Let me preface this thread to everyone who had planned to post "just get out your check book". I'm not listening. Fingers firmly in ears, "LALALALA." If I wanted to buy oars, I would have already bought them.
I have two sets of Doug Fir oars. I made the transition 14 years ago to the dark side of rafting as a dirtbag kayaker who had kids. I never owned Carlisles. I had a pro deal on Cataracts, but they hurt my shoulders. I originally made wood spares, and the Cataracts became my spares and the wood oars became my regulars. I have They were/are 10' long, 2-piece laminated shafts, laminated blades, ash blade edges, ash spline through the tip to bond the laminates together horizontally, and 3-4 layers of fiberglass on the tips with a rope wrap. Original finish was linseed oil, but it sucked. They currently get varnished every 4-5 years. Last iteration was fully sanded down to bare wood, epoxy saturated, and spar varnished. They have dings and battle scars, and I love them.
I bought a 13' boat 7 or so years ago, and then made a set of 9.5' oars for it. Shafts slightly larger diameter, and blades thinner than the originals. They have also held up beautifully. One had a bit of grain runout in the shaft and broke just below the rope wrap. Lesson learned. Fortunately I made 3 at the time, so I wasn't out completely on the set.
Which brings me to this post. Anyone else ever build their own square tops or wood oars? The only thing I don't completely love about my woodies is the lack of counterbalance. I love the flex of the shaft, I love that the blades float when I drop the handles, I love that the entire oar floats if dropped overboard. I just want a bit of counterbalance.
So...if you've built your own square tops, would you go even bigger than the ~2.5" on top that Sawyer uses?
Have you done carbon fiber wrap? Is it worth it, or does it make them too stiff? Do you get splinters from the CF if it gets dinged?
Preferred handle shape? Mine are all ~6" long, 1 1/8" OD. Anyone ever build tapered handles? Taper inward or outward? Barrel-shaped like carlisles?
I have two sets of Doug Fir oars. I made the transition 14 years ago to the dark side of rafting as a dirtbag kayaker who had kids. I never owned Carlisles. I had a pro deal on Cataracts, but they hurt my shoulders. I originally made wood spares, and the Cataracts became my spares and the wood oars became my regulars. I have They were/are 10' long, 2-piece laminated shafts, laminated blades, ash blade edges, ash spline through the tip to bond the laminates together horizontally, and 3-4 layers of fiberglass on the tips with a rope wrap. Original finish was linseed oil, but it sucked. They currently get varnished every 4-5 years. Last iteration was fully sanded down to bare wood, epoxy saturated, and spar varnished. They have dings and battle scars, and I love them.
I bought a 13' boat 7 or so years ago, and then made a set of 9.5' oars for it. Shafts slightly larger diameter, and blades thinner than the originals. They have also held up beautifully. One had a bit of grain runout in the shaft and broke just below the rope wrap. Lesson learned. Fortunately I made 3 at the time, so I wasn't out completely on the set.
Which brings me to this post. Anyone else ever build their own square tops or wood oars? The only thing I don't completely love about my woodies is the lack of counterbalance. I love the flex of the shaft, I love that the blades float when I drop the handles, I love that the entire oar floats if dropped overboard. I just want a bit of counterbalance.
So...if you've built your own square tops, would you go even bigger than the ~2.5" on top that Sawyer uses?
Have you done carbon fiber wrap? Is it worth it, or does it make them too stiff? Do you get splinters from the CF if it gets dinged?
Preferred handle shape? Mine are all ~6" long, 1 1/8" OD. Anyone ever build tapered handles? Taper inward or outward? Barrel-shaped like carlisles?