Canoe Paddles: A Complete Guide to Making Your Own »

Graham Warren has been building wood-canvas canoes and paddles since 1991, having been inspired by the work of master birchbark canoe maker Henri Vaillancourt. Since then, Warren has canoed extensively in Scotland, Norway and Sweden. He lives in Derbyshire, England, with his wife and three children. His articles on canoeing have appeared in numerous journals.

David Gidmark teaches canoe building in Wisconsin, New York, Tahiti and Quebec. His previous books include Building a Birchbark Canoe and Birchbark Canoe: Living Among the Algonquin. Gidmark and his wife live in Maniwaki, Quebec.

A complete guide to making, caring for, decorating, and using, canoe paddles. Illustrated throughout with photos and line drawings, it is ideal for the beginner woodworker as well as the skilled wanting to experiment with desing and technique.

Linda Turk

A how-to book that's valuable even if you choose never to use the how-to parts. —Thunder Bay Chronicle Journal

Introduction — Make your own paddles!

Chapter One: Diversity: Evolution of the canoe paddle

- Prehistoric paddles

- The evolution of North American paddles

- Tribal variation and adaptation

- Fur trade (voyageur) paddles

- Identifying native North American single-blade paddles

- Paddles from other cultures

Chapter Two — Design: The inner workings of a canoe paddle

- Grips

- Shaft

- Blade

- Flexibility

- Weight

- Balance

Chapter Three: Woods and Adhesives: A guide to choosing your materials

- Grain direction

- Choice of species

- Adhesives

Chapter Four — Tools: Select your level of technology

- Tools for marking out

- Clamps and holding things steady

- Tools for carving

- Tools for finishing

- Power tools

- Homemade tools and jigs

Chapter Five — Paddlemaking Basics: Making a single-blade paddle

- Preparing a one-piece blank

- Making a laminated blank

- Bandsaw and thickness planer

- Laminating checklist

- Marking out

- Designing your own blade

- Cutting out the blank

- Adding carving guidelines

- Making flexible templates

- The keys to paddlemaking

- Carving a single-blade paddle

- Using a spokeshave

- Critical sighting points

Chapter Six — Adding Power: The bent-shaft paddle

Chapter Seven — Twinning Up: Double-blade paddles

Chapter Eight — When Wood Meets Water: Oil or varnish protection for your paddle

- Varnish

- Oil

- Looking Good: Decorating your paddle

Chapter Nine — Care and Repair: Welcome to the real world

- Care

- Repair

- Performances Characteristics

Chapter Ten — Origins: Paddlemaking in the native tradition

Text and Photos (c) David Gidmark

- Paddle woods

- Making a paddle

- The crooked knife

Chapter Eleven — Paddle Plans

- Key paddle dimensions

- Traditional beavertail

- Ottertail

- Voyageur

- Algonquin

- Sugar Island

- Whitewater paddle

- Sugar Islet - bent-shaft paddle

- Double-blade paddle

- Child's beavertail

- Paddles for children

- Patterns for grip templates

- Scalloped guide grip

- Tip and throat templates

Glossary

Resources

Further Reading