A basic theme to all of my paddle and oar building is to do all the work on any given work surface before un-clamping and moving on. This saves a surprising amount of time on changeovers.
Another way to speed things up is to get organized and work methodically through the abrasives. Before I start on the blade I set the following things in a line on the workbench: power planer, block plane, sanding board with 60 grit sandpaper, 1/4 sheet of each of the following grits: 100, 150, 180, 220. I work my way through each step taking approximately one minute on each. At about 20 minutes per blade it’s still a time-consuming process, but when I’m done I never have to return to that area.
Professional oar and paddle builders have big drum sanders to make some of this work easier but that’s generally not practical for the homebuilder.
The power plane is a great tool for rough shaping although I encourage first timers to practice on scrap wood. I suppose a draw knife or a jack plane is an alternative for getting rid of the meat of the blade but that’s pretty rough going in flat grain ash.
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