Canoe paddle .Wrong wood?

[Green Weasel]

Being a tight type of person I was going to make a paddle from a tree ,or raid a skip but the offcuts box of my local DIY shop furnished me with a piece of strange hardwood about five and a half feet long. A long rectangle had been cut from one side but I reckoned I could wangle a paddle out of it . And it was only a fiver .
So I sawed hacked and spoke-shaved until I had something that looks ok (DO NOT enlarge these pictures looking for dodgy workmanship . Just take my word for it . You will find it !)

I then burned a little image into it and lovingly rubbed it with linseed oil.

Then I decided to do a Google of the wood I'd used as I'd never heard of it. I should have done this first .
"Idigbo"- Prone to thunder shakes making it liable to break .
My bit looks OK on that front though . Touch wood ....
Leaks yellow pigment when wet .
Agh, that might be a problem for a paddle !.
Has anyone any actual experience of using this idigbo for a paddle ? . Did it end up as fire-wood and did their hands go yellow ?
Any advice or even serious micky taking welcome .

 

[dwardo]

Thats a fine looking paddle. I would think any strong wood would be ok for a paddle. I guess an ideal wood would be good in tension aswell as compression so it could give a little. I guess ou dont want anything with an sg. over 1 or it would sink if you let go of it

 

[Everything Mac]

Have you made it wet to see if it does leak yellow fluid??

Certainly a nice looking paddle. Surely worth giving it a go?

Andy

 

[Green Weasel]

Thats a fine looking paddle. I would think any strong wood would be ok for a paddle. I guess an ideal wood would be good in tension aswell as compression so it could give a little. I guess ou dont want anything with an sg. over 1 or it would sink if you let go of it

Kind words . Thank you but as I said don't look too closely.
I have to admit that I've made a few paddles from odd branches ,oak windowsills,even a scaffold plank -anything that looked the right dimension and was'nt split , warped or too knotty. Only I did'nt have a computer then so was unable to look things up and worry myself !.
All the best.

 

[Green Weasel]

Have you made it wet to see if it does leak yellow fluid??

Certainly a nice looking paddle. Surely worth giving it a go?

Andy

Making it wet is the obvious thing to do . Sadly I had linseeded it before I read about the possibility of the leakage problem and it is still a bit tacky .
I'll dump an offcut in a bucket of water and report on the effect.
Whatever happens it will be used even if I do end up coming home looking like a Chinaman .
All the best .

 

[blacktimberwolf]

Looks like a good paddle to me. they don't have to be perfect anyway. Don't worry about the wood, either it will work or it won't, you can always transform it into something else if it breaks. Let the linseed oil dry thouroughly & it will be fine.

 

[Green Weasel]

As promised a quick update. After six hours of paddling in the drizzle the paddle did'nt break . I've since shed a bit of width here and there to improve the balence and reduced the size of the grip. The big question is ,did I end up with yellow hands?.
Yes I did but it was barely noticable -like a very mild nicotene stain around my thumbs . When damp the grain seemed to raise a little as well. So anyone else contemplating Idigbo wood for a paddle might do well to varnish their finished item.
I'll just stick with a bit more sandpapering and linseed oil and put up with the yellow hands .
All the best .

 

[jojo]

Nice job on the paddle. If I remember correctly, Idigbo is quite light, has been compared to Oak in qualities (not deserved I don't think) and does bleed yellow if not painted or varnished, it is also quite brittle and can snap easily! Maybe not so good for a paddle if you plan to go down some rapids... But then, I have made some paddles with Pine...not the best of paddle wood either
Do you have other pictures of your skin-on-frame canoe? Looks similar to one JonR built some years ago (member here) How does if work out on the water in practice?

 

[Green Weasel]

You are probably right about it not being the ideal wood . It is very light but as you say as long as I stay out of the rocks and carry a spare things can't get too dire hopefully .
I did manage to post a couple of pictures of the canoe a while back after struggling with technology but here are a couple more .

I made a mistake by giving it far too much rocker which means that as is it also very bouyant and barely breaks the surface of the water it is not that fast in a straight line . Have to get the load right or it handles more like a pointy coracle than a canoe . On the other hand it bobs over the shallows with ease and turns on a sixpence . It is also very stable and forgiving. On my last trip I found myself stuck on a pointy branch with the tide falling . The only way to get off without me actually lightening the load by taking a dip was to get myself with the dog on my chest so far back in the stern that the bow came up like fishing float at half cock. A couple of draws to create a bit of turbulence under the canoe washed us off the snag without damage or anyone falling in !.
I felt a bit of a wally as that stick had been visible earlier in the day when the tide was lower and I'd earmarked it a possible hazard to avoid when the tide covered it .
I'm part way through a mark 2 which is a little shorter ,lighter and straighter .Just need the time to finish it

Rocker ?. What rocker ?. Hell ,always was a Lizzy fan !.
All the best

 

[jojo]

Thanks GW.. I like your canoe very much. It is indeed in the true spirit of bushcraft and reminescent of the birchbark canoes the Native People of America/Canada made. The first skin on frame I made was so narrow that it was more like a kayak and I had to sit on the bottom, use a double paddle and pray to stay upright! It was nice looking but I got shot of it pretty quickly! I have a inflatable at the moment, but I am sure the skin-on-frame are better boats.