It's February, there is still some great winter activities ahead BUT, I'm dreaming of paddling. My paddles are run of the mill, but I know you have some beautiful handmade custom paddles and production paddles. If you have some photos, please post them!

Gillespie Quetico

I make my own paddles. Here are a few pics of what I make. Nothing like a wood paddle in my opinion.

Banksiana if I remember correctly you posted a similar photo with a beautiful Advantage, quite the pair a Gillespie and an Advantage!

Stitch 64, a lot of nice work there, love that dark bladed paddle, is that Western Red Cedar?

Thanks for posting!!

On the left: 56" straight shaft Wildwood paddle in white cedar by the late Peter Puddicombe. On the right: 56" straight shaft in western red cedar by Ron Sell of Unadilla Boatworks.

whitecedar: "Banksiana if I remember correctly you posted a similar photo with a beautiful Advantage, quite the pair a Gillespie and an Advantage!

Stitchy64, a lot of nice work there, love that dark bladed paddle, is that Western Red Cedar?

Thanks for posting!!"

Same lake, two different trips. The water on that particular Q lake is unmatched.

whitecedar: "Banksiana if I remember correctly you posted a similar photo with a beautiful Advantage, quite the pair a Gillespie and an Advantage!

Stitchy64, a lot of nice work there, love that dark bladed paddle, is that Western Red Cedar?

Thanks for posting!!"

Thanks Whitecedar! Dark paddle is actually cherry.

I just received a pair of Sanborns.

Just started making paddles last year. Certainly learned a few things that I can improve upon. This one is going to my boss, who is a good guy.

My other paddle is made from a single piece of Red Cedar. The red cedar for both paddles is from a tree that fell down during the derecho that went through Iowa in 2020.

Lots of nice work in this thread. So far, I have made four laminated paddles. I think the next one will be more traditional solid style. Below are the first two I made which have been on two trips so far and managed to stay out of the firewood pile.

CaptCanoe: "
Just started making paddles last year. Certainly learned a few things that I can improve upon.
This one is going to my boss, who is a good guy.
My other paddle is made from a single piece of Red Cedar.
The red cedar for both paddles is from a tree that fell down during the derecho that went through Iowa in 2020."

Are you sure those knots are going to crack open when stress is applied to the shaft? I’m pretty nervous about that. No strength in a knot. It’s pretty though!
Tom

I agree about knots.
The knots on the shaft are sandwiching maple. At the very least, it will look nice on a wall.
My single piece paddle has a knot near the tip and one smaller knot on the shaft. I filled the knot on the tip with resin and then glassed over. The knot on the shaft may haunt me. I think both will make great lake paddles, just not in the BWCA.

Wildwood Paddle…I actually have 2. One specially made that took over 2 years to get and and some help from poster HoHo to get. A long story. And one bought on clearance when I found it at a shop in a corner.





The other is a an original Whiskey Jack paddle Whiskey Bender…when they were hand made and a work of art…when I picked one up to look at many years later at Piragis I thought it felt like a broomstick in my hands…this one is a work of art though. I added the loon decal later too match my Wildwood. Wildwood came with the loon. Both weigh less than 15 oz.

Love threads like this. Hope to see and add some more pictures.

I don’t use traditional shaped paddles much but I do have three very nice ones. Two of the three are from turtle paddle works and two of the three came from a kind paddler I met through this message board.

Thanks everybody, some beautiful workmanship! Nice to see these handmade paddles displayed as fine craft!

Wow... these things tend to accumulate. A Sanborn and five Puddicomb paddles.

Look at all those pretty paddles!!

One of my favorite topics! Haven’t made one in a while. This bent shaft was my last a few years ago and my go to paddle

I also made a few with the “birds mouth” method for the shaft. I really liked them but sadly they all failed at the connection point after a few years.

These two black and white ones were opposite mirror images of each other.

What a collection!!

I am looking for a couple good quality wood paddles if anyone wants to slim down their collection. They do not have to be new and some scratches are ok, just not wrecked or a terrible mess.

thanks for your time.

Happy Pad'lin!

Some more puddicombe paddles here. The blonde one went to a friend this week. I may let go of one or two more at some point.

just one in my collection. Cherry and Ash