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
