From Duck Boat/Hunting Forum

Posted by Steve Parsons
Time Posted: January 08, 2001 at 9:04:25 p.m.

In Reply to: Sculling oar posted by Barry on January 08, 2001 at 2:49:03 p.m.

Barry,
Being a novice sculler that I am - I would say that the most important aspect of a good scull oar would be the "whip" or "flex" that a good oar will give you. It seems to give you the extra push or thrust to gain forward momentum. Of course too much of this results in a broke oar but one that has a good whip to her seems to be the ticket.
I tell you what - you need to talk to Greg Stender (a regular here on this site). A super nice guy that knows a thing or two about sculling oars. He can be reached at gregs@duckboats.net I feel certain that he could answer any, if not all, of your questions.
Thanks for dropping by.
Take Care,
Steve Parsons

Posted by Hans Binsch
Time Posted: January 08, 2001 at 7:22:12 p.m.

In Reply to: Sculling oar posted by Barry on January 08, 2001 at 2:49:03 p.m.

Barry,
I take it your are related to Glen L. Witt? I love your web site and purchased plans for your sneak box a while back as well as the book by Glen L. Witt "Boatbuilding with Plywood".

Regarding your question, Greg Stender, a frequent poster here, has drawn up some plans for a Humboldt style scull oar. It may be in the archives here.

I recently made one which works well for me. In a nutshell, I took about 4 feet of fir curtain rod and joined it with a 4' long, 4 1/2" wide piece of vert grain clear fir for the blade (I made the blade somewhat longer and wider than is the norm for this type of oar). I planed the blade to about 1/4" thick at the centerline to less than 1/8" at the edges. The blade was better than 3/8" thick at the joint to the handle which I glued and doweled. One side of the blade is flat, while the other is convex. The convex side faces "up" while sculling. The entire blade is installed at a drop from the handle. The "drop" is about 4" from the handle to the tip of the blade.

Finally, I bondo'ed and sanded the transition, glassed the oar with one layer of 6oz cloth and polyester resin and painted. The oar has some "whip" to it this way, but not a whole lot.

I have another oar which came with a sculler built by Lou Tisch of Lock, Stock & Barrel (see commercial boats section on this site). The oar that came with it is apparently made of ash and is very rigid and appears to be of one-piece construction. It works well also. Lou sells finished oars as well.

Hope this helps.
Hans Binsch

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