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We Start With the Trees! The process of making a Teal paddle or yoke starts with handpicking the trees. Russell carefully selects each tree from wood lots in North Eastern Ontario. The logs are brought home and sawn by Russell. The sawing process is the beginning and the most important process in ensuring the logs are properly cut so that the grains run straight and avoid stresses. This makes for strong, dependable paddles and yokes.
The boards are kiln dried in our own kiln for several weeks. Russell keeps a daily watch on the wood as it dries until it is properly cured. The wood is then brought into the shop where it is further sorted and only the best boards are used for paddles and yokes to ensure a quality product. The paddles and yokes are hand crafted using several operations from drawing the pattern on the board, cutting it out, to the final sanding - a total of 27 steps! The final step in sanding paddles removes just the right amount of wood to acquire the proper "whip" action. Russell gives each paddle and yoke the "flex" test to ensure their strength. Finally the yokes and paddles are brought to the dipping room where they are dipped in urethane, sanded and then dipped a second time. Audrey carefully inspects each paddle and yoke before packaging them. We use several types of wood. Ash is very strong and is a golden brown colour. It has a straight grain and medium to coarse texture. Of all the woods we use, Ash has the most whip action. Birch has exceptional strength and a fine grain with even texture. It is our most popular wood for paddles. Poplar has a straight grain and fine texture. It is a white wood and very light. We make our oars from poplar for its durability. We also buy cherry and walnut wood from Southern Ontario. Cherry is a strong wood but very light in weight. It's colour is a reddish brown and it makes very beautiful paddles and yokes. The walnut is chocolate brown in colour. To see pictures of our manufacturing process, please CLICK HERE. You can order direct from us or you can purchase our products form any of our distributors - Click here for the list of retailers.
Canoe Museum in Peterborough -
www.canoemuseum.net Shellane
Woodworking |
