: I am thinking that I would like to make a couple of Greenland style paddles
: as Christmas presents this year. I would really like them to be able to
: break down to transport on the plane. I have seen some hi-tech designs for
: two piece paddles, but has anyone heard of any more 'primitive' methods? I
: was wondering if maybe I could have some sort of scarf joint in the middle
: that could be lashed and/or wrapped with artificial sinew (no glue).

Primitive scarf joints were held together by lashings rather than adhesives. The problem with this is that with a standard scarf joint the lashings were not very good at keeping things together if pulled on. So, a scarf joint meant to be secured with lashings would have an extra knob, or a stop, carved into each end. These projections would fit into notches carved out for them.

Extending this idea to a round paddle loom makes things a bit more interesting.

For a round paddle loom you would want to deal with the possibility of the two pieces sliding around, or rotating in the area of your lashings. If they did that, then they would break off the knobs. Cutting the scarfed pieces with a bit of a profile, similar to the cross section shown below, would eliminate this motion. When lashed, the pieces would draw together and be unable to twist out of place.

Joints like this call for lots of hand work. You could rough out the lengthwise profile with a router and an appropriate bit, but you would need to use a chisel and a steady hand to get into the area by the stop.

Hope this helps.

PGJ