Oars for Sundew-design

It's been too long since I made a post--too busy enjoying Sundew and other things that get in the way. I've been using a heavy pair of West Marine oars cut down to 7'3" from 8'. They certainly work but have no flex and aren't a good match for the boat. So I've designed to build a set of oars.

I remember building a set nearly 20 years ago out of one piece of wood per oar. One of them warped badly so I don't consider them a success. This time I wanted something light, a bit springy, with better wood and laminated to resist warping. 

Figuring out the length was pretty easy--I like to row with overlapping hands but even than 7'3" was just a bit too long. This new set would be 7' long. Fortunately this matched the recommendation I used from John Leather's Clinker Boatbuilding of half the distance between the locks plus overlap all multiplied by 25/7. For Sundew that's (43"/2 + 2") x 25/7 = 83.9" or just call it 7'. Nice!

Next was my current blades of 5 1/2" by 24" are also a lot more grip than I need and the wind tends to catch them--so I wanted longer narrower blades, perhaps 28" by 4 1/2". 

I found an excellent article by Jim Michalak on oar-building that I'm going to adapt (see

http://www.boatbuilding-links.de/Jim-Michalak/oar-building-and-rowing.htm). He laminates three pieces of standard 1"x 6" good quality pine for each oar. I'll look for some quarter cut at a hardware store, but the lamination will probably minimize warping even if they are flat cut. 

I prefer slightly large tapered handles 1 1/2" to 1 1/4" diameter. John Welsford recommends offsetting oar handles a bit so it's easy to feel the current position of the blade--I'll decide later. I'll also add a hardwood tip to the blade for durability. The loom will remain square to add counterbalancing weight. 

The final dimensions are as follows: