My 1st paddle BUILT FOR DISPLAY

[Marc Ornstein]

After 40 or so years of building paddles, I finally built one that will likely never be used. It will hang on a wall, in my home. It's not that it couldn't be used, it is a fine freestyle blade - perhaps the nicest one I've ever built. It has razor thin blade edges and balances perfectly. I built it almost entirely of highly figured, soft maple.
I spent extra hours picking and matching wood and gave it several extra coats of varnish which were then wet sanded and buffed. I suspect it will not be the last "display" paddle that I build.

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Lovely, Marc.

Is that protective edging on the the blade a triple layer of woods?

 

[Marc Ornstein]

Lovely, Marc.

Is that protective edging on the the blade a triple layer of woods?

Yes. Walnut and maple. Correction. The middle laminate in the edge is ash. Maple is more prone to cracking when bent like that.

 

[tketcham]

That's a work of art. Beautiful.

I got pretty good at growing quality timber but never did figure out how to make use of the lumber.

 

[dutchlennart]

It looks great. ENjoy looking at it each day

 

[samb]

I really can't understand how you could NOT go out and use a paddle like that, even only once.

Sam

 

[RBourg]

I think that before you know it you will have made several and become so efficient in your methods that you will just have to start selling them !!

 

[madmike]

This is fantastic. I can not do work this fine.

 

[Marc Ornstein]

I really can't understand how you could NOT go out and use a paddle like that, even only once.

Sam

I have others that perform perfectly and look darn good. No need to chance scratching this one.

I think that before you know it you will have made several and become so efficient in your methods that you will just have to start selling them !!

Thanks. FYI, I have been building and selling paddles for many years.

 

[RBourg]

I have others that perform perfectly and look darn good. No need to chance scratching this one.


Thanks. FYI, I have been building and selling paddles for many years.

Well, so much for my prediction!!

 

[canube]

All his paddles could be wall hangers.....I bought one from him about 12 years ago........

 

[Glenn MacGrady]

Some tangents for those who may not know:

Marc Ornstein is a USCA Freestyle instructor trainer, a USCA river canoe instructor, a former national interpretive freestyle champion, as well as a whitewater paddler. He has custom made wood paddles for lake and river canoeing for many years under the business name Dogpaddle Canoe Works. He has also designed canoes that are manufactured by Savage River and Slipstream Watercraft. Marc relocated from the Rochester, NY, area to central Florida a few years ago, and his wife Molly is also a USCA Freestyle instructor trainer.

Instructor trainers in the USCA—and ACA, where flatwater Freestyle once resided—are the advanced paddlers who train and certify instructors in the various paddling disciplines in which the USCA and ACA involve themselves.

 

[samb]

I have others that perform perfectly and look darn good. No need to chance scratching this one.


Thanks. FYI, I have been building and selling paddles for many years.

I aware of your paddle making and paddling: both are way beyond my level!

When I make things, I get comments like 'oh it's too good to use' etc. This drives me mad. I make furniture to use, I make paddles to use; in fact I can't think of very few things I've ever made which were not intended for use. Scratches, dents and wear are expected, they become part of what it is and if damage interferes with function then it can be repaired or, at that point, can be hung on a wall to look good and be a reminder of good times.
I repair things with the intention of making them usable again If the things I make aren't used, they just become decorations and that's not what I made them for (unless I did!). If you make a paddle, is it a paddle because it could be used or is it a paddle because it goes paddling?
Luckily, in this world we are all different and have different opinions. Would n't life be boring if we were all the same?

Sam

 

[Marc Ornstein]

I aware of your paddle making and paddling: both are way beyond my level!

When I make things, I get comments like 'oh it's too good to use' etc. This drives me mad. I make furniture to use, I make paddles to use; in fact I can't think of very few things I've ever made which were not intended for use. Scratches, dents and wear are expected, they become part of what it is and if damage interferes with function then it can be repaired or, at that point, can be hung on a wall to look good and be a reminder of good times.
I repair things with the intention of making them usable again If the things I make aren't used, they just become decorations and that's not what I made them for (unless I did!). If you make a paddle, is it a paddle because it could be used or is it a paddle because it goes paddling?
Luckily, in this world we are all different and have different opinions. Would n't life be boring if we were all the same?

Sam

Well said.