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How I made a paddle

I recently bought a small sailboat and realized I needed a paddle. My dad gave me an old oar and I had a paddle somewhere but couldn't locate it. A few years ago I pulled two stout timbers from the trash and used them as the supports for my mattress. When I finally bought a real bed I didn't want to just toss the wood - they seemed two good. They were clear, straight, heavy old-growth (fir? redwood?) just over 6' long. Not really a great length to do much and pretty heavy. Well, as you have already guessed, great paddle material so I decided to carve my own. This is not titled "How to make a paddle" because there are many methods which all get you to the same spot. This is just mine. The print on the right was just a picture that seemed to kind of be the Platonic ideals of paddles. On the right was a schematic of dimensions which I will partially follow. I like the width of the paddle and the shape of it but I was not crazy about the handle. It did give good dimensions though. And since paddles can vary in size, the idea is to make the paddle for the user. A rule of thumb I found was that a paddle should fit under the user's chin while standing. Since this seemed to apply to canoeists, I thought that a few inches longer would be better. Most of my paddling will be done standing in my sailboat so a longer paddle would be easier on my back. I used the oar once or twice which was closer to 6', so I thought that eye-level to me, or 70", would be best. Thus, the center shaft portion of the paddle is the variable.



Step 1: Getting set up.
Getting the paddle laid out is the first step. The wood is sturdy and clear and ready to be worked. The wood was from some old growth wood that I imagine is tough to even get anymore









so like I said, too nice to toss.





The first step was to measure and orient it so I snapped a chalk line down the center in order to lay out the pattern symmetrically. It started to rain so I came inside.
















My cat decided that she was indespensible so at this juncture it became a collaborative effort.















The next was to transfer the information in the printouts to the actual work. I used the paddle photograph for the handle shape. On the right was a schematic of dimensions which I will partially follow. I like the width of the paddle and the shape of it but I was not crazy about the handle. It did give good dimensions though. And since paddles can vary in size, the idea is to make the paddle for the user. A rule of thumb I found was that a paddle should fit under the user's chin while standing. Since this seemed to apply to canoeists, I thought that a few inches longer would be better. Most of my paddling will be done standing in my sailboat so a longer paddle would be easier on my back. I used the oar once or twice which was closer to 6', so I thought that eye-level to me, or 70", would be best. Thus, the center shaft portion of the paddle is the variable.
The other diagram had more technical dimensions and measurements so that was used for the shape of the blade. I had read somewhere that a paddle should fit under the chin of the paddler so, since I'd be standing in sailboat while using it, I thought eye-level made more sense. The oar I had was closer to that and was fine the one time I had to use it. So I used the photo-print out to lay out the pattern of the handle.

Once I had it laid out I used a Sharpie
to mark heavily the outline. The wood was dark and there were enough changes in the pencil so the sharpie provided a nice clear line to follow for sawing...










...which came next:














Sawing this fairly heavy wood with a 1/4 hp saber saw was not a piece of cake, but I got through it. I found that the straight sections on the shaft went much easier with this rough-tooth hand saw so once started, I finished using that. It was also a nice break on my and my neighbor's ears.
















See where this is going?

Plumbing Repair

I recently decided to install a new vanity/sink which my mother bought with the intention of having my dad (?) or me (?) install. At left is the old installation and what follows are some of the steps. (If you click the photos they will enlarge. Neato!)

I had to re-plumb because the prior installation came up straight through the floor. Unfortunately I did not take a good photo of the prior plumbing installation from below the floor to show how that was done. You will see from this photo that the plumbing comes up directly through the floor and (strangley) had no shut offs valves installed. While this did not impede functionality to the sink itself the pipes take up much handy room in the cabinet below and the shut offs...well, they're just supposed to be there, right?

The first step was to shut the water off to the house!


After that, I opened all faucets which could drain into this to clear the lines. Next it was time to remove the old plumbing. I did this by simply cutting through the old intake pipes and disconnecting the trap. The photo here is only half and sideways because somehow the file is corrupt and I deleted the original from my camera before I realized this. No big deal, stand on your wall and look at the photo.


Next was to remove the old vanity and see what was in the floor beneath it. Fortunately the prior installer was smart and rather than completely remove the carpet panel he just cut it on 3 sides and folded it back. This made covering the floor extremely simple which was necessary because the new vanity has feet rather than sits directly on the floor.

Once I removed as much as I could from under the sink I took the old vanity out and cut through the dry wall in order to locate the new plumbing. I wanted it to come up through the floor and make a right angle to reach the sink thereby freeing up as much floor space in the new cabinet and also averting the need of cutting holes in the floor of the new cabinet.
In this photo you will note the folded back piece of carpet. Thanks prior installer dude!

