was clamped to the paddle to burn the centre line and the inch markers.


Previously, I used an old scanner to get a digital image of my older son's hands & feet. The old  scanner is broken so to get a realistic-sized copy of our newborn's hands and  feet, I pressed his hands against a pane of glass, took a photo, and used Photoshop to render the image into "photocopy" mode as the starting point for the burn.

Another EBay listing showcasing a Cherry paddle by Steve Kovach...




 The seller's details:

This auction is for is a One of a kind Hand Carved Algonquin style CANOE PADDLE. This is for the one paddle shown in the gallery picture. I hand carved this paddle using traditional hand tools from a single piece of beautiful North American Black Cherry wood. This paddle has stunning sculptural form and brilliant wood grain pattern. I based this on examples of traditional Abanaki, Passamoquoddy, Maliceet paddles (the same native Americans who built the spectacular and technologically advanced birch bark canoes). I have always admired the amazing and beautiful sculptural form in the original native American paddles made from various American hardwoods including birdseye and tiger maple, cherry and ash. Many were decorated with incised designs, I prefer the pure shape and highly figured wood. The last photograph (#5) shows other paddles I have made from a variety of different wood species and grain pattern (these are not part of this auction but shown for comparison and variety).

Most notable about these paddles is the selection of wood species for greatest strength and durability. The structural integrity, (they are thin and light where possible and thicker where needed) the shape of the grip and shaft, it is thickest where the greatest forces are during stroke. These are taken to a very fine finish and two coats of polyurethane finish applied. 

This paddle offered in this auction is 66" long, blade is 6-1/4" wide (as thin as 3/16"in places) shaft is 1- 1/4" thick at widest point and weighs approx 28 ounces. Signed "SK" (Steve Kovach) with my personal brand on end of grip. There are some very fine and shallow surface drying cracks in the one side of this paddle from drying process (this is carved from an air dried board that was in my shop for the past 6 years) they are in the surface only and have no effect on the strength of this paddle They have been filled with cyanoacrylate glue prior to finish. 

This will make a spectacular decorative piece but is also a fully functional as a deep water paddle for your birch bark canoe

Been slowly working on my replica of the Minnesota Historical Society paddle (dated to 1839) supposedly belonging to a voyageur...



The blade was pretty much done (see Part 1 here) but some final shaping of the grip and shaft was necessary...


The grip area was shaped with a knife to form the rounded top similar, but not identical, to the lipped top of the original. The whole paddle was left a bit rougher since I'm trying to get better relying on just a carving technique so many of the knife marks are still there - something that I can accept with this paddle replica. Here's a pic of the paddle wetted to raise the grain




The only decoration on the original paddle is the incised grip area. Took a pencil and sketched out my own version of the decoration with a few subtle differences in the pattern. Instead of adding the initials "W.D." which appear in the middle of the grip, I've left this section blank and may add in some initials later. The pencil graphite reflected a lot flash if a straight-on picture was taken, so the following pic is set a bit on an angle...


About 45 minutes of basic burning and the paddle was ready for its first coat of oil. Took advantage of the first bit of afternoon sun we've seen in over 10 days to get some pics. Here's the completed paddle below but it'll have to wait until next season to be used.

The Minnesota Historical Society has a paddle in their collection dating to 1839 (see posts HERE and HERE). The grip is adorned with some elaborate chip carving and includes the initials "W.D." Although the paddle was discovered in Minnesota, the shape and decorative design is consistent with East Coast Abenaki style paddles.




Thought I would try to replicate this design with some 6/4 cherry I had on hand. After sawing out the blank up north, it was brought down to the city to be worked down in the backyard. Here is a shot of the paddle setup on the horse...


Here's a shot of the blade pretty much done, though I plan to round out the pointed tip to match the original a bit more. Grip area still needs more work...



My version isn't meant to be an exact replica since I reduce the length to fit my preferred length of 58". The grip area isn't proportional to the original either since it would've turned out to be too narrow. Here`s how it stands now with some final work needed to the grip and shaft:

Now that the latest Cherry paddle is complete, the pyrography stage has arrived. As mentioned in Part 1 of the post, the blade design was a replica of the c1849 Passamaquoddy paddle (Fig 72. Adney) currently in the collection of The Peabody Museum


Adney's sketch - Decorated Passamaquoddy on top


Peabody Museum paddle; Peabody Number 99-12-10/53655
My own Cherry version of this paddle decoration was based on a negative pyrography technique - burning the background at high heat to reveal the natural cherry tones in the scroll decoration. Cherry is an ideal wood for this technique and I was tempted to replicate the style again, but the I still vividly remember the huge amount of time needed to finish such a large piece with a tiny flow point tip. Plus, I wanted to get this paddle done in time for the National Canoe Day celebrations happening on June 26th in nearby Peterborough which I'm planning on attending (free admission to the Canadian Canoe Museum that day too!) Great way to get out of the city which is getting inconvenienced with the G8/G20 meetings downtown while also shutting down our cottage area up north this week.

It seemed fitting that since the blade shape was an identical twin, I should replicate this scroll pattern again, but this time a decision was made to try a a positive burning technique just to be a bit different. A hand-sketched image of this design drawn by Liz Reagan (which appears on page 20 of Graham Warren's book) shows the scroll pattern in a positive image technique. Given that the grip is a totally different design, I free handed some more scrolls to somewhat match the pattern the blade. This was completed easily over 2 days - a lot faster than the negative technique. Here are the shots before oiling:


Completed Decoration; Blade Closeup
As a bit of an extra decoration, ended up using about 3 feet of leather lace to tie a decorative Turk's Head knot at the base of the grip, below my name on the paddle. Here are some shots of the grip after oiling...


