Building a West Greenland Kayak Paddle

Yesterday I did more work on my kayak paddle. The paddle is shaped from a clear (or almost clear) 2x4. Any material works. I used pine, but would have used cedar if I could have actually found some. First I laid out the dimensions on the 2x4. The first step was to cut the blade taper. I initially tried using a band saw, but the process went very slow since I was cutting the 2x4 lengthwise. I then figured out that the best was is the old fashion hand plane.

The surfaces were planed down to thickness, then the profile had to be drafted and cut to shape. Once shaped, the shaping profile had to be drawn on. This is as far as I have gotten so far. The garage has become far too cold, as were down into the single digits in Ohio with a negative wind chill. So my paddle sits on the livingroom floor, begging to be completed.

A big thank you goes to Chuck Holst for providing the online community with a FREE how to for making a Greenland style kayak paddle. His guide can be found at http://www.qajaqusa.org/QK/makegreen2.pdf There are also plenty of videos on YouTube showing the process in detail.