Oar and Scull Plans

[emichaels]

Please indulge me here. Two Questions.

Question 1: Is the "oar" one uses to scull with, called a "scull" or something else.

Question B: I need to make a set of oars, of ash, probably 7-1/2' for a Shellback dingy.

Also need to make a ? scull ? for sculling same boat.

Can any of you recommend a good set of plans or specs for these projects. It would be nice to do spoon billed oars.

Suggestions/Recommendations

Eric

[Thorne]

Eric -

Try the search function, several recent threads on just this topic.

http://www.woodenboat-ubb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=51032&highlight=oar

http://www.woodenboat-ubb.com/vbulletin/upload/showthread.php?t=50140&highlight=oar

The Shawn & Tenny (sp?) site has a calculator for oar length, but you are sorta on your own for the design.

I'm no expert on oars, but from what I've read on this and other sites, spoon oars are more for performance rowing. There is a trend towards oars with thinner blades, which would also make it easier to use one of them for sculling as well as for rowing.

Let's see what the others say.

[StevenBauer]

Pete Culler's books have oar making info. I'm making some for Gavin's Elf but they are different. Meant for use with kabes, not oarlocks.

Steven

[Bruce Hooke]

WoodenBoat sells plans for oars. I don't know if they have special patterns for a sculling oar. What little sculling I've done has been done with a regular oar.

Spoonblades strike me as excessive for a Shellback.

I'd think carefully about whether you need the toughness of ash for your oars. Spruce oars are a lot lighter and will hold up just fine if you don't abuse them.

[Bruce Hooke]

Pete Culler's books have oar making info.
The Pete Culler book I know about that talks about oars is Boats, Oars and Rowing. It is a great little book and has lots of information on making oars. Sadly, the price of this book on the used market is, as I recall, pushing up towards the price of a decent pair of oars. So, your best hope may be to find it at the library if you have access to a library with a good marine collection. Up in Maine there is a good chance that your local library will have a copy.

Wait, there are a couple of copies at a pretty good price available right now on Abebooks: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?sts=t&an=Culler&y=12&tn=Boats%2C+Oars+and+Rowing&x=65

[Thorne]

Thanks Bruce.

Order quick -- I got one of the two cheap ones. Didn't think I'd see this book for under $50, that's for sure. May build one or two sets of oars for my dory, as the commercial ones are a bit short and rather clunky.

;0 )

http://www.luckhardt.com/beached1.jpg

[emichaels]

Bruce,
I read on one of the past forum posts that a heavier, ie ash v spruce, oar is easier to maintain balance and cadence and I would venture to surmise inertia. I am very inexperienced with oars and it seems the few times I used oars the heaviness, when well balanced, was an asset. Though as I lead (keel), inexperience, may lead ( follow) to false conclusions. I checked out the books and when I got to the point of finishing the order I just wasn't willing to pay 18 dollars for shipping that might take 10 days. So I guess I might try the plans WB offers and tinker a little.

Eric

PS. Someone else I know that is making a Shellback, as we speak, he tried one with the spoon oars and said it was incredible. So me, not knowing, must try it too.

[emichaels]

OKay I digress.

I don't know why the site posted by Bruce gave me a quote for 18 dollars shipping but to make a long story short. I found the book on Barnes and N used books for 25 dollars and 1-2 days shipping for 2.50. That I will live with .

Many thanks for directing me to the right source of information. Bruce you truly are a wealth of information !!!!!

Eric

[ebent05]

Hi Eric for something of a treatsie on sculling oars see this link http://councill.home.mindspring.com/sbjournal/sculling/scull1.html

Glen L Marine has some links--scroll about 1/4 down page; http://www.glen-l.com/weblettr/webletters-2/webletter24.html

For a 21st Century (some science) view of the sculling oar see amateur boat building.com's recent article; http://www.amateurboatbuilding.com/articles/howto/sculling_oar/index.html scroll down until see the pictures with the numbers to the left and click on the photo for the explanation.

If you try a web search try looking under sculling oar--singular vs. sculling oars.

Have fun.

Ed

[Bill Perkins]

Well this discussion has prompted me to finally buy a copy of Culler's' book , and I printed the article on sculling ! I think it would be more enjoyable to make and use oars of Spruce . I would doubt that many spoon blades have been made in ash , as that material was more for work boats .

[nedL]

I used to scull an old banks dory that I had almost as much as I'd row her, used the same 7 1/2' (or so) oar. she moved as well as if I was rowing her, real simple once you get the idea (keep the blade at something like 30 - 45 deg from flat).

[rbgarr]

To answer the first part of the first post:

An oar used for sculling a boat (from the stern) is often called a 'sculling oar'. Another device used is a 'yuloh' which operates slightly differently.

Long pairs of oars, almost always spoon bladed, and used on a single person narrow rowing 'shell' (or more definitively "single scull") are sometimes called sculls. Yet longer and stouter versions of the same oar, used for one-person-per-oar four and eight person rowing shells are called 'sweeps'.

[David Geiss]

I am fond of the oar plans sold by Walt Simmons as well.