The next step was to decide where to locate the new intake and drain pipes. Since I wanted the through the wall installation I pretty much had only one option which was to come up through the 2x4 floor plate of the wall. This was a little tricky because my hole saws were only rated for 1". Maybe a chance to buy new tools?

While well stocked for just about everything, the hardware store did not have the right size hole saw so I had to get my MacGuyver hat on and figure out a plan B. There was already a 1" hole drilled in a usable spot so that dictated where the other two would go. My 1" spade bit made easy work of this. I just ensured that the hole I drilled was plum and fortunately no nails were in the way. For the larger drain hole, I needed about 1 7/8" to accommodate the 1 1/2" PVC drain pipe but I had to get my 1" hole saw through (nominal) 3" of lumber! So I began drilling through the top in the center of my intake holes. I got about as deep as the 1" hole saw would go and then chiselled out the round waste wood there. Pretty easy. I made a through hole so that I could locate the saw from the bottom up and did the same thing. If you ever think that safety goggles are unnecessary, try drilling into a floor from the bottom up while standing on a ladder. You need them and it just makes good sense. After a few rotations from top to bottom to top I had the hole through for the drain pipe. Ah, getting easier now.

One thing I decided to do was to re-paint the room while I had the wall exposed. Makes sense right? It is a much cleaner look if there are no brush strokes from cutting in around the sink. Plus, as it turned out, I had to relocate the mirror and light - only about 3" to the right, so the old mounting holes had to be covered. Back to the store!

I wound up using a new product from Kilz. I like the eggshell finish in the bathroom and there was a near perfect match for the color. If you enlarge the photo you can see that even the container was well thought out with a screw-on lid and a handle built into it and there is also a drain system (like they have for laundry detergent) under the lid. I used Kilz primer many times so it makes sense that they came up with a good paint and a great container for it. I did not have my paint stuff with me so I bought one of those cheapy kits with a roller cover, tray and handle. What a disaster. The handle and tray was fine but the roller was absolute garbage. It left so much lint in the paint on what was once a smooth wall that it would have to be redone. (What do you expect for 3 bucks?) Fortunately I only painted the one wall and left the others for the next time. Back to the plumbing.

Down in the basement I had to figure out the plumbing routes since it was effectively new from the intake and drains. When this is done you want to do it with the least amount of joints and most efficient use of space. I'll upload a photo of the underside next time but what had to be done was 3 pipes had to wind up on the same plane. You'll note from the top-side photos that I did not have a great amount of room due to the extra stud there in the wall so I had about a 10x3.5" space through which the whole shebang had to travel. It was a little tricky but certainly not brain surgery (house surgery?) and I was able to get it plumbed. In first photo below you'll see that I have the cold connected to the stub out and am about to sweat the hot. (Note the use of the black heat-shield behind the pipes. Drywall is enclosed in very flammable cardboard so it's not worth risking a fire.)
This photo also shows the piece of 1x3" blocking I added in order to stabilize the new pipes. There are a few methods to do this but not having access to the wall from behind I had to attach it from this side. I used a piece of hanging strap on either side which I attached from the back and bent at a right angle so I could screw it into the studs. Once attached, I anchored the two pipes with the semi-circular straps that screw into either side of the pipe. Although not clear in these photos, I ultimately slightly changed the drain pipe from where these photos show it. It was too low to connect the trap to it w/out and extension of only 2" or so (oops) so I figured I would relocate where the bend into the wall would be. Part of my reasoning for this was to make the least amount of intrusion into the cabinet storage area so I ultimately raised it up so that the bend was right at the wall. This enabled me to anchor to the blocking piece with some galvanized strapping that my dad had in a role somewhere. (Dads are great for that kind of stuff). That and a few 1" drywall screws and things were nice and stable.



The next photo shows the three pipes coming out. These are not in their finished location and will be cut back once the cabinet is brought in the room and the trap and sink is located.













Next was to get the cabinet assembled and in place so I could see what would next go wrong! Sure enough, something didn't fit. The cabinet had an opening in the back by virtue of the bottom and a horizontal connector piece of 6" plywood across the back to. Well, in my zeal to keep everything as high and out of the way as a I could, the intake pipes directly came through where this connector piece was. Great. Back to MacGuyver. Do I cut out the old pipes and re-plumb? Maybe but a lot of work and I did not have enough fittings. It was Sunday night and I was in a bit of a jam time wise not to mention that there was no plumbing store open. Since it was only about a 2.5" problem I decided to remove part of the horizontal connector piece. It wasn't completely structural and I only had to remove about 12" from the center. I used the hole saw to cut the ends so that it had a more deliberate look to it and I used a keyhole saw to remove the rest. While modifying the cabinet thusly was not in the original plan, it proved to be the path of least resistance at that point AND it kept the plumbing as high as possible (space issue, remember?).

San Fran to Virginia or Bust

Erik & Tom's Progress