Thanks for the info. I made a storm paddle out of kiln-dried doug fir. Overall length 6'-3" (same as my arm span) and the loom 7". I find that in the sliding stroke your hand falls around the shoulder of the blade so I could have even made the loom a bit shorter. I sealed the blade with a behr natural wood sealer which worked quite nicely. It is a linseed oil sealer with dryers and preservatives so you keep dabbing more of the stuff on every 15 minutes until the wood doesn't soak up any more of the stuff and then you wipe off the excess and it dries in 24 hours. Once it's dry you can't add more until the wood has weathered and is in need of resealing. Probably many years down the road.