Antler Grip paddle

Last year I went to a outdoors man show, I was looking for antler to make hand thwarts for a canoe. I admit I have some crazy ideas. I wasn't able to get any but the antler Carver there gave me one. The base of it I am working on for a knife.

I don't like to waste material of any kind whether it is hardwood, canvas, leather or antler.  So the main body of the antler it self is sort of flat. I figured if I could saw out grip size pieces then split it,, it may just work as material for a grip.









The antler is not really that hard to cut,  but splitting it was a bit of a challenge. I tried the band saw but it was a little to aggressive. What worked best was a hand saw and the reciprocating saw very slowly.
Once I got a feel for the material, the speed of the saw, it went very quickly.

I use Titebond 3 when gluing up materials on other paddles, but i was unsure how the antler and the glue would work. So to make it bomb proof I used my other favourite G2 epoxy. 

Once glued up the antler was not that difficult to work using the spoke shave or rasp. Sanding it was amazing and it finished smooth as silk. It is nasty stuff so a dusk mask is needed especially when sanding.

I wasn' sure how it would turn out or how it would be to work with. I didn't want to take any chances though.  Just  in case I loved it and it was perfect. I wanted it to be on my favourite blade shape and have the grip I favour as well.

A all yellow cedar Algonquin blade with a smaller grip was what I chose. The pictures below are of the finished paddle showing the grip.

 The last 2 pictures are of the grip beside my other Algonquin paddle.

All in all I was amazed how the antler grip turned out!

 

Paddles

Nothing feels as good as a well made paddle that becomes a extenson of your arm.

I made my first paddle when I was 22, at the time all I had was a spoke shave. It was also the first woodworking tool I ever bought as well. That is how it all started. Over the next 30 years I worked in all kinds of materials and have done many different blade and grip styles.

Various blade shapes

I wish i had kept track of all the paddles I have made over the years, at the time it didn't seem that important to keep that information.

I am very partial to native style blades shapes. The Algonquin shape is my favourite, it just feels comfortable to me. Also it is part of my heritage, my grandmother was full blooded Algonquin, and my father was half. Just another reason I am fond of the blade shape.

I have also worked in many different materials, cherry, ash, walnut, yellow cedar and sitka spruce. In the last few years I have been making many out of spruce. However spruce has a flaw of either the grain running out oddly or it kind kinks or fold when pressure is put on the shaft.

So to cure this problem a additional piece of other material such as  mahogany, ash, walnut, yellow cedar etc, is laminated to the face.  It also gives a nice contrast to the paddle.

Paddle grips can be as varied as the blade shapes themselves, and everyone has their own personal preference.

So if your a serious paddler or not, find yourself a builder or paddle maker near you and have a paddle made for yourself. It will be a joy to use and something you treasure your entire life!