Repairing a broken oar

I broke one of my Gull oars this last summer where the last 10-12" of the oar blade broke off perpindicular to the length of the oar. It almost has a lap joint going on (jagged of course). I would like to epoxy this back on then give it the broken area a few wraps of some fiber/epoxy. I know it won't be as good as all wood fibers connected, but it I think it would be good enough for a spare oar.

Can anyone suggest what epoxy, fill, and wrap I should use to do such a repair??

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Permalink Reply by Steve Sobba on October 6, 2009 at 7:02pm
Glenn, First off I am a new builder of the last 18 months on Don Hill 18 Ft drift boat from plans...also built my own oars of ash and partially wrapped the blades in glass 6 oz.(?) and epoxy. I have not been in the water yet because the trailer is not finished...I do everything the hard way... so you will have to take this with the proverbal gain of salt. I purchased enough oak to to get my main oars out of the two full length pieces, no splices scarfs etc. I have enough lumber and have scarfed at the blade for my 3rd oar. For this one I used Weldwood Resourcinol to glue good joints and 70 degrees and lot of clamp pressure. I am going to wrap the blade and go up high r on the handle with glass on this one. I have used System 3 Products for most of my project. The structual adhesive is T88...experimental aircraft builders us this for wooden wings etc. I have enough wood to do a 4 oar out of that same lumber and I am going to use the T-88 to glue those pieces to make on oar and will wrap and epoxy that way. I have used wood flour out of my sander bag as a filler for gaps or wrap it in some plastic tape to keep it from leaving the joint. As with most epoxy, it just needs contact not alot of pressure . I use System 3 clear coat times 2, there regular epoxy for the glass and then varnish x 3 or so. I don't get in to some of the waters that I enviously see on this site here in Kansas so I hope my way is safe. Will have $50 dollars an oar when finished. I think I posted some pictures on my page. Good luck. Steve
Permalink Reply by Glenn Martin on October 7, 2009 at 6:36am
Thanks Steve! I appreciate the input!

Nice job on your oars! Do you have any construction pictures of the oars you did not scarf?

I had not heard of the adhesive you are using, so I'll have to poke around for some of that.
Permalink Reply by Steve Sobba on October 8, 2009 at 6:03am
Glenn, I used the article in the later part of Instant Boatbuilding by Harold Payson to build my oars. My stock was 1 and 15/16 thick 10 ft. x 8 inches plus. will see if I can attach some pictures. Steve
Attachments:
Permalink Reply by Steve Sobba on October 8, 2009 at 6:07am
a few more pictures steve
Attachments:
Permalink Reply by Glenn Martin on October 8, 2009 at 7:40am
Thanks a bunch Steve!!
Permalink Reply by eric stevens on October 12, 2009 at 12:27pm
You did a great job building those oars! I was just wondering what tools you used to do it. I was thinking about building some myself.
Permalink Reply by Steve Sobba on October 17, 2009 at 9:57am
Eric, sorry to delay an answer... I used my hand held power saw, hand plane, power plane, belt sander with 40 to 50 grit and less to finish . Band saw would be nice but did most of it with smaller tools. steve
Permalink Reply by Glenn Martin on October 17, 2009 at 10:05am
Steve, is this the same article you used to build your oars from?

http://www.instantboats.com/oarmaking.htm


Also, when you searched for your stock, what specifically were you looking for (I got your stock dimensions), like the "must not have, and the must have"??
Permalink Reply by Steve Sobba on October 17, 2009 at 2:16pm
Glenn, yes in regards to the the article. I don't know as far as what to look for in the lumber for sure I just did not want any knots of course and maybe the way the lumber is cut so the end grain shows tight growth lines straight grain perhaps. Not sure if I am explaining very well... In spar construction for aircraft it was always desired to have a straight grain so I thought with the flexing of the oars at 10' length I wanted that kind of strength. I don't know what the oar companies do in their selections. Have not researched that far. If Mr. Payson was using lumber yard stock I thought the ash was the way for me to go. Again will see how it works when I finally get in the water. Steve
Permalink Reply by Glenn Martin on October 17, 2009 at 2:28pm
Thanks again Steve!
Permalink Reply by eric stevens on October 21, 2009 at 4:26pm
Did you round the shaft with the drill and belt sandpaper method in the picture from paysons book ? I was just wondering if that will work or not.
Permalink Reply by Steve Sobba on October 22, 2009 at 10:36am
Eric, I used the hexagaon shaft (6 sided) thought I had better control of the shaft size. I don't think it would be much effort to make it round from there. When I did the handle part to round I used a caliper and sanded and rasp slowly to get to the correct size... measuring often. I drew a circle on the end in pencil and sanded to that size. The palm grip part is more meaty than at the circle end any tool is ok to use to get the job done. Start out rough and get finer. Steve

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