: Yup, Dave, I understand now - I just planed the wrong sides. I
: trusted teh picture rather than the text - mistake! Didn't think
: it through. Yes I got the ends planed flat, so the blades could
: be glued. I did the compound scarf, ending up with roughly 60
: deg. I think I will rip off the blades and make a new shaft. I
: have enough material left - bought a 1x6x10', and added some
: redwood scraps and cherry edges to the blades.

: Another question though. When transferring the blade curve to the
: shaft, he moves the inner end forward somewhat. The blades are
: then glued on that curve, and the inner end sticks out -
: presumably to be thinned and come even eventually?

: Rich

Sorry to be slow in replying, at times work gets in the way of life.

When gluing on the blade (almost) halves it is good to have them a tad long so they can be long at both heel and toe of the paddle. Then trim and sand the heel so it is flush with the top of the shaft and trim and sand the power face/shaft to be flush with each other. Then place the blade template on the power face matching the centerline on the template with the centerline of the shaft and aligning in the length of the blade at the blade heel. Trace, flip and do the other blade. Sight from the tip of the blade down the length of the shaft. Ideally the tip of the blade should line up with the center (half way through the long axis) of the shaft. So you should have cut your spoon curve onto the shaft, previously, to end on the shaft centerline. If you have the tip curve all the way back to the top of the shaft the paddle will have a great catch at the entry but will tend to snag at the exit and will tend to snag and dive when sculling, bummer when rolling.