<I'm making a storm to have accessible for rolling and back-up. All lit I've seen says to use 2x4. I'm thinking 1x4 to keep it light and easy to stow. I'll keep the loom ovoid and fairly thick for strength. Good reasons not to?> You want to keep the loom oval shaped, but I think it's the other oval that you really want --- front to back, not side to side. Lemme try that again: my loom, on an anthropometric basis, is about one inch wide --- looking down at the paddle as it lies on a bench --- and about one and a quarter to a little over that in depth. That seems to give a good hold for a sliding stroke for my smaller than average hand. A three quarter inch thich one-by-four wouldn't set up properly for any adult hand, and might not have the strength you need. And if you have a large hand and are appropriately proportioned from there, a two-by-four, giving you a max blade width of three and a half inches, might also be too small. There's not a lot of blade way out there, and you don't want it too small in area. With my size (6'1", 180 pounds) but my small hand (medium glove), I can get away with a two-by-four for any Greenland paddle, but it's marginal. Sometimes I use a two-by-six. The blade will "fly" as much as any Greenland paddle does, and it's great for rolling and as a backup. I use red (if I can find it) or white cedar for paddles 'cause it's light and easy to carve. Jack Martin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Jack Martin wrote: <There's not a lot of blade way out there, and you don't want it too small in area. I have made several Greenland paddles, two of western red cedar that I use all the time( the last several years). Two weeks ago I finally decided to build a storm paddle...after all the discussion of late. I used pine on this first paddle and make it a full 3 !/2 inches wide versus 3 3/16 for my regular paddles.....after a couple of paddles it feels very "BIG" width wise. Question....has anyone ever tried a narrower width(3 1/16) storm paddle? frank montbriand 43N50'07" 73W25'22" *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 7/25/00 2:27:18 AM, fmont_at_capital.net writes: << Two weeks ago I finally decided to build a storm paddle...after all the discussion of late. I used pine on this first paddle and make it a full 3 !/2 inches wide versus 3 3/16 for my regular paddles.....after a couple of paddles it feels very "BIG" width wise. Question....has anyone ever tried a narrower width(3 1/16) storm paddle? >> With all this talk of home made Greenland paddles, I'm almost embarrassed to say that I bought mine. But my Cricket Storm paddle isn't excessively wide at the blade and is so powerful that I have to be careful to avoid over-rotation when I use it in a hurry. I certainly admire those of you that have carved your own paddles, but I still love my Cricket and it rides on my front deck always. Ljebd *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Frank wrote, "Two weeks ago I finally decided to build a storm paddle...after all the discussion of late. I used pine on this first paddle and make it a full 3 !/2 inches wide versus 3 3/16 for my regular paddles.....after a couple of paddles it feels very "BIG" width wise. Question....has anyone ever tried a narrower width(3 1/16) storm paddle?" Just went out to measure my regular storm paddle --- three and five sixteenths inches wide. My favorite Greenland stick is three and three eighths inches wide. Frankly, I'd never measured them before --- just made them with the same anthropometrics the Greenlanders use on the paddle width and the loom circumference. It's more in the sizes indicated by your body than in comparison to someone else's paddle, I think. My point about not having a lot of paddle out there in a brace was more about the length of the paddle --- the reach you can get in a brace --- than in the surface area. I didn't make that point well. Jack Martin *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced/forwarded outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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