Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => HowTo's and Build-a-longs => Topic started by: skyarrow on February 23, 2011, 02:39:26 am

Title: Aleut storm paddle build a long "finished" :)
Post by: skyarrow on February 23, 2011, 02:39:26 am: ok iv been wanting to build these style paddles for awhile now so i started today on one while drilling was slow at the rig. so i had nothing to do but watch the kelly spin and fall at a snails pace i decided to go dig in a burn pile and i found a charred 2x4 just long enough to be a storm paddle i plan to make a longer Aluet in the future. ok so here we go
some of the pics are from a site i found on building them and the others are of my progress :)

first you want to find a piece of wood about the size of a 2x4 these paddles were made to fit the user so length is up to you for the storm style its a shoulders width apart long for the blades"the paddling part" on both ends and for the loom "hand holding spot" its about one hands with wide. for a long style its about as long as you are with your arm up in the air with your fingers cuped over the end of the board the blades will be shoulder length long and the loom fills the rest in the center. once you find the wood check it for nails mine had lots of nails and holes. once that is done cut off any bad ends mine was burned at one end. i plan to make this without power tools so i am using a old Gurkha knife my dad made, to do the bulk trimming

ok now that your board is cut you want to find the center of the board in width and draw a line down the center and then find center in length and draw a line there also. once that is done you want to grab the end with one hand and hold the rest towards the middle a shoulders width apart and mark where your thumb is on the hand thats closest to the center after use a square and draw a line across and measure that with a tape measure once length is found measure the other end and mark and draw line now you have your base blades length at each end. mine was about a hands with apart between the two blade :). ok i added some drawings and some pics of my progress. now for the loom i measured about 3/4 inch from center line on both sides to make the width, draw a line on both sides of center parallel to the blade ends close to the loom. now for the taper from the loom ends to the blade start i just winged it remember this is custom to you since you are its user :) do what you feel is right. i did 1/4 inch in from the edge of board and drew from the loom lines out to it then drew taper to the end. once that is done you now have a basic drawing of you Aleut now its time to start taking wood away. i started at the loom and thats how far i got today if you have any questions il do my best on answering them ttyl and hopefully in the next few days il have more done
Title: Re: Aluet storm paddles build a long
Post by: skyarrow on February 23, 2011, 02:41:25 am: and the rest of the pics it was fun hacking the loom to a general shape
Title: Re: Aluet storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on February 23, 2011, 02:43:18 am: the 4th pick down is of some finished ones i found on a website for yall to see what they look like
Title: Re: Aluet storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on February 23, 2011, 02:45:28 am: and if you want longer blades you can make them longer since my board was short this is the longest i could get my blades il post more as i progress :) tty l

sterling
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on February 24, 2011, 01:13:30 am: so today i managed to get about 80% done on one of the blades for a basic shape woot. ok lets start explaining what did after the loom gen shaping i started to trim the edges of both sides of each blade to make them taper in towords the loom thats the lines you drew.
now that was done you want to mark the taper on the edges of your blades to show how thin you want them to be i measured a 1/4 inch from the end and at the edge of the loom i did 1 inch and drew a line

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/969c8277.jpg)

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/1696ef34.jpg)

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/c7813c1c.jpg)

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/DSC_0019.jpg)
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on February 24, 2011, 01:23:28 am: once that was done it is time to start removing the bulk wood of the blades i spent all day working on one blade i am amlost done with the general shaping of it here are some pics showing what i did today i did it all with the Gurkha by hacking and using it as a scrapper

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/DSC_0036.jpg)

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/DSC_0017.jpg)

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/DSC_0028.jpg)

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/19b8e68c.jpg)
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: sailordad on February 24, 2011, 01:57:49 am: ok so i am ignorant on the subject
could you explain why its called a "storm paddle" and what its used for
i am assuming kayaking,but like i said
ignorant on the subject ;)

thanks
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on February 24, 2011, 12:18:51 pm: Ok Aleut was a tribe in Alaska "Eskimo" and you know they used kayaks alot we they had two different paddles one was a long style it was as long as the user with it's arm up so for me it would be around 8' and that was there work horse and inside there kayak they kept a storm paddle it was shorter so if they were out fishing and hunting in there yak and a storm blew in they would switch to the storm paddle since it was shorter and lighter. Pluss try holding a long paddle with the wind blowing a Gail it sux so the storm paddle was used like a actual paddle but it is double ended so you place one hand on the end and the other at the loom and stroke one side then swap hands by placing the hand that was on the loom on the end that just came out of the water and the hand that was on the other end to the loom and then stroke the other side. Most paddles were made from driftwood . Hope that help ttyl

