Have you ever wanted to wrap your own oars for your drift boat or raft? Maybe you have brand new oars that came un wrapped, you want to make a change from plastic sleeves or your wraps have seen better days? Well whatever the case your in luck cause wrapping oars is relatively easy but there are a few things to know to make the job go smooth!
First off it is possible for one person to wrap an oar but it will go a lot smoother if you can get a friend to help. Second is glue or no glue? You can wrap oars either way no problem but we definitely recommend using a spray adhesive for the added durability! Next comes the tools and materials needed to rope wrap your oars. We recommend the following.
-3/16 Nylon Braided Rope (typical wraps are 20" to 24" in total length and typically use 3.5' of rope per inch of wrap)
-Spray Adhesive (Optional, but we recommend 3M Super 77)
-Masking Tape
-Permanent Marker
-A razor blade
-Hammer or rubber mallet
-Piece of lumber with 2 1/8" hole cut into it (Optional but helpful for tightening up finished wraps)
-NRS Strap or strap of some kind that can be secured into a loop
-18" Rope loop pre made from your 3/16 nylon rope
-Measuring tape
Once you have your tools and materials together to wrap your oar shafts you will want to make a oar wrapping jig to make applying the adhesive and wrapping the oars go a little easier. We use the following to set up our oar wrapping jig.
- x2 Saw Horses
-x2 Oar locks (Grab them off your drift boat or raft)
-A broom handle or a piece of pipe or doweling that will fit through your rope spool and span the distance of your saw horses
Take your saw horses and set them about 3' to 5' apart. Drill one hole at the end of each saw horse so your oar locks can slide down through them. Then take your rope spool and slide your broom handle through it and place it across the under supports of the saw horses on the opposite side of the oar locks.
You can also drill a couple of holes in a table or use some lumber you have kicking around and suspended it. If you want too you can even place your oar shaft across the oar locks of your drift boat or raft and wrap them right in your boat (I recommend laying down some plastic or some type of cover if your using adhesive in your boat)
Now where all ready to start wrapping!