Oars; Design and Attributes

[abe]

Some discussion recently about oar patterns and optimum sizes so I thought I would throw in my .02 cents worth.

It is a rainy day and I took the opportunity to document the recent completion of two pair of R.D. Culler design inspired oars that I am very happy with. Started the project at WoodenBoat School last year in a class with instructor Geoff Burke.



http://cheerio.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p517934081-4.jpg

Both pair are made of clear spruce and are eight foot long with 2 1/4" square looms inboard of the leathers.

The spoon blades on the left side are similar in design to the drawing on page 61 in Pete Cullers book "Boats, Oars and Rowing".

The flat bladed oars are found on page 44 of the same book. Very similar to the plans shown in a how to build article in WoodenBoat #71 by Rick Cahoon. Those plans are the 9 foot version of the flat blade.

These are the eight foot flat bladed oars:

http://cheerio.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p451427768-4.jpg





The blades are both about 31 inches in length. Width of the spoon is 5" at widest point and 4 " at the tip. The flat blade is 4" wide.



The Culler oars are thin and light compared to store bought sticks. Eight feet is a good compromise for the four foot beam on this boat:

http://cheerio.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p366720220-4.jpg

Leathers were sewn and 5 coats of varnish complete the work:

http://cheerio.zenfolio.com/img/v3/p241260198-4.jpg

Had a chance to try the spoon blades yesterday. Rowed about 4 miles in dead calm water and I prefer them over the flats. If rowing in a chop the flat blades might be an improvement.

Another issue of WoodenBoat, #127, has an oar and sewn leather how-to-do article well worth the price of a back issue(s).

abe

[landlocked sailor]

Nice job Abe. Did you laminate the wood for the soons as Culler suggests? How long are your leathers and where did you get it? Rick

[abe]

Yes, the spoon bladed oars are laminated, but not as Culler suggests. He prefered two 1 inch laminations if my memory serves me correctly. I used a 1 1/2 inch solid piece and added two 1/2" laminations for the loom.

Edit:
Oh yeah, the leathers are 10" long( about 7" wide). Would prefer 14" as Culler suggested somewhere. They were purchased through the WoodenBoat Store and they do not offer the larger version.

abe

[ 06-22-2005, 01:33 PM: Message edited by: abe ]

[landlocked sailor]

Yes, Culler did suggest 1" lams. So 1.5" is thick enough for the spoon profile? Where did you find that gorgeous spruce? Rick

[skuthorp]

I do most of my rowing in a shallow sheltered bay on the coast. It can be mirror calm in the winter, but in the usual chop I prefer flat blades.

[abe]

Rick, Pete Culler's plans for the width of the loom at the neck of the blade show 1 7/8". The 1 1/2" I had to work with is acceptable. The chord of the spoon blade is sufficent in my opinion.

With the exception of the laminations on the spoon blades, the material for the oars was provided by WoodenBoat as part of the course "material" cost of $75. Some small knots in the spruce were worked around in the layout.

Two oars can be gotten out of one eight foot 6/4 board with care. We have five small dealers around here that allow you to pick through lumber and I found some nice clear material for the balance of what was required.

abe

[landlocked sailor]

Very nice abe. I'd like to make a pair of 7 footers for my AUK,'Surprise'. http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid134/pd8b6138aafd91dadc639040567757d72/f77a6ff5.jpg Rick

[Tom Hoffman]

Hey Landlocked;

Have you seen the article on Octagonal Hollow oars by Joel Herzel, He sent me a copy and pics, I have been trying to reporduce his pics on my web shots page so they are easier to see, his are in black and white and hard to see. But the article is clear and easy to understand, I have my first set of blanks made, and will start on the next set next week as I wait for my epoxy to fully cure(on my Whitehall) before I start sanding. If you would like a copy of the article, e-mail me.

tomhoffman@starband.net

The pics are at http://community.webshots.com/user/slvrgost

[Ken Hutchins]

They sure do look nice. smile.gif

[Willin']

Very nice work indeed!

I have a pair of Shaw & Tenny 7 1/2 footers I use on my shellback and found that they inprove my rowing by glancing off the surface when feathered if I let them drop too low. I seem to catch a lot of crabs with flat oars.

The flexibility of the spoons also offers a little whiplike action at the end of the pull when I'm pulling really hard.

[Bill Perkins]

Really nice Abe . I sit on the oars when sailing my small open boat so I guess I'll have to stick with flats . I found that if you tell the people at the Mystic Plans Department the book title and page numbers above they can supply copies of the oar plans at true scale .

[Joe Dupere]

When I was down at the coast on Sunday, I noticed a Nutshell Pram sailing. He had two rowing stations and had oarlocks in all four sockets. He
put the oars with the leather and button side in the forward oarlock, and the shaft in the aft oarlock. That way the oars were running fore and aft along the gunwales and you weren't sitting on them. I tried it Sunday afternoon and yesterday and it works pretty well. The only drawback I've seen so far is that if the blade ends up parallel to the surface of the water, the wind can pick it up out of the oarlock. If you turn the blade parallel to the side of the boat, there's no problem. You could also tie or bungee them down I suppose.

Joe

[ 07-05-2005, 12:39 PM: Message edited by: Joe Dupere ]

[Bill Perkins]

I may try something like that Joe . Maybe thin bungee cord with a loop and toggle could be lead through the emty oarlock sockets to secure the oars flat to the side deck or gunnel.I think that would be more secure in the rough and tumble .

[Joe Dupere]

Bill, it really worked pretty slick and made for a whole lot more room in the boat when I was sailing with my stepson on Sunday. I was also thinking of a small bungee or maybe some of those robands/toggle and beckets I was asking about in another thread.

Joe

[Arko]

About the leathers, are they hard to make? Is this the type of leather one could use to make them?
http://www.boatleather.com/
Nice looking work by the way.

[ 07-05-2005, 05:07 PM: Message edited by: Arko ]

[almeyer]

I've done the same thing that Joe suggests. It works really well although I'll admit I don't go in very lumpy water. Call me skittish, I just like the idea of having a back-up means of propulsion. On my oars, the shaft still has a taper at the leathers, so they'll fit fairly tight in the forward oarlocks by friction. Originally I secured the oars with a short piece of line, but it proved unnecessary. By the way, the oarlocks are also a convenient place to hang the fenders.
Al
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid175/p6862cf5a16127b322ca17c03c4ce4085/f3839a06.jpg

[abe]

New photo linking to replace Imagestation. More presumptions;)

abe

[Ben Fuller]

Down side to oar storage like this is that its a little hard to get your butt on the rail where it belongs when the breeze is up. Of course you could make them strong enough for seats..... Lashing I would think is pretty mandatory. You can also let your oars hang out over the bow, no rule against temporary bow sprits....

[Thorne]

As Ben says, the downside to gunwale storage is not being able to sit there when sailing.

I have ring oarlocks on the front and horn aft, so the oars store slid through the rings, although they can fit on the floorboards. Oarlocks must be tied on tightly. Only catch the jibsheets on them occasionally.

http://www.luckhardt.com/ST07/images/18.jpg

http://www.luckhardt.com/butte2.jpg