Sterling
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on February 24, 2011, 12:22:12 pm: And i forgot to mention there is another styl of paddle and storm paddle it's called a Greenland style insted of the taper on the blades on one side it tapers on both sides toward the end of the blade
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: sailordad on February 24, 2011, 08:22:44 pm: Sterling, thanks for enlightening me ;D
thanks to you i am no longer completely ignorant on the subject
i like knowledge ;)

cant wait to see it finished
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on February 24, 2011, 09:26:05 pm: Np glad to help and once I finish it I hope to post a vid of it being used
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on February 24, 2011, 11:57:33 pm: Here some new pics on what I did today I finished the other blade and now bothe blades are ruffed out and I started on shaping the handle I think it's coming along pretty good

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/67620e0b.jpg)

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/eae93094.jpg)

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/b61c54ef.jpg)

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/1e8393f3.jpg)

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/7cc60198.jpg)
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: gstoneberg on February 25, 2011, 12:02:36 am: Very interesting build Sterling. Looks quite a bit like a bow to me.

George
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on March 03, 2011, 11:17:59 am: Il have some more pics up soon :)
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on March 08, 2011, 11:46:58 pm: Well the good thing is iv been working alot the bad thig is haven't had time to work onthe paddle :'( I should be off this weekend and hopefully get to work on it ttyl

Sterling
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on March 09, 2011, 12:44:45 am: Ok I manage to have a little time :) so I drew up the fades on the side of the blade 1/8 inch to mark where they will be thinned out and redrew the center line and after measured a 1/4 inch on each side of the center line and drew some parallel lines. That's where the thining starts then tawords the side lines on the blades you don't want to shave in-between the parallel lines this acts like a spine . Hopefully this weekend il take the wood off to show y'all the finished blade edges

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/2bec9fc4.jpg)

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/38348cdc.jpg)

Im prolly going to leave a little more wood here where he nail holes are to make sure it don't break
(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/7c2d6a60.jpg)

Remember if you build a paddle make it your own costomize it to you if you want thicker blades do it these are tools and were made to break after being used that's why I chose this burned board if it breaks ohh well il make another ;D ttyl

Sterling
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on March 09, 2011, 12:52:07 am: Here is a sketch

(http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee451/bloodmoonwidow/1a4f3e8f.jpg)
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long
Post by: skyarrow on March 10, 2011, 06:14:59 pm: I got her done today I finished fading the blades it came out nice il post pics later here is the vid I was by myself so the angle is a little off but you can see how it works TTY

Sterling

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWYJEi2-zRQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long "finished" :)
Post by: sailordad on March 10, 2011, 10:56:49 pm: Sterling, thank you for showing me this
i thought it was very cool,especially the finished product and video of it in use
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long "finished" :)
Post by: skyarrow on March 10, 2011, 11:40:25 pm: Your welcome I plan to make a long one soon ;D
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long "finished" :)
Post by: gstoneberg on March 11, 2011, 01:36:20 am: Looked good to me Sterling. Nice job.

George
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long "finished" :)
Post by: skyarrow on March 11, 2011, 12:03:33 pm: Thanx George :)
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long "finished" :)
Post by: sonny on March 12, 2011, 10:31:17 pm: well done!
will you seal it with oil or some such ??
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long "finished" :)
Post by: mullet on March 13, 2011, 12:40:46 am: Thanks, Sterling. I think I'll make me one. I have two 14 foot kayaks.
Title: Re: Aleut storm paddle build a long "finished" :)
Post by: skyarrow on March 13, 2011, 11:25:46 pm: Quote from: sonny on March 12, 2011, 10:31:17 pm
well done!
will you seal it with oil or some such ??

with this one prolly not it has alot of nail holes i know i could fill them and then seal it but its just a paddle il seal a nicer one if it breaks il have a paddle for spanking the kids lol :)