Posted by sandy on March 26, 2000 (from the 2000 board)
In Reply to: Ever make your own oars? posted by C.J. on March 26, 19100 at 17:15:09:
Ever make my own oars?
No. I've thought about it a thousand times.
But I have one set of 9' ash (Smoker) oars I
bought in 1980 that are still in fine shape.
They'll last longer than I will.
I've got a pair of 10' Smokers too that are
only 4-5 years old. Yes, oars cost a bundle.
But they don't easily wear out.
Making oars? Well I've already admitted I never
did it. But here are my thoughts:
It wouldn't be hard to make a blade. You could
laminate 1x3" ash strips together and then
shape the final result with a power planer
or a belt sander. For the shank of an oar
you could glue up 4 square 2x2 strips, and then
round out the shank with a draw knife, or
find somebody still running a fence post lathe.
There is a guy here in Gallatin county Mt
who turns fancy fence posts out of lodge pole
pine. I'm sure I could talk him into rounding
an oar shank if I wanted to.
The 10' Smokers I bought four years ago cost me
$350 dollars at retail.
Plastic oars are a little cheaper,
but I don't like them. Synthetic
oars don't float, so you spend the whole day
pushing down on the oar handles: if you let
go, the oar tips sink and the handles rise up over
your head. Wooden oars are worth the price.
Finally, whenever I express a negative opinion
(like my thoughts about plastic oars) I always end up regretting it.
Not because I don't have confidence in my own opinions, but because
I always end up tweaking somebody else who disagrees...in other words,
I don't like plastic oars, but lots of other people do. :-)