After a lifetime of building solid wood oars last year I switched to laminating and haven’t looked back.
Laminating makes for a more economical use of the wood, it lets you double check the shaft for straightness before you get deeply committed into shaping that oar, it makes it easier to shape the shaft and handle before the blade is on, and finally it lets me select different materials for different desirable properties. In this case a Sitka spruce shaft and ash blades make a light but tough oar.
I should probably also take a minute here to mention the power of the humble Sharpie in oar and paddle building. To those acquainted with the art of fine woodworking these bold lines probably seem a bit gauche, but don’t be fooled, this is actually an extremely accurate layout tool. The magic of the Sharpie is that not only is it much easier to follow on a bandsaw but if you follow the outside of the line it leaves exactly the right amount of wood left to be consumed during the fairing process, AND during that process you can track your progress as you slowly consume the line. When the line finally disappears at your last grit of sandpaper you arrive at a dimension that perfectly matches the template you traced.
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