You could get a little bit of each and laminate up a blank using polyurethane glue (gorilla glue or some such) Epoxy is fine too but a little messier and can be hard to sand.

I'm not a great paddlemaker but have used both clear 2x4 cedar and a laminate from stuff I had around the shop, pine for the shaft, cedar and ash for the blades. I kind of like the look of the laminate and it makes the carving a little easier since you have more reference points.

Sometimes you can find a good clear cedar 2x2 or 1x2 to use in the layup, use the 1x2 sideways so 4 1x2's make a 2x4. I'm not crazy about the idea of the joints going thru the thickness of the paddle, it could be problems at the blade tips.

Knots aren't that much of a problem in the blades of a laminate, avoid them in the shaft area if possible. They can be a pain when carving and sanding though.

Do a search here on the name Don Beale, he posted a description of how to do a laminate layup for a hollow shaft Greenland paddle that I've been meaning to try for a year now. His are some amazing paddles.

Its a great day project, there is nothing like the smell of cedar and shavings all over the floor while carving a paddle. Good times.

Ben Staley

: I've got it in my head to carve a greenland paddle. Sunday was a rain day
: here, so it's off to Lowes, HD, and a local place to riffle the lumber.
: Only cedar to be found is 1x fencing, and knotty stuff at that. Reracked a
: unit of studs, nuthin'. Forget resawing 4x stock - if it's 4x, it's a
: treated deck post. There is clear 1x4 pine, but flat, running grain. The
: 1x4 doug fir was the highlight of the trip - clear, nice grain, fairly
: close to quartersawn if chosen well. Wasn't noticeably heavier than the
: clear pine, tho both were getting up there. So, my options: 1)Epoxy up the
: doug fir into a 2x4-ish thing and have at it. Will I regret the seam thru
: the thickness of the blades, and any thoughts on aligning the grain in the
: glue-up?

: 2)Same as above, only with the clear pine.

: 3)Back to the studs, picking one with only a couple dozen penciltip closed
: knots (i.e. am I being too picky?)

: 4)Beg, plead, cry, promise beer, or whatever else it might take to get
: someone to give up the secret source of good softwood around SW Ohio.

: Any ideas?