On Fri, 15 Sep 2006 15:59:07 -0400, "Dave W"
wrote:

WoodenBoat magazine has a searchable index. I am sure there have been
articles on making oars. The usual way is to start with square stock, mark
it for octagonal and then make it round where you want round. Blades can be
either glued-up or cut from a solid (and larger expensive) piece. Making
oars is joyful work and using your own oars is priceless.
Dave
Dave,
"making oars is joyful work". What a delightful expression for the
task. Thanks for that. Makes me want to break out the planes.

To the OP.
Went through the books I thought might possibly have oarmaking
information and other than a chapter in one of Larry Chowning's
excellent books on Chesapeake waterman's traditions of making sculling
oars, I found only Pete Culler's book Skiffs And Schooners had part of
a chapter on oars and Good Skiffs had a Culler followup.
While Culler does have dimensions of an oar his comments of what makes
a good oar and a bad one ring true and if you've had the experience of
struggling with inadequate off the shelf oars you will understand
immediately his logic as to how to make a good one. But who can read
only one page of Culler....I am lost for the rest of the evening.
Google produced much good information and I would recommend that as a
good place to start. Regarding the lathe Dynamite Payson's site from
the Google search has some good ideas about avoiding such machinery.
Most of the oars I am familiar with, like canoe paddles, have the
outside sections of the blades glued to a center section so as not to
waste wood during construction
These books may not be readily available down under so if you like,
provided my scanner is still functional, I can scan them in and email
to you.
Respond to .

Kiyu