(this page is still under construction)

The Wood

I make my paddles using a variety of wood.  Most often I use red oak because of the natural beauty to it and because of its strength and durability.  I also use white pine, poplar, aspen, and exotic woods such as purpleheart and cocobolo woods from South America. Several resources for other high quality woods are also at my disposal. 

The wood is hand selected by myself.  I choose the wood not only for its aesthetic qualities, but also for the graining.  It is important that the wood have a "close" or "fine" grain, and the grain itself must run from side to side on the width of the paddle.  This immeasurably increases the paddles durability and makes them very resistant to splitting or cracking.

All paddles are cut by myself.  I also use a router to round the edges smoothly and evenly.  The most popular paddle shape is the 17"x3 1/2"x7/8".  (Pictured in most of the photos here).  The design of the paddle was not haphazard.  We went through several designs to find the one that "worked best" for both the "giver and receiver". 

The wood is then sanded with several grades of sandpaper, ending with a 400 grain, until the surface is as smooth and "silky" as possible.  Due to the grain in some wood, it may have some very minute ridges. (Common in red oak).  But this is completely normal and in no way affects the paddle.  Most times the ridges are so tiny that YOU will not notice them, only I notice them as I burn the images onto the wood!   

   The Pyrography (Wood burning)