> I'm building an Aleut paddle from the plans from Laughing Loon CC&K, which
> call for spruce as the main wood in laminating up the paddle blank. The
> two lumber yards I talked to had either clear fir or redwood, but not
> spruce. Anyone have any experience with this? Would fir or redwood be an
> OK substitute, is one better than the other, etc.

Tom, Since you live in NY you should have no problem obtaining northern white spruce, which is what I use for most of my paddle shafts.

Yes, I'll grant you, if you go to your lumber yard and ask for CLEAR spruce they'll tell you NO. But you must be resourceful.

Here in the northeast most construction grade 2X stock is northern white spruce.

If you look through the 2 X 10s and 2 X 12s you will be able to find a board with a clear section, since these boards are cut from larger trees more likely to have clear wood. After all, you need only find a 2" wide clear run.

It may take some looking, but don't dispair, your clear spruce shaft will show up. As long as you leave the wood piles in good order, the yardmen won't hassel you.

I recently made one of my Aleut paddles using northern white CEDAR instead of spruce. This paddle is 25% lighter than the spruce model. I used it on a recent week of wilderness paddling and loved it! It is more flexible than the spruce but became accustomed to it quickly.

Now clear northern white cedar IS harder to come by. All you need is one 8' board, which you could probably buy from Newfound Woodworks.

All the Best,

Rob Macks

Laughing Loon Custom Canoes & Kayaks

www.LaughingLoon.com