Making Your Own Oars

From the crude and quick to the sweet and salty....

I’ve been exploring instructional information on making oars. As a resource of sorts I thought I’d post some of the sites and info I’ve come across. —Josh

OAR-MAKING TUTORIALS

Jason at Argobuilder.com offer a nice step-by-step on making his set of 8-footers.

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If you’re looking for something really simple and cheap, there are details here at the PDracer website.

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Here’s an Instructable on tracing out and cutting a set of oars from 2x4s.

By the way, you can see more info on Bolger’s DIY “Instant Oarlocks” here at Jim Michalak’s site.

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Slough Boatworks offers a bullet list of steps for a set of oars he says—after shafts have been glued and clamped—he can build in about an hour.

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Here’s another oar-making tutorial, this time from Platt Monfort. He also includes details on making your own “Turk’s Head Buttons".

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OAR-MAKING VIDEOS

Here’s an instructive video on making a set of oars by hand:

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Here’s a video series and meditation on making an elegant set of oars from a spruce log. Covers every step right through stitching oar leathers:

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OAR PLANS

Francois Vivier’s site has a nice free plans drawing for a sculling oar shape.

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Here are some free plans for simple oars:

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If you go to Karl Stambaugh’s Chespeake Marine Design page and scroll down a bit you can download free plans for his Good Oars.

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OAR PATTERNS OR TEMPLATES

Our friends at CLC offer templates and patterns of various oars for sale here.

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Our friends at Angus Rowboats offer plans and patterns and a partial kit as well.

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Over at Glen-L Marine we also sell plans and patterns for oars and paddles.

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LEATHERING YOUR OARS

Christine Demerchant has a nice rundown on fitting leathers here.

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Here’s a very detailed explanation from the Urban Oarsman.

And finally, here’s a real nice video on the topic from Nomad Boatbuilding:

•SCA•