When is an oar not an oar?

Good to see a pile of wood shavings on the floor and a definite oar shape on the table. It doesn’t bear close inspection though; the blade has a list to starboard. I don’t know how this will affect performance, not much I expect, though one wag has suggested that the boat will go in circles I think it’s more important that both oars have their point of balance in the same place. My looms aren’t quite as heavy as the design dictated because my plank was slightly narrower, consequently the PoB is nearer the blade than it should be. I’ve managed to move it back towards the square loom with judicious sanding and the blade could still do with being thinner so I might just get the PoB into position.

I was looking forward to trying the Payson technique for sanding the taper and though I don’t have a belt sander I taped some 80 girt paper into a tube and used a tube of wood caulking as drill attachment. This was very good for sanding down the caulking tube and within seconds it was a uniform white.

My second attempt was better, using a piece of windsurfing mast and some inner tube I achieved a device that worked after a fashion despite looking rather kinky.

But after it chewed through my stock of sand paper it was back to hand sanding with the leftover bits.