The Mystic Seaport Museum sells a handy book on the making of oars and the various calculations which can be made in arriving at a design/shape for a given vessel. It is a bit of brain teaser but I think it's a worthwhile read. A fellow named Steever is the author I believe.

Best,
David

[emichaels]

Interesting comments. The website links are really excellent sources of info. I guess once I digest all this I will probably end up making two sets of rowing oars, spruce and ash, with matching dimensions. Then I can compare the two.

Thanks all.

Eric

[StevenBauer]

Eric, did you ever get down to Rufus Deering to see about that spruce? I might be able to stop in there tomorrow.

Steven

[rbgarr]

Good choice on makiing the spruce and ash sets. We've got both kinds for my wife's rowboat and the ash set is nice for long gliding rows, and the spruce set is better for poking around in coves and making sharp turns.

[StevenBauer]

Those videos on the ABB site are very cool. :)

Steven

[emichaels]

Eric, did you ever get down to Rufus Deering to see about that spruce? I might be able to stop in there tomorrow.

Steven


No I did not Steven. After calling there and getting the answer I told you about, it seemed that they either didn't have the planks to sell are weren't about to admit they did over the phone.

If your there and they have some, and you find some good ones, I would definitely come down this weekend to buy them from you. I milled some quatersawn white pine to do the hollow spars, but I can always do a set of spars in spruce also and the oars in spruce also.

I know the spruce is stronger than the white pine but I think it would be fun to try both. Let me know if it works out.

Eric

[emichaels]

Good choice on makiing the spruce and ash sets. We've got both kinds for my wife's rowboat and the ash set is nice for long gliding rows, and the spruce set is better for poking around in coves and making sharp turns.


Yeah I think it would be fun to take both sets out in different conditions and compare. Besides I need the practice making them also. You know the old saying "Sure wish I had built the second boat first ! "

Eric

[garland reese]

Mr. Louden of Aeneous Originals (sculling boats) has a plans book for building hollow shaft sculling oars. These are nice. Birdsmouth shaft, and I think the blades are nicely curved, I think....
http://www.aeneasoriginals.com/023_23.jpg

http://www.aeneasoriginals.com/

[Clinton B Chase]

"Spoonblades strike me as excessive for a Shellback."

That is what I thought until I tried Carl's (of "Carls boats") and the JGSCW. They were a 7 1/2' pair of S & T's w/ spoon blade. They also make them down to 6 1/2' so clearly it is not excessive to have them for a 11' boat like the Shellback. One, they are meant for efficiency not necessarily speed. I want to do long rows in my Shellback and therefore want less fatigue/more comfort. One could use them for going back and forth to the boat from shore but they might not be taking advantage of the spoon blade configuration. When a flat blade is dipped into the water it is pushing water away from the boat's sides in the early part of the stroke where as a spoon blade is generating more thrust as water is pushed aft sooner.

I wanted to make a set of spoons but a 27' cold molded power boat project, the dinghy, a new job, and, moreover, an energetic 18 month old who wants to do everything at once all have me a little too busy. (Not too busy to be going on like this though....goodbye!)

Cheers,
CLint

[Boatmik]

There is a free oar plan available for download at
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~storerm/Paddles/FreePaddle.html (http://members.ozemail.com.au/%7Estorerm/Paddles/FreePaddle.html)

Not a backyard "for free" plan either.

It is for a 9ft oar - but rescale by knocking 1/8" off the loom (not the handles) and reduce the blade's measured dimensions by 10%.

Michael

[Steve Lansdowne]

I made a kayak paddle with spoon blades from Mac McCarthy's Featherweight Boatbuilding book and suggest looking at it if you're considering making spoon oars. The spoon blade is really quite easy to construct if you follow his procedure, and certainly not any more difficult than making a "standard" oar blade in my experience. You just need to settle on blade dimensions and go for it!

[Tom Hoffman]

Last year, I wanted to do the same thing. I wanted light hollow oar shafts, with eight sides.

Joel Herzel published an article on how to make these using the birds mouth method. I hae made 2 sets and they are very nice to use, I made 9'6" ones and will use them on my Whitehall when it is finished. If you would like a copy of them, e-mail me direct and I will send them too you.

tomhoffman@starband.net

[Bill Perkins]

From the Aeneas Originals site

http://www.aeneasoriginals.com/n2.jpg

[Boatmik]

There is a free oar plan available for download at
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~storerm/Paddles/FreePaddle.html (http://members.ozemail.com.au/%7Estorerm/Paddles/FreePaddle.html)

Not a backyard "for free" plan either.

It is for a 9ft oar - but rescale by knocking 1/8" off the loom (not the handles) and reduce the blade's measured dimensions by 10%.

Michael

I didn't explain fully.

There are two components.

1/ The drawing - downloadable at the end of the page.

2/ The instructions - download the instructions for the paddle plan (about halfway down the page). They contain the full step by step information on
Tapering the loom,
Rounding the loom using a Spar Guage
Drawing for the spar guage,
Making a laminated ply blade.

Best Regards
Michael