Fraternity Paddle Wall Decoration

I was recently commissioned by a viewer to make a Fraternity Paddle that would be decorated and given to a new pledge.  With hazing a thing of the past, fraternity paddles have become more of a Greek tradition to welcome new members.  Check out this video of me making the paddle.

I designed the shape of the paddle using Microsoft Visio.  I searched Google Images to find the Greek letters and inserted them into the open space on the paddle, then traced around them.  I positioned the letters so they would touch each other and the sides of the paddle for stability after cutting.

I cut the basic shape of the paddle from a piece of 1"x12" pine.  My scrollsaw uses pin blades, so I drilled 1/4" starter holes in all of the waste areas.

The paddle measures 6" wide and 20" long, so it was a challenge to cut all of the openings out on my 13" Craftsman scrollsaw without hitting the back of the saw.  This became more difficult as I neared the end, but I was able to get it cut out by cutting off small sections at a time.  (Notice in this picture that I'm attempting to cut straight, even though the paddle is at an angle against the back of the scrollsaw.)

This isn't the first time I've made paddles.  In fact, this customer contacted me after seeing my previous video on making a variety of paddles below.  (I'll go ahead and apologize now because this one is loaded with bad puns.)

Apparently there are still a few isolated markets out there for paddles, and I'll just leave it at that!  The end!  ;)