The Oar Making class 
concluded on Sunday with four pairs of Oars in various stages of completion. All of the oar makers were very happy with the class and with the new skills they learned. “Just learning how to sharpen and use my tools was worth the class” Russell Smith was quoted. Students learned how to sharpen their block planes and spoke shaves and how to use them. The shop band saw was used to rough out the oar, the final shaping was done with block planes and spoke shaves. 
The students learned how to make and use an 8 side gauge also called a spar gauge. The skills to round over the loom of the oar are the small skills used in making spars. The Alaskan Yellow Cedar that was used for the oars also makes beautiful spars.
Two of the clubs oars were fitted with leathers as part of the oar making class. Using a baseball or herringbone stick the leathers were quickly attached to the oars. 
Tom Cashman, Executive Director of the 
Foss Waterway Seaport Museum in Tacoma WA will be speaking at an event for the Columbia River Maritime Community which includes Riverswest among others on Saturday June 19th, 2010. The event runs from 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM at the Hilton Hotel 301 W 6th Street Vancouver WA 98660. Lunch will be provided. Informal session — feel free to come in work clothes. Tours of PT658 and LCI 713 will occur after the presentation. Contact Chuck Kellogg for reservations and question. kellogg.chuck@gmail.com
or 503.781.6469. Please reply by Monday June 14, 2010
The mission of the Foss Waterway Seaport is to celebrate Tacoma’s rich maritime heritage — past, present, and future. For more information on the Foss Waterway Seaport visit their website at http://fosswaterwayseaport.org
The first session 
of the oar making class got off to a great start last Saturday with bright blue sky and I5 north bound stop and go over the Columbia. The first order of business was sharpening our plane and spoke shave irons. Using the scary sharp method, we flattened the backs of the irons and then set the bevels. We glued up our oar blanks out of Alaskan Yellow Cedar using epoxy thickened with Colloidal Silica.
Next Saturday we will be back at the boat shop cutting out and shaping our oars. There will also be a demonstration on how to apply leathers to oars using some of the clubs oars.
concluded on Sunday with four pairs of Oars in various stages of completion. All of the oar makers were very happy with the class and with the new skills they learned. “Just learning how to sharpen and use my tools was worth the class” Russell Smith was quoted. Students learned how to sharpen their block planes and spoke shaves and how to use them. The shop band saw was used to rough out the oar, the final shaping was done with block planes and spoke shaves. 
