: Peter, I went to the store yesterday and looked through the building grade
: 2x4s until I found one with few knots and reasonably straight. It cost
: $2.29 US$. I know that lumber is expensive elsewhere, from my experience
: living in Germany, but some cheap framing timber is usually available.

: I read the net, downloaded a set of plans,
***
Rick,

May I know where you got those GP plans? They seem to be rather handy.
I was told yellow cedar is very easy to carve.

Paddle Safe
Eric

made a couple straight lines on
: the 2x4 (which felt like it weighed a ton!) and made the cuts with a band
: saw. Then I rounded the 90 degree angles off with the bandsaw to make
: octagons. Surprise.. the remaining wood was a LOT lighter. A half hour
: with a plane and sander and linseed oil and it looks and feels great. It
: is certainly lighter than my low grade commercial paddles. I can not wait
: to use it practicing my roll this afternoon.

: Total time (including buying the 2x4) was about an hour.

: For a picture, see my Kayaking Page below.

: Rick

: snip...
: "I have been looking around at greenland paddles. I have read several
: articles but they all talk about timbers that are very hard to get here.

: Oregon might be an option but a bit heavy on the grain (I think it is really
: Douglas Fir and was originally mostly imported from Oregon in the U.S. and
: became known here as Oregon Pine. "