Well, I spent the weekend creating some blanks for a couple of people interested in learning to carve paddles. I've done mini-workshops like this for a few years now. It started when some students of mine saw me using one of my paddles on a river trip and began agitating to make their own. So about twice a year I'll glue up some blanks and show two or three how to cut out the paddle shape on the bandsaw. Then I demonstrate the use of the spokeshave, shave horse, and rasps, and turn them loose.
Over time I've made five or six shave horses that I've loaned out, but they take up a lot of space when they aren't in use. So gradually, as various models have succumbed to wear and tear (are people driving trucks over them?), they have been retired (thrown in the dumpster). I'm now down to two pine horses that I use for loaners, and my "ultimate" shave horse, a Boggs design I made out of ash that will not be loaned to anyone, ever.
This time around, the workshop consisted of a student who graduates in May and really wanted a paddle to remember her experience in the degree program (Natural History and Humanities), and a teaching colleague who has been a paddler since way back. I made Erin's laminated blank out of ash, cherry, and basswood, which is a departure from student blanks I've made in the past. Usually I just make a cherry blade and grip with an ash handle. These have always turned out sort of heavy, though (it's awfully hard to make your first paddle as light as gossamer when you're struggling to master the shave--at some point, you just give up and call it good enough, even though you could probably shave a couple more ounces off...). Anyway, I decided that it really wasn't that much more work to add a strip of basswood to aid in lightening the paddle. In all, to do so probably adds an hour of work to the job.
Kurt announced last week that he wanted to make an ottertail, a paddle I'd never made before, so I was intrigued. Since an ottertail is used for quiet paddling, I thought I'd make it out of some softer, lighter wood. I trundled on down to my local wood purveyor and asked him what he had on hand.
Living on the hardscrabble, windswept, butt-end of the Texas panhandle presents something of a challenge as far as paddle wood goes. The only native trees here are cottonwood, desert willow, hackberry, and mesquite--none of which are good paddle wood. Anything else has to be imported in from other parts of the country, and if it isn't a wood that is commonly used in cabinet making or turning fancy little pens and bowls, these guys don't carry it. I outlined my needs (a "hardwood", lighter than cherry), and he suggested alder.
I've never used alder, but I'm willing to try almost anything--especially when he describes the wood as a "weed." I'm all for sustainability, and it seems to me that weeds fit that bill nicely. So I had him cut up a board so it would fit in my wagon (it was 18 degrees outside and windy, and I wasn't about to stand in the cold trying to strap it to the top of the car), and carted it home.
When I made the first stab at cutting the blade blanks, I was disappointed to find it a bit punky inside. I made a second set that looked a little better--I hope there won't be any surprises inside as Kurt carves down. I added a slender strip of cherry between the alder and the ash handle that I think will look nice.
I was doing all of this in my quasi-cozy shop. Outside, the temperature stayed steadily below freezing all weekend. I have one marginally effective electric heater that I have to turn off every time I fire up the table saw so as not to blow a fuse (I am terrifically underpowered, in more ways than one...). Still, it wasn't as bad as it used to be, back in the day when the shop was nothing more than siding nailed to studs. Insulation and drywall are marvelous inventions. Now, even when it's in the teens, it is at least bearable, provided I wear enough personal insulation.
Since I've never used alder before, I thought I'd post a query about it on the paddlemaking forum (http://forums.wcha.org/forumdisplay.php?f=11) to see if anyone could tell me about it. I got some good info in return, plus, as a bonus, I noticed someone offering up some sassafras. Now, I have wanted to use sassafras for a paddle ever since someone mentioned that it smells like root beer when you carve it. Since root beer is my drink of choice when the sun is high in the yellow sky, how can I not have a paddle that smells like summer? However, for reasons noted above, my local purveyor doesn't happen to carry sassafras.
I let the poster know I was interested, and it looks like we may be able to work out a shipment. I can't wait--it could be a really special paddle...
Anyway, I got the blanks finished and Erin and Kurt came over for the final part of the glue-up (sizing where the grips will go) on Saturday, and on Sunday they returned to cut the blade and grip shapes on the bandsaw. After that, it was a simple matter of demonstrating the horse, shave, and rasp, and away they went. I wish I had thought to take pictures. There is a look that people get on their faces the first time they cut a blank and it starts to look like a real paddle--it is a realization that something unimaginable can now be imagined...
Oh well, maybe I can get some pics of Erin and Kurt as they learn to carve. Certainly I'll post photos when they've finished their paddles.
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