VIDEO: How to Make a Traditional Wooden Oar

Oars have been around and helping propel all manner of watercraft since about 5,000 B.C. Though most oars today are still crafted from wood, they are often made in large-scale production facilities that churn out hundreds if not thousands of them each day.

Thanks to our friends at the Hardänger Maritime Museum in Norheimsund, Norway, you can see how a pair of oars is hewn from a single block of wood using patterns, a ship saw, hand planers and saws, axes, pocket knives and all other manner of woodworking tools.

This video shows how it’s done and then demonstrates them being used on a traditional wooden rowboat.