Turk's Head knot; Decorated Grip; Natural Side
The side with the inferior grain pattern was chosen for the pyrography decoration. The other side with some nice grain lines and patterns was left natural. Here are the pics of both sides...


Final Paddle
Can't wait to dip this sucker into some water and get paddling season underway!

Another Cherry paddle is in the works. This blank had been cut out the same time I had started the c.1849 Passamaquoddy replica (the paddle in the header of the site) and included the same blade shape. My intention was to make a set of matching paddles to go with the decorated canvas canoe. I had actually began working on the blade of this paddle first, but the reversing grain kept causing significant tearout and frustration with the spokeshave so I ended up leaving this blade incomplete and worked on the other one which had a superior grain pattern.

For this paddle, I had wanted to replicate the long, spined grip design of the Robin Egg Blue antique paddle posted on previously:


Maine Guide Paddle.
Circa 1910
However, after being cut out and the blade partially worked down, the paddle was left in the garage for many months and as a result, the blank revealed a significant twist resulting in misalignment between the grip and blade. In retrospect, I should've hung this blank but simply ran out of room on the rack. It was still completely salvageable, but the grip needed to be recarved to take out the twist and this necessitated redrawing of the center and other guidelines.


Twist in the blank; Redrawn grip top
All went well, and the while clamped to a picnic table near the communal fire pit, I worked down the grip and finished off the paddle over a weekend. Here are some shots during the process and a pic of the paddle after its first wetting in the lake to raise the grain.


Carving the spined grip; Frontal View (still needed some work)

Wetting the paddle to raise the grain
I was eager to take out this paddle for spin, as well as try out the Reshaped Birch Cree paddle. Both paddled very well, but I could see the thinned, lightweight Cree design being more suited to just light paddling use. The cherry paddle with its smooth, Maine Guide style grip was a real delight to use. I could see myself using this robust paddle for extended tripping given its comfortable design and balance.


Quick test on the water

UPDATE - JUNE 24: Paddle is now complete...see Part 2

Master birchbark canoe builder and artisan Rick Nash recently sent me an email and thoughtfully attached pics of his latest paddle creation for a client. An absolutely gorgeous Maliseet (or Maliceet) style paddle made from hand split cherry and rubbed with red ochre. The stunning chip carving was done with a jackknife and a nail. The delicate spined blade comes complete with a carved drip ring at the throat. Wow!


Rick's Beautiful Paddle
As some of you might have noticed, I've become more interested in tribal decorative patterns recently. I find the curved motifs and geometric designs really stunning. The patience and artistry required for such delicate carving is a testament to the maker's skills. My attempts at chip carving have yielded results too embarrassing to post online. A few readers of the blog have inquired about commissioning chip carved decorative paddles from me and frankly, for the time being, this sort of decoration is out of my league. If any of you are interested in paddles like this, Rick is the man to contact.

With all the fun distractions this past summer, I haven't sat down and worked on a paddle for a while. So I decided to get back in it and work on the Cherry Edged Beothuk that had been giving me problems since it was started back in July of '08. When I last posted on this different design, the cherry parts of the bobble grip were being laminated onto the main gripface.


The initial square grip with sketching; Cherry pieces, Glued up
With the glue long dry, it was time to start shaping the octogonal grip into something resembling a spherical bobble. Problem is that with time being limited resource as a new father, multi-tasking has become a necessity.

Lately our little one has been more finicky than usual and needed constant rocking during one of our little excursions to the small lakeside beach at the cottage. In an effort to sooth the boy while also making some time for the paddle, I set up a bushcraft-style nomadic hammock recently taught to us by a relative overseas.

Known as a "Gypsy Swing" in Turkey, this ingenious contraption is found all over the countryside and may be the saving grace for any parent. All that it requires is a rope (I had a 20ft line of cheap polypropylene), a medium sized Turkish Kilim (a large beach towel would suffice), and two sticks. After some experimenting with Evenk Knots and other hitches from a Ray Mears episode on Bushcraft the lines were all set. Some creative folding of the kilim and stretching out with the sticks and the little hammock was set up complete with a view of the lake. To control the swing, an extra line was attached to big toe to provide the foot power rythym.


Set up between the trees


Drifting off to nappy time


Toe powered with hands free to carve
He drifted off quite quickly and I was able to crudely shape the grip into a fair-sized bobble. While not exactly perfectly shaped, the amount of labour involved and the never-ending drive of attaining spherical perfection made me stop when the grip felt comfortable in the hands.


The Bobble Grip
Not being able to resist, I took the paddle for a quick test spin in the lake even though it had not been thoroughly sanded with fine grit. The blade, very similar to the cherry edged Kayak Paddle I made last year, handles well and the bobble is actually quite comfortable to use for basic forward strokes. As a solo paddler however, many correction strokes require quite different positioning on the grip and in this regards the bobble is limiting. Still it's quite logical (and an unusual paddling sensation) to use a spherical grip which actually fits the shape of a relaxed hand quite nicely. I'll be taking this one back to the city to decorate the blade over the winter.


Unfinished Beothuk Paddle