canoe maker

Fellow paddle maker, Jonas from Sweden (see post here), has been busy documenting his creations over on his new blog, Paddle Reflections. He has been working on a very interesting experimental design which features an elongated Northwoods style grip with asymmetrical notches for the grip thumb.






Jonas' creative design looks to have alternating Battenkill grips to allow for a more comfortable angle when using this lateral grip style. Here's a pic from his blog post demonstrating the grip position. It looks quite comfortable to my eyes.




His blade design is interesting as well. ..




Some Cree paddles have an indented paddle blade reminiscent of this style. Also, in the Historic Paddle Art archive page, is an undated image featuring a French trade canoe and a paddle with similar curves (original post here). I wish there were more details about this print in order to find any tribal affiliation, if any.



Keep up the great work on your paddles and blog site, Jonas!

Came across another woodland style paddle on the woodwork gallery page of Zender Dale Arts




Unfortunately, the low resolution photo doesn't show details of the interesting step-like grip. It is very reminiscent of the circa 1860 Northeastern Woodlands paddle posted on before.

  

NORTHEASTERN WOODLANDS (Malecite?) CANOE PADDLE
Circa 1860  
 Maple  - 5 ft. 3 3/4 in. Original full post here

This specific  paddle was featured in Pleasing the spirits : a catalogue of a collection of American Indian Art  by Douglas C  Ewing  (1982) - plate 474. Luckily one copy of this out of print exhibit catalogue was available at the Toronto Reference Library where I went to find some extra information. The black and white pics included a closeup of the floral carving details etched on the grip.


Basic Floral Etchings on grip

Even though I missed the 2014 WCHA assembly again this year, some of the attendees have shared wonderful photos of all the canoeing fun. Jim Wilson recently uploaded a Flickr album of much of the action, including one of the long-standing traditions at the Assembly...the Paddle-by. Participants cruise by one-by-one showcasing their wooden boats.

I recognized a few paddling friends, most notably Pam Wedd of Bearwood Canoes. Pam was the wonderful instructor for my own build course way back in '08! She brought along a new 14' Gerrish Replica in a pretty turquoise colour.



Equally stunning was Craig Johnson paddling his 15' canoe (also built at Pam's shop in Parry Sound, ON). Craig makes gorgeous paddles as well (see previous posts here and here). This particular one is sassafras Northwoods style with an indented grip, distinct blade spine and a unique copper tip.



Craig had posted more of his beautiful sassafras creations on the WCHA forums a while back.




He's also come up with a pretty innovative way of mounting copper tips onto the blade end. A photo sequence of the basic process is found is this thread here.

Thanks to WCHA members Rob Stevens and John Fitzgerald, I received some more photos of the Peabody Museum's current exhibit, The Legacy of Penobscot Canoes: A View from the River. In particular, John was able to get some very clear shots of the famed green bladed paddle I've gushed about over the years...





As mentioned previously, this paddle was documented by Adney and Chappelle and features a unique style grip. It is a long and tapered grip style that has been carved out in the center, giving the grip face a distinct concave face. You can just make this out on the top right corner of Fig 72 in Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America

Been too long since my last post. Hope folks are getting excited about the upcoming paddling season. Here's an interesting paddle from this Ebay seller. The paddle is an aged 71-1/2 incher found in  Maine. What caught my attention was the quite pronounced circular roll grip - would be nice to experiment with and try out.






The seller's description:

"Early canoe paddle measuring 71-1/2" long & 6-1/4" wide. It weighs 2 pounds 10 oz. This was found in Maine but is not signed.

In good condition overall. Some of the darker lines seen on the paddle have a very slight ding."

From this Ebay Seller is a 58" paddle with a large narrow blade and a nubby style grip. Credit again to Luc P for sending me the link. The paddle's overall shape looks quite similar to Cree Style paddle blades posted on in the past, although to my eye, it looks as though this design would be quite blade heavy and unbalanced.




This is from the same seller that featured a huge, 96" northwoods style paddle a while back as well as the 84" Mustard Yellow painted paddle from the post on February 7th..

Here's a great shot dated to around 1900 showing a Maliseet guide leaning back for a pose in his bark canoe...

