canoe maker

Wow...this paddlemaking hobby really ground to halt lately with all sorts of distractions getting in the way. Well over a year ago in January, 2010, I started work on a Diamond Bladed Passamaquoddy replica from Adney's book.

It's been hanging in the den for quite some time desperately calling out to be decorated. Finding time to do intricate artwork with curious youngster at home has been impossible so to simplify things, I figured this paddle would be nice choice for some historic chevron themes seen in much of the artwork from when this paddle originated.

At first I thought it would be fun to get the little one involved by painting the paddle with the gaudy colours seen in the painting entitled, Aboriginal Camp in Lower Canada by Cornelius Krieghoff (dated to 1847) pictured below:


Paddle Closeup
After getting all the supplies ready, suddenly he refused to paint! So instead I reverted back to pyrography to burn alternative light & dark chevrons onto the blade while also highlighting the angular edges of the flat-faced grip. A single line was burned down the shaft for added effect. This will likely be the last time I use yellow poplar as a paddle making wood. It may be a cheap wood stock and light weight but it also burns very unevenly for an extremely patchy and amateurish effect. At least now I can move on to the next project without the guilt of an unfinished one looming over my head.


Chevron decorations
While up north for a long weekend holiday, the boy grabbed his cedar bushcraft mini paddle and proceeded to slap around a beachball. I ended up grabbing this newly completed paddle and we killed some time with a rowdy game passing the ball back and forth. All the while, he kept excitedly saying, "I'm playing hockey!"...so it seems it seems I've done my Canadian duty as a father to instill love of our national obsession with a hint of canoeing tradition too.


Working on the backhand pass


Beach game of Paddle Ball

While up north for the recent holiday weekend, I managed to get in some paddle carving time to finalize the nearly complete c. 1849 Passamaquoddy replica begun back in January. Here's a shot by the lakeside on a bright, brisk day using the picnic table "workbench". The communal beach all groomed and loungers all set for the upcoming tourist season.


Carving by the lake
After wetting the grain and sanding it down, I brought the paddle back home to the city. Yellow Poplar certainly makes for a lightweight paddle - my official quality control tester had a easy time lifting it with one hand and running around the place with it.


Rigorous Quality Testing
The major item I struggled with in this design was balancing the paddle...in the end it just ended up being too blade heavy. Kind of obvious I guess given the large shape and the relatively small handle. My feeling is that perhaps the original paddle documented by Adney would've been balanced, but only because the paddle was illustrated as being much longer than my replica (71.5" vs. my 58" version).


Adney's sketch - Diamond Bladed Passamaquoddy in middle
Had I digitally reduced the paddle to scale to fit my preferred paddle length, the blade size would've been unusually small. Still, in the future when replicating longer paddle designs to a my own functional paddle length, this will need to be considered if a throat-balanced paddle is the final goal.

In any event, it's ready for the decoration stage and I've decided to keep this one much more simple than the recent Northwoods paddle where I went overboard.

MAY 24, 2011 Update: Paddle finally completed...go to Part 4

Back during a strange warm spell in January, I enthusiastically rushed out to the balcony to start another padde, a circa 1849 Diamond Bladed Passamaquoddy from Fig. 72 of Adney's book (middle diagram below).


Adney's sketch - Diamond Bladed Passamaquoddy in middle
The blank had been cut from Yellow Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera), a very easy wood for carving and one of the lightest "hardwoods" out there. While the bulk of the paddle had been shaped using the usual block plane and spokeshave, I wanted to improve on my crooked knife techniques. I found that the kiln-dried yellow poplar was still soft enough to be carved easily with crooked knives, so the grip and shaft were further shaped with these tools.

Adney's plan for the grip is tiny and as a result I had approximated the shape when cutting out the blank and purposely left the grip large and bulky with the idea that it could be customized later. The angled edges of the grip were carved out using my mini-crooked knife while the large-bladed Olivewood handle crooked knife worked well on the long shaft region. After fixing the blade, it has become a fantastic tool. Delicate shavings were twirling off around me.


Carving the grip with the Mini Crooked Knife


Shaft carving with the large bladed knife
Adney's plan shows the grip tapering out at the top until it becomes quite thin...too thin for my liking. I find the palm and forearm muscles get quite tired if you have to squeeze too tightly in order to grasp the paddle, so I left this one thicker than the plan suggests. After working on the angular edges, this is what I was left with.


Grip shaped
The whole thing still needs to be sanded, but the grip area has come along nicely. It is very reminiscient of the flattened grips featured on the Iroquois paddles at the Royal Ontario Museum.

May 30/10 Update: Part 3 has been posted

Figure 72 of Adney's book shows 3 variations of Passamaquoddy paddles. After making a replica of the top paddle, I next wanted to try the more angular diamond shaped paddle pictured in the middle of sketch.


Adney's sketch - Diamond Bladed Passamaquoddy in middle

A while back I had cut a blank out of my final piece of Yellow Poplar stock. Apart from the blade shape, I was attracted to the short, flattened grip style. Doug Ingram of Red River Canoe also replicated this design for his historic paddles article which includes some nice pics of his work.


Doug Ingram's fantastic replica
It's been a while since I've been able to do any carving. My shifting work schedule combined with poor weather and the demands of our little monkey at home have meant serious deprivation from this time-consuming hobby. Well, the universe was perfectly aligned today as I scored a day off from work, the child was sent off to day care, and the frighteningly unseasonal weather in Toronto meant the carving tools were out on the balcony again today.


Blank ready for more shaping
The blade was simple enough to shape down quickly. To work on the edges of the grip area, I thought I'd try working with the crooked knife recently sharpened with some waterstones. It worked well enough though I still have more work to do on the grip area before it's shaped to my liking.


Working with the crooked knife
I still can't believe the weather today, warm enough to eventually strip down to a T-shirt for the final carving. Ridiculous really for the middle of January!


Toronto in January???
Still more work to be done on this one. For now it's back hanging in the locker room until another miraculous day when I get some carving time.

UPDATE - April 11/2010: Part 2 of this paddle construction has been posted.