Shavings Everywhere

The last pair of jeans I bought are just a little too long, so I roll up the pantlegs with a quick fold when I am not wearing shoes to keep from walking on and wearing out the bottom hem. I realize this is also a hipster fashion trend, but it really isn't the reason I do it. This morning, I forgot to unroll them until I was sitting at my desk in the office, and when I fixed them, proceeded to dump cedar shavings and sawdust all over the carpet. So now my office matches my house and garage, both of which are littered with little curls of cedar from my recent projects - single paddle making. When I finished my skin on frame canoe, I was only able to take it out once before the lake levels near me were drained, and plus it is just a little chilly to be paddling around an unstable canoe. Since it is intolerable to paddle a homemade canoe with a paddle purchased from Dick's, I decided to spend these colder months learning and working on the skill of paddle making. Below are a few rough firsts that are in various stages of build and finish because I have not finished one completely yet. The two on the left are both ash shafts with red cedar blades and grips. The second from the right is a one piece ash attempt, and the one on the far right is pine. This project has also led me to discover that using a hand plane is extremely satisfying. Something about the curls coming off of the cedar - makes me want to leave them and just build up a nice cedar shavings floor in my garage.

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