Lunt's Ferry near Fredericton, New Brunswick

c 1900

NBM (LS-AA242)

A grainy closeup of the paddle shows a rectangular grip area with some scalloped cutouts down to the shaft

Paddle Closeup

Another one of the paddles on my ever growing "to do list" is the 1896 Malecite St.John River Paddle documented in Adney's Bark Canoes and Skin Boats of North America.  The blade looks to be standard beavertail with a distinct spine, but the grip has some rectangular features and a carved drip ring which suites the paddle nicely.



Adney's St. John Malecite Pattern
After casually examining some of my books the other day, I recognized this grip pattern on the cover of Graham Warren's must have paddle making book, Canoe Paddles: A Complete Guide to Making Your Own. The grip is featured near the bottom right of his book cover..



G Warren's book cover, St.John Malecite grip on lower right
Warren's first publication (which I blogged about here) has a complete illustration with a table of offsets for this pattern as well. Graham has also graciously re-published an article on his website entitled The Malecite St.John River Paddle (.pdf format) that appeared in Open Canoe in 1996 which features the detailed pattern for anyone interested in this design. The 2011 article entitled "Know Your Paddles" by Beth Stanley in Canadian Woodworking also has a closeup shot of this grip featured below.



St. John River Malecite Grip
At this stage though, it'll be while before I start this one. Still waiting to be completed is the decoration on the Yellow Birch York Sunbury replica. Plus I've been working on some more canoe related homemade camping gear that'll be posted on soon.

An illustration by artist Peter Rindisbacher (1806 � 1834) depicting a Chippewa (Ojibwe) family paddling a bark canoe. ...


Found it interesting that both the illustration and the film shot show the characters gripping the paddle in a sort of reverse, upwards grip where the bobble serves as a stopper of sorts. For another example of a modern day bobble gripped paddle, check out this 2010 post regarding a Western Cree style paddle made by Mike Elliot of Kettle River Canoes.

Another interesting Ebay Listing featuring a 16 1/2 inch model paddle. The grip area looks interesting with its slotted interior. Might be an interesting one to replicate at full scale...

I've been sidelined this past week with a harsh case of eczema on my hands & fingers. They're all covered in burning, nasty blisters and swollen enough that I can't use my hands for much...couldn't drive all week and certainly can't do any carving.

This kept me away from the annual Paddler's Rendezvous at Killbear park this weekend but here is my post from last year for anyone who missed it last time around. Lots of great wooden canoe eye candy.

In the meantime, for anyone itching for a paddle making fix, check out the recent post by Larry Bowers of West Country Canoes on using antler horn for a paddle grip. Lots of great photos of the process for anyone wanting to give it a go.

A monthly favourite of mine, the current items (April) at the CherryGallery.com features a circa 1900 Adirondack Guide Boat Paddle with an interesting spined grip. This seems quite different from the circular "lollipop" grips seen commonly in this unique paddle design




Adirondack Guide Boat Paddle
This maple guide boat paddle has a roll-top handle with a prominent center ridge, and a gracefully tapered blade.
Circa 1900
5" w, 70.5" h

Paddle Maker Kent Lund, whose marvelous creative art has frequently been featured on the blog, has sent me some pics of his latest works. Each features wonderful, customized grip designs which were inspired by some of the earlier postings on the site.


Cherry; Cherry + Curly Maple; Cherry




Kent's carved grips
The round "lollipop" grip on the left seens to be a common feature in many authentic Adirondack paddles according to expert, Gordon Fisher, who wrote a book on the topic entitled Guideboat Paddles: An Adirondack Treasure. Kent's version was inspired from the circa 1890's Adirondack paddled posted back in November, 2010.


Circa 1890 Adirondack Paddle
4.75" w, 66" h
$1,200


Kent's carved grip in Cherry
The other rounded grip features a diamond pattern at the base and is similar to the circa 1900 decorated paddle posted back in February, 2011.


Adirondack Guide Boat Paddle
Circa 1900
5" w, 58.5� h


Kent's version in Maple
Very glad that my site has been useful for folks researching and gathering ideas for their own paddle making pleasure. Kent will be taking this hobby to the next level and will be fully launching his canoe paddle business, Grand Rapids Paddle Company, very soon. His current site is underdevelopment but has his contact info if anyone wishes to get in touch with him. With his one-of-a-kind paddle designs and artistic talent, I'm sure he'll be highly sought after for his work.