Preview: It All Begins with the Oar — Behind the Scenes at Shaw and Tenney
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May 8, 2013
Email this Video to a FriendA graceful oar or paddle is a rare and beautiful thing. Almost an endangered species. To create one (and we don’t use this word lightly here) takes proper wood, sharp tools, and most of all, a skilled eye. Although we have known about their work for many years, it was a revelation to go behind the scene at Shaw & Tenney to watch the young crew at the factory shape oars and paddles worthy of even the most precious of boats.
As the possibility of posting of our 100th video came along, we kept an eye out for one that would do justice to the honor of being Number 100. We hope you’ll agree, “It All Begins With an Oar,” does just that.
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32 Responses So Far to “It All Begins with the Oar — Behind the Scenes at Shaw and Tenney”
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Rick Zablocki says:
Great to see how the fine, like new, oars that just came with my new (to me) Acorn skiff were made. See the blade design has similarities with the Greenland paddle blades that I love for kayaking and canoeing, and expect I’ll love these oars just as much. Thanks, R
Micheal Kingsley says:
As a guitar maker, I am extremely impressed with the quality and workmanship of this company.
Robert (Bob) Godfrey says:
What an exceptionally great video. Loved the background music as well. Keep up the great work!
David Robbie says:
I loved seeing the S&T shop and the skilled workers making them. It makes me appreciate and look closer at my S&T oars that I have.
Robert Walker says:
Hard to believe, wonderful craftsmen , perfection .
A priviledge to view
Mant thanks
Albert Foley says:
I just ordered a set of oars today! Thanks OCH and Shaw and Tenney!⚓️
Carolyn & Ron Pease says:
Wow…… historical workmanship, visual talent playing out as a skill with music in the background. Does life get any better than this!!. What a way to start a day. Great job Maynard. I’ll think all day about this artistry done in making music and oars at the same . I’ve got to get Carolyn out of the kitchen and come watch this. See ya !
Paul Atkins says:
Wow, that was beautiful thanks Maynard and your crew.
Clint Chase says:
This was wonderful. I’ve been lucky enough to spend a couple weeks working at S & T and can vouch for the great crew and warm shop setting that is S & T.
Big kuddos go to Steve Holt and his family who own S & T. They’ve done a great job at expanding the product line which helps support what we see int he video.
I’ve heard people complain that the oars are expensive. As an oarmaker, I find this somewhat revolting. Look at what you get in the product, look at what goes into them. This video should help that cause.
Happy 100th, OCH.
Larry Cheek says:
I heartily agree with all the compliments on the narration and video production of #100. It made me both glad and proud to be a subscriber.
More than anything else, the intimate look inside Shaw & Tenney reminds us why we should cherish handmade objects: In a way, they contain the qualities of the craftspeople behind them—skill, experience, personal quirks, and spirit.
When I was building my boat Nil Desperandum, a 19′ Sam Devlin gaff-rigged sloop, I reached the point where I needed four chainplates. The stainless steel examples at the big chandlery in Seattle cost a breathtaking $98 apiece, and they were ugly besides. I fled, determined to find a better way.
Barely a mile from my house a hand-lettered roadside sign had just sprung up: “Renaissance Metal Shop/Unique Fine Art.” Chainplates hardly qualify as art, but the recession was then in full bloom, and I figured an artist would welcome the work. I showed the artist, a man named John Moritz, a scale drawing of the chainplates I envisioned and asked if he could make them. “No problem,” he said. If I could find the material he would charge $75—for all four.
On my next expedition into Seattle I scrounged a scrap sheet of silicon bronze and delivered it to Moritz. Two days later, as he handed the finished pieces to me, he seemed oddly anxious. “I hope it’s all right that they look handmade,” he said. The edges were very slightly uneven, in the way hand-cut fettuccine distinguishes itself from factory pasta. I thought they were beautiful. “Of course it’s all right,” I told him. “The whole boat is handmade.” I liked them so much I bolted them to the outside instead of the inside of the hull as Devlin’s plan specified: they would be the boat’s jewelry.
Six months later Moritz’s sign and copper dragonflies suddenly disappeared from the roadside. I was about to need more bronze parts, so I tried his e-mail address, hoping he’d just moved someplace nearby. But his reply came back from another island. “Sorry to miss your work,” he wrote, “but I’m in Haiti for a year, helping the people after the earthquake.”
