Howard Chapelle's lines taken from an 1870's vintage river skiff indicate a maximum beam of 58.5 inches. Taking this number and Shaw and Tenney's formula we arrived at 8.9 feet as the proper length for the oars.
After sorting through our stacked lumber we finally found the ash boards. (Rough cut ash and poplar look a lot alike.) One of our two boards was not straight enough for oars so we were only able to cut three blanks. This gives me a reason to call John again and get back to the lumber yard.
The blanks are cut to 1 & 3/8 ths inches square. The next step is to order a larger round-over bit for the router. We are looking forward to making these oars.
The ash is sailing through the table saw.
Once you have a clean cut on it, it is a very familiar looking wood,
(every wooden baseball bat you have ever seen).
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