I don’t mean to sentimentalize chainplates, because they’re simply hardware, and they’re doing an unsentimental, workmanlike job. But Moritz’s story is indelibly built into them, and I think of his humanity every time I look at them.
Dustin Urban says:
Great story, Larry. Thanks for sharing
Paul Ross says:
Beautiful work. Wonderful narration. Great video, editing and music. Bravo to Shaw and Tenney and OCH.
Ed Bartakovits says:
Thank You. Craftsmen at work, always a joy to watch. Excellent narration Maynard.
Tim Huebner says:
Fabulous video documentary and commentary. Bravo, OffCenterHarbor team! I agree: it does justice to being Number 100. Thank you.
Jane Ahlfeld says:
really sweet… thanks Maynard and film crew… I have always loved the Shaw & Tenney oars, and now with more appreciation for the craftsmanship.
Douglas Adkins says:
Oh Maynard and Alison, you have really done it this time! What a wonderful short story, beautifully edited in images and music, instructive and sentimental. Congratulations on a terrific piece of work and thank you. Douglas Adkins
Nathan Bayreuther says:
Wow – a great tour that, for some reason, leaves a bit of a lump in my throat after watching it. The simplicity yet unbelievably fine craftsmanship of it all really hits home. A perfect #100.
Chad Brown says:
Wow, that was the most beautiful video I have yet to watch! I need a new set of oars for my little Puffin dinghy, and I know now where they will be from. Also the music score by Ravel really made it all come together.
Can’t wait for my first row in solitude….
Tom Morris says:
Beautiful video, Maynard etal, with lovely music, perfect commentary and a fascinating process. I now know where the oars will be made for our skiff when we finish it.
Thank you Anne, for all that you do to inspire Maynard AND the rest of us!
David Tew says:
I should take much better care of my oars….
Thanks, S&T and OCHbr!
Christopher Wick says:
Lovely. Makes me want to get my Shaw & Tenney oars out and go for a row right now. I love my peapod, too. Thanks.
David Kent says:
I have a new found respect for the craftsmen creating the oars and a continuing one for the Off Center video production crew. Great Video!
Brad Gray says:
I asked a Pastor once about a hypothetical; ” Say I do everything right in life and I go to Heaven and get to meet God. Then words fail me and I don’t know what to say.”
He replied, ” ‘Thank you’ covers just about everything succinctly.”
Thank You!
Robert Hazard says:
If ever there was a good illustration of making something skillfully and efficiently by hand using power tools, this is it!
As soon as the video ended I went down to the barn to look over my own pair of Shaw & Tenney 8 1/2 footers. They are lovely, well balanced oars, elegant in their simplicity.
Good job!
I liked the music too!
Michael Dysart says:
Bravo Maynard. Most encouraging to see young craftsmen pursuing traditional craft! Nice couter balance to reading the NYTimes, if you catch my meaning. Almost as good as row in a peapod ;-) Thanks
John Simpkins says:
You guys went all out on the production quality for #100! Great camera angles, a superb story line and Maynard is an excellent narrator. A fitting tribute to all the skilled hands at work at Shaw & Tenney. Thank you!
Steve S - RestHarrow Boatworks says:
THANKS for number 100 and all your work. Great video!!
George Conbeer says:
Fantastic!
Lee Fox says:
Maynard’s narrative is a joy to listen to from his life’s experience of messy around with boats. The video was awesome to see how oars and paddles are made at Shaw & Tenney. Keep of the good work OCH crew! Congrats on the 100th video!
Lee Fox says:
I meant to say Maynard’s life experience of “messing around with boats” is a joy to listen to. :)
Maggie Hunt says:
What a treat to see- thank you and congratulations on your 100th!
Peter Brackenbury says:
Very neat inside look…to watch that gentleman freehand with the circular blade was pretty unreal. I’m not sure why, but knowing someone (not a CNC machine) actually left a handprint on a beautiful tool means something and is worth paying for. We somehow think that everything is overpriced and disposable today (even $5.00 T-shirts from Bangladesh!), but here is a clear example why we have to value our skilled workers (no matter where they are) and our stuff. Not many people would mistreat and replace quality things if they knew what went into them. Thanks Maynard.